Mayoral Blog

Councillor Jean Brazil

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.

Week Commencing Monday 26th July 2010

Hello and thank you for joining me.

Our engagements got off to a very exciting start this week as it was the North West in Bloom Judging Day on Monday.

Although Sydney and I couldn't join the judges on their tour of the Borough, we had the pleasure of meeting them at Park Bridge Heritage Centre and wishing them well for the day ahead.

Tameside has always done incredibly well in the competition. We hope to retain our title as Best City/Metropolitan Borough in the North West for the sixth time and are going all out to win Britain in Bloom on our third attempt after coming second twice. My sincere thanks go to everybody who works so hard, not only for this competition but all year round, to help make Tameside the borough it is.

On Tuesday afternoon, Sydney and I attended a Citizenship Ceremony at Dukinfield Town Hall and then on Friday, we were delighted to welcome the Mayors and Mayoresses of Greater Manchester for a civic tour of Tameside.

The day included a visit to the Portland Basin Heritage Museum, a short canal boat journey to Hyde and also tours of the Setantii Visitor Centre and the Museum of the Manchester Regiment in Ashton Town Hall.

It was a lovely day and all our visitors were very impressed with our wonderful borough and excellent museums, I’m sure they took away with them some very special memories of their visit to Tameside.

And that’s it for this week.

Thank you once again for tuning in. I hope to see you again soon.

Kind regards

Week Commencing Monday 19th July 2010

It has been a very sad and difficult week. The funeral of Councillor S.R. Oldham CBE took place on Thursday 22nd July 2010 at Mottram Parish Church .

Hundreds of people attended the service to pay their respects to a wonderful man and an inspirational leader.

At our Council Meeting on Tuesday evening, several personal and very moving tributes were made to Roy. The Council joined together to reflect on his achievements and success and to remember in silence a dear friend and colleague who had made such an enormous contribution to this Council and the Borough of Tameside.

As the children begin to break up from school and people finish for their summer holidays, Mayoral engagements are getting a little quieter but we have still been fortunate to attend a number of wonderful events this week.

On Monday evening, Sydney and I welcomed a group of local scouts to the Town Hall who will be attending the Nippon Jamboree in Japan later this month. The group, aged between 14 and 18 years, were so looking forward to their trip and I’m sure it is going to be a fantastic experience for them. I look forward to hearing all about their adventure on their return.

On Friday morning, we visited Hawthorns Community School  for the annual Year 6 Leavers Show. I try to attend this event each year whenever possible. It is always such a wonderful occasion for the children and their families, with lots of laughter and many, many tears. I wish all the children who are now moving on from Hawthorns the very best of luck and lots of love for the future, they are all very special children and really do deserve every happiness.

Saturday was a busy day. Engagements began with a visit to Ashton Market Ground for a fund raising event organised by Bourne House Residential Home. The management and staff from Bourne House have set themselves a challenge to raise £30,000 in order to purchase a specially adapted wheelchair accessible minibus for the residents. To help raise this money, they arranged a super day of entertainment and fun on the Market Ground. Sydney and I were pleased to call in to lend our support and to wish everybody well.

From here, we attended a Summer Fun Day at Cemetery Road Park in Audenshaw which had been organised by the local Neighbourhood Policing Team. The weather was kind to us and the event was very well attended. It was a great day full of activities for the whole family to enjoy and everybody had a wonderful time.

To round the day and indeed the week off, on Saturday evening, we attended the annual ‘Proms in the Park’ event in Hyde. The evening was hosted by BBC Radio Manchester’s  Becky Want and featured the magnificent Manchester Camerata Orchestra  who took centre stage with an extensive programme of music including movie favourites and Bond classics. A spectacular firework provided the perfect finale to a truly memorable night.

That's all for now. Thank you for joining me. I hope to see you again soon.

Best wishes.

Week Commencing Monday 12th July 2010

Hello again, thank you for joining me.

We sadly learned this week that Councillor Roy Oldham had passed away following his very brave fight against cancer.

Roy was a wonderful man and an inspiration to so many people. He made such an enormous contribution to this Council and the Borough of Tameside and he will be very sadly missed.

For me personally, it was a pleasure and a privilege to work alongside him and I will always be eternally grateful for his leadership, encouragement and support.

My thoughts and prayers are with Roy’s son, John and all of Roy’s family and friends at this extremely difficult time.

Rest in Peace Roy.

Mayoral engagements began on Monday morning when Sydney and I were pleased to welcome into the Mayor’s Parlour Mr Harrop and Mrs Howarth of Gideons International . Our guests had kindly requested the meeting in order to present me with a copy of the Gideon's Bible. The Bible had been beautifully inscribed and will be a lovely memento of our year in office.

Later, we met with the recently crowned Miss Tameside Galaxy, Leanne Nuttall. Leanne shared with us her many ideas for the year ahead including her hopes and dreams to make it to the Miss Galaxy International Finals in Florida. Sydney and I wish Leanne well with the competition and we hope she has a very enjoyable and memorable year in office.

