Mayor's Blog January 2010
Mayoral Blog 2010
Councillor John B. Sullivan JP, GNSM, LTCL
Welcome to the official Blog of the Civic Mayor of Tameside
A Blog (or a Weblog) is an online journal/diary which is frequently updated with the author's thoughts and comments, and is intended for the general public to view.
Hello everybody,
Thank you for joining me.
Mayoral engagements didn’t start until Thursday morning this week when I was invited to Audenshaw Primary School 
to present their prestigious Green Flag Award . This is the second time the school has achieved the award, testament to their hard work and commitment to the Eco Schools programme. I had a lovely visit and was made to feel very welcome. Please look out for the flag flying proudly outside the school if you pass by.
In the evening, Francoise and I were pleased to welcome volunteers from Home-Start Tameside to the Town Hall. Once again, it was nice to be able to say thank you and well done to a wonderful group of people who devote so much time and energy to helping others.
On Friday morning I attended a business meeting at the Ram Mandir Community Centre in Ashton-under-Lyne before welcoming Geoff Muirhead and Jonathan Bailey from the Manchester Airports Group to the Mayor’s Parlour for a meeting and light lunch.
Later I was delighted to call upon Mrs Elsie Trelfa at St George’s Nursing Home in Stalybridge. Mrs Trelfa was celebrating her 101st birthday and it was my pleasure to pop in to see her on her special day and to offer my congratulations and best wishes.
In the evening, Francoise and I welcomed visitors from the Boys’ Brigade in Denton to the Town Hall. The lads had recently interviewed Andrew Gwynne MP and Andrew had suggested they might like to meet and learn more about the role of the Civic Mayor. We had a super evening and the boys appeared to be pleased with their interview, we look forward to seeing the final article in print.
There were no official engagements on Saturday but we had a lovely day on Sunday when we attended a Service and Community Reception at St Lawrence’s Church in Denton in the morning and then a Ukrainian Christmas Concert in the afternoon.
The Bishop of Manchester was present at St Lawrence’s Church as part of his Parish Pilgrimage. To date, Bishop Nigel has visited well over 200 churches in the Diocese of Manchester with the aim to encourage congregations in their faith, discipleship and mission, and to celebrate the church’s links with the community by meeting a range of people and enjoying a community reception. It was an extremely pleasant and successful visit and the people of Denton certainly gave the Bishop a very warm welcome.
From here, we headed over to the Ukrainian Centre on Stockport Road in Ashton-under-Lyne for a Christmas Concert at the kind invitation of the Tameside Branch of the Association of Ukrainians in Great Britain . We had a super afternoon in the company of lovely people and we were treated to some wonderful entertainment and traditional Ukrainian food.
And that brings another Mayoral week to an end.
Bye for now. I hope to see you again soon.
Best wishes.
Hello everyone, thank you for joining me.
Well as you all know, the bad weather continued at the start of the week and consequently my scheduled engagements for Monday and Thursday evenings had to be re-scheduled.
Thankfully some events went ahead as planned, including a reception for Community Services staff in the Mayor’s Parlour on Wednesday afternoon. Once again, a dedicated group of people had been specially chosen to attend the event in recognition of their continued hard work and commitment to their job. It was a lovely afternoon supported by the Chief Executive, Executive Director for Community Services and Cabinet Deputies, Councillors Joe Kitchen and Brenda Warrington.
On Friday, I hosted a meeting and luncheon in the Mayor’s Parlour for representatives of Meridian Healthcare Ltd who provide residential, nursing and dementia care services for older people in the Borough and on Saturday, Francoise and I were delighted to be able to join Tameside Hospital League of Friends Volunteers at a special ‘thank you’ luncheon at the Broadoak Hotel in Ashton-under-Lyne. This event is held each year to acknowledge the work of the volunteers and also to recognise and reward long service. It was my pleasure to be able to present the Chair, Mrs Barbara Thompson JP and her husband Philip with long service certificates for giving 20 years voluntary service to the League of Friends with the Snack Bar and Hospital Trolley Services.
There were no Mayoral engagements on Sunday and therefore that brings another Mayoral week to a close.
Thank you for your time. I look forward to seeing you again soon
Best wishes
Happy New Year everyone, I hope you had a wonderful Christmas.
Well I wish I could say it’s back to work now after the Christmas holidays and that Mayoral engagements are back in full swing, but sadly this dreadful weather has meant all my engagements this week have had to be cancelled or postponed.
My sincere apologies to everyone who has been affected and although there doesn’t appear to be much respite from the bad weather, we are hoping that engagements can resume as normal next week.
I look forward to seeing you next time but until then please stay safe and keep warm. Also, please be a good neighbour and keep an eye out for vulnerable older neighbours, family members and friends who may be at greatest risk as a result of the freezing conditions and plunging temperatures. Make sure they are warm enough and have enough to eat, many older people are unable to venture out in these conditions and they may just be glad to hear a friendly voice.
Take care.