Mayor's Blog - January 2008
Mayoral Blog 2007/08
Councillor Michael Smith
My official engagements this week started on Tuesday 29th January when I attended a Jobs Fair at Ashton Town Hall.
The event was organised by the Tameside Employment Partnership and was hugely successful.
Hundreds of people visited the Town Hall to find out about jobs available with local employers and to obtain help, guidance and advice.
On Wednesday, I was pleased to be able to welcome to the Mayor's Parlour Senior Managers from Manchester Working and on Thursday evening I was joined in the Town Hall by representatives of Dukinfield Labour Party.
I had just one engagement over the weekend. On Saturday I had a lovely evening with the Officer Commanding and Members of A Squadron 207 (M) Field Hospital (V) at the Armoury in Ashton-under-Lyne.
It was a pleasure to attend the Squadron's Annual Dinner and to catch up with members, many of whom I had met on Remembrance Sunday.
I will be hosting a Valentine's Ball at Ashton Town Hall on the 8th February in aid of my Charity Appeal Fund, I hope you will be able to join me next time to hear how it went.
Best wishes.
My first engagement of the week was on Monday evening when Teresa and I visited the Monday Club at Fairfield Community Centre. The club is for young people with learning and physical disabilities and has over 20 members from across the Borough. The Club meets every Monday evening and is supported by a group of dedicated volunteers. Teresa and I had a lovely evening in the company of the young people and the volunteers.
There were no Mayoral engagements on Tuesday but on Wednesday, I was pleased to welcome children from Denton West End Primary School. The visit included a tour of the Mayor's Parlour and Council Chamber and the children were very keen to learn about my role as Civic Mayor and the history of the Town Hall.
On Thursday it was the e-tameside Awards at Dukinfield Town Hall and what an evening it was! I have heard many wonderful things about this annual Awards Ceremony and was looking forward to the event immensely. This year's ceremony took on the theme of "James Bond". It was very well done and my congratulations go to the Council's IT services and New Image Public Relations Company for a truly spectacular show. Technology and innovation increasingly play a crucial role in our education, economic success and leisure time activities, the e-tameside awards recognised and celebrated some of the best examples of people and initiatives that have helped contribute to Tameside's ongoing story of success. It was a fantastic night and the Council is very grateful to its sponsors for once again making the evening possible.
My final engagement of the week was on Friday when I attended the Preview of the Annual Tameside Primary Schools Art Exhibition at Astley Cheetham Art Gallery in Stalybridge. We obviously have some very talented young people in our Borough and it was wonderful to be able to see their work on display. I hope many people will pop along to have a look at the exhibition - it really is worth a visit.That's it for this week.
Hope to see you next time.
Best wishes.
We are now getting busy again after the Christmas break.
On Monday night, Teresa and I were pleased to welcome Councillor Jackie Lane JP to the Mayor's Parlour along with representatives of the Dukinfield Ladies Group. The group works hard within the local community and Jackie and I thought it would be nice to say thank you for their efforts.
On Tuesday, I attended a meeting of the Mayor's Distress Fund Trustees in the Town Hall and later opened a meeting of Full Council.
On Wednesday, I was delighted to welcome the School Council from Audenshaw Primary School. The children were very well behaved and seemed to enjoy their tour of the Town Hall.
On Thursday, I attended a Citizenship Ceremony at Dukinfield Town Hall. This is actually the largest ceremony I have attended with almost 40 applicants. It was a pleasure to meet the Borough's new citizens and to offer my congratulations.
Later, I attended a meeting of the Denton and Audenshaw District Assembly.
On Friday, I was joined in the Town Hall by approximately 30 students from Samuel Laycock School in Stalybridge. We had a great time together and the children were keen to learn about the Mayor's Parlour and Council Chamber. Later, I attended a special Duke of Edinburgh Awards Presentation at Dukinfield Town Hall at the invitation of West Hill School. Awards were presented to pupils from West Hill and from other schools and community groups. I was glad to be able to support the event and to acknowledge the outstanding achievements of these young citizens.
There were no Mayoral engagements on Saturday but on Sunday, Teresa and I were pleased to attend the Installation and Welcoming Service for The Reverend Shirley Harrison, the new Priest-in-Charge at Christ Church and St George's Church, Denton. It was a lovely service and I was delighted to have the opportunity to formally welcome Shirley to the Borough.
That's it for this week.
Hope to see you next time.
Best wishes.
Engagements were still a little quiet this week after the Christmas holidays so my Mayoral duties didn't start until Wednesday when I was delighted to attend a Thank You event for the staff involved with Tameside in Bloom.
As I am sure you know, for the third year running the borough scooped top prize in the 2007 North West In Bloom competition and also won the Cleansweep Award as well as receiving a special commendation for Stamford Park.
Despite the adverse weather conditions over the summer, Tameside staff, community groups, schools, residents and businesses all came together to make sure the borough was looking its best. It was a fantastic team effort and everyone worked incredibly hard. On Wednesday, the Council formally thanked the "In Bloom" staff at a special reception at Dukinfield Town Hall and then the following day a similar event was held for our partners. I was pleased to attend both events and I was glad to have the opportunity to extend my personal thanks and congratulations to everybody involved.
On Thursday evening, Teresa and I welcomed members of the Tameside Scrabble Club to the Town Hall and on Saturday we were invited to attend the annual Thank You Luncheon for volunteers from the Tameside Hospital League of Friends. We spent a lovely afternoon with the volunteers at the Broadoak Hotel in Ashton and I was honoured to be asked to present a long service certificate to a volunteer who had completed 10 years service.
That's it for this week, please join me next time.