For our final engagement of the day, we were joined in the Mayor’s Parlour by the Headteacher and staff from Bridgeway School in Hyde. The school has once again received an outstanding Ofsted report and it was a pleasure to be able to welcome the team to the Town Hall and, together with Councillor Ged Cooney, Executive Member for Lifelong Learning Services, congratulate them on their success.

On Tuesday afternoon, as part of the Tameside Arts Festival, Sydney and I took to the water on a narrow boat with a group of local artists. The artists had been invited to create a portrait of me whilst touring the local canals. I must admit I was a little nervous as I had never had my portrait painted before but it was a lovely afternoon and it was nice to sit back and relax whist enjoying the local scenery.

On Wednesday morning, I made a presentation in the Mayor’s Parlour to Michael Cullinane of Alder Community High School , one of our winners in the St George’s Day Persuasive Writing Competition, before receiving a small number of students, accompanied by their Principal and tutor, from Ashton Sixth Form College . 29 students and 4 members of staff from the college recently carried out some voluntary environmental clean up work in the vicinity of the college. They had all worked extremely hard and I was pleased to have the opportunity to thank them for their efforts.

Later, Sydney and I attended a Citizenship Ceremony at Dukinfield Town Hall before attending the official opening of the Poplar Street Primary School  allotment on Stamford Road in Audenshaw. Regular followers of my Blog will recall how the children visited the Mayor’s Parlour recently as a small thank you for their hard work on the allotment. I felt very honoured and extremely proud to be invited to officially open the allotment and I look forward to seeing the children’s work develop and progress over the coming months.

On Thursday morning, we were delighted to be able to accompany the children of Hawthorns Community School  on their weekly visit to the EST Donkey Riding Therapy Centre  in Abbey Hey. It is always a pleasure to be able to spend time with these very special children and it was wonderful to see their excitement and joy at being around the animals.

On Friday afternoon, we visited Dowson Primary School  in Hyde for the official opening of the new outdoor learning area, ‘Walk on the Wild Side’. Sydney and I were given a very warm welcome by the Headteacher, her staff and all the pupils. The new outdoor classroom is really wonderful and everybody associated with Dowson is very proud of this fantastic new addition to the school. The area has lots of different aspects to it, including a willow tunnel, a story telling circle and even bug hotels! I am sure the children are going to love spending time there and I wish them well to use it.

In the evening, we attended the Tameside Primary School Catering Service Awards Evening at Dukinfield Town Hall and what a super evening it was! This event is held each year to recognise the incredible work of our school catering staff.

School meals continue to receive a great deal of publicity. some good, some not so good, but what continues to amaze me as I visit the schools in our borough, is the professionalism with which the catering staff carry out their daily tasks of providing great value, quality meals to thousands of hungry customers and always with a smile!

2009/10 has once again been a very successful year for Tameside Primary School Catering. They have retained hospitality assured status for a fantastic 7th year running, all schools have been accredited with a healthy choice award, they have continued to ‘invest in people’ through numerous training courses and have also had great success in various competitions. What’s more, everything has been achieved on budget and I’m sure not a lot of authorities can say that.

Friday evening provided the perfect opportunity to celebrate this success and to thank the staff for their hard work and dedicated service. The evening was made even more special by the presence of Key 103’s Mike Tool an, who was a great hit with ladies!

There were no engagements on Saturday, so Sydney and I managed to take some time out and enjoy a relaxing day at home.

It was back to work on Sunday though and we had a great day. We began by visiting a Niemann-Pick  Fun Day in Hyde Park at the invitation of Tameside South District Scouts. From here, we called in at another Fun Day at Haughton Green Young People’s Centre before attending the Annual Service of The Royal British Legion  in Greater Manchester at Manchester Cathedral .

It was another busy but enjoyable day and Sydney and I were pleased to be able to attend all the events and to lend our support.

And that’s it for another week.

I Hope to see you again soon.

Best wishes.

Week Commencing Monday 5th July 2010

Hello everybody,

Thank you for joining me.

Gosh it’s been a busy week again but at the same time it has been absolutely wonderful and Sydney and I are thoroughly enjoying our Mayoral duties.

Engagements began early on Monday morning when we were invited to ‘wave off’ the children on this year’s Convoy of Happiness.

Each year, a convoy of stretch limousines take poorly children from the local area for a day trip to Blackpool or a theme park. This time, the children were off to Gulliver’s World . It was lovely to meet the children and to see their excitement and I’m sure they would all have had a fantastic day.

From here, we called in at Portland Basin for a quick photocall to help promote the forthcoming Tameside Arts Festival, before attending the official opening of West Villa Mental Health Information and Resource Centre in Dukinfield. This new centre will provide a much needed and valuable resource with a wide range of information on mental health well being, mental health conditions and difficulties and also what support is available to individuals. Sydney and I had the opportunity to meet with some of the people who work in the service and also some of the service users. It was a lovely morning and we wish everyone at West Villa the very best of luck and every success.

On Monday afternoon, we were delighted to attend the second and final event in this year’s Tameside Pupil Achievement Awards. Once again, it was wonderful to meet the young people from Primary and Secondary Schools across the Borough and to recognise and honour their achievements.

In the evening, together with the Deputy Mayor and Deputy Mayoress, we were pleased to welcome to the Mayor’s Parlour Dr and Mrs Kailash Chand. Dr Chand received the OBE in the Queen’s Birthday Honours list for his services to healthcare. This is a wonderful achievement and we were absolutely thrilled to be able to meet Dr Chand and to extend in person our thanks and congratulations.

Tuesday was a very, very sad day. Sydney and I joined hundreds of mourners at Christ Church in Denton for the funeral of Lance Corporal Andrew Breeze.

Lance Corporal Breeze was killed in action on the 12th June whilst serving in Afghanistan. It was heartbreaking to see his grief stricken family and friends. Andrew was obviously a much loved son, brother and fiancée, a good friend to many, many people and a fine soldier. He will be sadly missed by all knew and loved him but he will always be remembered with great pride and as a very brave soldier who lost his life serving his country.

On Wednesday afternoon, Sydney and I welcomed representatives of the Audenshaw Friendly Club and the Good Companions Club to the Town Hall. Many of the visitors had never visited the Mayor’s Parlour before and it was lovely to be able to show them around and to share some of the history of our beautiful Town Hall.

In the evening, we attended an awards ceremony at Denton Town Hall for the schoolchildren of Denton and Audenshaw, who had taken part in this year’s Young Artist Awards, run by the local District Assembly. All the children had worked very hard and the quality of the artwork was wonderful and, as a member of the judging panel, I know just how difficult it was to select the winning entries. The paintings will now go on display in the Town Hall for 12 months for staff and visitors to admire and enjoy.

On Thursday morning, we were joined in the Mayor’s Parlour by children from Poplar Street Primary School  in Audenshaw. With the kind assistance and guidance of the Stamford Road Allotments Association, the children have been working hard tending to their very own allotment. As a token of my appreciation for their hard work and the interest they have shown in the project, I invited them to join me in the Town Hall. All the children were beautifully behaved and they asked some wonderful questions about my role as Mayor and the work of the Council.

Later, Sydney and I welcomed to the Mayor’s Parlour the winners of the St George’s Day Persuasive Writing Competition. A little while ago, I was given the unenviable task of selecting just four winning entries from a selection of wonderful letters on why St George’s Day should be recognised as a national holiday. The standard of work was incredible, proving once again just how very talented the young people of Tameside are. The winners were each invited to attend a reception in the Mayor’s Parlour where it was my pleasure to present them with their prizes.

Engagements on Friday began with a visit to Failsworth Specialist Sports College  for the annual Greater Manchester Mini Games. Tameside was represented at the event by 10 of our primary schools competing in a range of sporting activities against schools from 4 other Greater Manchester authorities. It was great to be able to see the young people in action and to cheer ‘Team Tameside’ on.

From here, we headed back to the borough to call in at the Home-Start Tameside Open Day at their offices in Ashton. Home-Start  is the UK's leading family support organisation. Through a network of nearly 16,000 trained parent volunteers, the charity supports thousands of parents who are struggling to cope. Families may need support for many reasons including post-natal illness, disability, bereavement, the illness of a parent or child, or social isolation. Home-start is all about parents supporting other parents to help build a family's confidence and ability to cope. We have a fantastic Home-Start team working here in Tameside and it was great to be able to meet some of them and to hear more about their work within our local community.

To round off the day, we left Home-Start for a visit to St Paul’s Catholic Primary School in Hyde, where I was very honoured to officially open the school’s Summer Fair. There had obviously been a great deal of thought and effort put into the occasion and everybody had a wonderful time, hopefully the event will have raised lots of money for school funds.

On Saturday, we were pleased to attend the opening of the new community garden at Assheton House in Ashton and also a family fun day at Astley Sports College in Dukinfield at the invitation of New Charter Housing Trust. Both events were wonderful examples of how our local communities can engage and work together, and with others, to achieve great things for everybody to enjoy.

On Sunday, we were invited to Cheetham Park in Stalybridge for a Centenary Fun Day event organised by the Tame Valley and Ashton-under-Lyne Girl Guides. For the last 100 years, Girlguiding UK  has provided so many wonderful and exciting opportunities for our young people. It was a pleasure to be able to attend this special centenary event in Stalybridge and to celebrate this historic milestone with so many of the girls and their families.

Our final engagement of the week was the annual Gee Cross Well Dressings. I had previously heard many lovely things about this event and was so looking forward to taking part. It was a fabulous day. The wells looked stunning and once again it was wonderful to see so many families enjoying a traditional, community occasion together. Well done to everybody involved.

And that’s it for another week.

I hope you will join me again soon.

Best wishes.

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