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 28th June 2010

Hello again, thank you for joining me.

Well it’s been another busy and memorable Mayoral week.

Engagements began on Monday morning when Sydney and I visited the St John Ambulance  County Headquarters in Heaton Chapel, Stockport. Together with the other Civic Heads of Greater Manchester, we were invited to attend a Reception and Buffet, hosted by the Lord Lieutenant , to give us an insight into the work of St John within our county. It was a very interesting and enjoyable event and we were pleased to lend our support.

In the evening, accompanied by the Deputy Mayor and Deputy Mayoress, Sydney and I welcomed Mr and Mrs Brett from Mossley to the Mayor’s Parlour. As you may have read in the local newspapers, Mr and Mrs Brett both received the MBE in the Queen’s Birthday Honours List  for their services to children and families. This wonderful couple have fostered 100 children over a period of 25 years. It was an absolute pleasure to meet them and we were delighted to be able to offer to them our thanks and congratulations.

On Tuesday morning, Sydney and I visited Curzon Ashton Football Club  for a hula–hooping festival organised by Tameside School Sports Partnership. Primary and Secondary schools from across the Borough participated in the event which also included a very exciting world record attempt in conjunction with other School Sport Partnerships across the country. It was great to see the children having so much fun whilst taking part in a physical activity and it also brought back for me many happy memories of my own childhood.

Later, we attended the annual Senior Citizens Party at Dukinfield Town Hall hosted by the Dukinfield District Assembly. It was a wonderful evening and everybody had a great time which included live entertainment, bingo, a free raffle and a fabulous meat and potato pie supper!

On Wednesday morning, I hosted a visit to the Mayor’s Parlour by Mrs Lucille Cohen, President of the Jewish Representative Council in Greater Manchester . It was a very pleasant meeting and Sydney and I look forward to working with Mrs Cohen and her officers during the course of the year.

On Thursday afternoon, we visited Hyde Park for the grand finale of a ‘Learning at Work’ celebration hosted by the Tameside Learning 4 Life Group. The event featured a Brazilian Percussion Workshop and attendees were invited to perform their music on the park’s bandstand. It was great fun and everybody enjoyed taking part. It was particularly nice for Sydney and I to have the opportunity to visit the award winning Park Café and to be able to chat to the trainees and to learn more about their work.

From here, we headed over to Hyde Town Hall to attend the installation of the new President of the Rotary Club of Hyde, Julie Mckenna. We had a lovely evening and it was a pleasure to meet Julie and her fellow Rotarians and to wish them well for the year ahead.

There were no Mayoral engagements on Friday or Saturday so it was nice to be able to catch up on a few things at home and to spend some time with the family.

We had a wonderful day on Sunday. Traditionally, each year, a Civic Service and Procession is held in the Borough to ask for God’s blessing and guidance for the Mayor. We couldn’t have asked for a better day, the sun was shining and Sydney and I were joined by our family, friends, colleagues from the Council, civic dignitaries and representatives of local organisations. At 10am, led by the Adamson Military Band , we set off in procession from Ryecroft Hall in Audenshaw to Trinity Church.

On arrival at church, we were warmly welcomed by the Mayor’s Chaplain, The Reverend Kim Ratcliffe. It was a beautiful service and Kim and the whole congregation at Trinity Church worked very hard to ensure that everybody felt included and at ease.

Following the service, we then processed back to Ryecroft Hall where it was my pleasure to invite the members of the parade indoors for a cup of tea.

It was such a very special occasion and Sydney and I are grateful to all those people who worked so hard to ensure the event ran smoothly and who gave up their time to join us for a day we will never forget.

And that brings another week to end.

Thank you for your time. I hope to see you again soon.

Best wishes.

Week Commencing Monday 21st June 2010

What a beautiful week it has been, I hope you are all enjoying this lovely weather.

Well Sydney and I have had a very busy but really wonderful week.

Engagements began on Monday morning when I was invited to the launch of the Little Angels Breast Feeding and Nutrition  in Tameside. The event was held at West End Methodist Church in Ashton to coincide with the start of National Breast Feeding Week. Commissioned by Tameside and Glossop Primary Care Trust , Little Angels will provide breastfeeding support to families in this area. It was nice to meet everybody involved especially some of the families and little babies who will benefit from this new service here in the Borough.

On Tuesday afternoon, Sydney and I attended the first of this year’s Tameside Pupil Achievement Awards at Dukinfield Town Hall. Each year, schools across the Borough are invited to nominate two pupils to receive an achievement award to recognise good academic attainment and/or excellent progress. It was a lovely event and we were pleased to lend our support and to help with the presentation of awards.

Later, we visited St Thomas More RC College in Denton for a concert which was the culmination of a project carried out by the world famous Hallé Orchestra  with four schools in Tameside. Pupils from St Thomas More and three of its feeder schools, St John Fisher RC Primary School, St Mary’s RC Primary School and Manor Green Primary School, have taken part in the Hallé’s ‘Adopt-a-Player’ scheme. Each school had been assigned their very own Hallé musician and these musicians had previously visited the schools on three separate occasions to inform the children about their life as a musician, answer questions and also to work with them in creating a unique composition of music. The children had also had the opportunity to attend a Hallé concert at the Bridgewater Hall  in Manchester to see their musician perform. To bring the project to a close, all four schools came together to perform their compositions to family and friends and Sydney and I were delighted to be invited to the performance. It was a great evening and all the young people performed brilliantly. It was good to see them enjoying the occasion and their music so much.

On Wednesday morning, we headed over to Manchester Crown Court for the Ceremonial Hanging of the High Sheriff’s Portrait. Mr Anil Ruia OBE JP DL  is the High Sheriff of Greater Manchester and he has the duty to “protect and assist in upholding the dignity and well being of Her Majesty’s judges and to represent the Queens executive powers in respect of the administration of justice in the county”. In addition to his role as "Keeper of The Queens Peace in the County", other important duties include looking after the High Court judges when they are sitting in Manchester Crown Court. The High Sheriff of Greater Manchester holds the post for one year and automatically becomes an ex officio trustee of the Greater Manchester High Sheriff's Police Trust  during their year of office. Sydney and I were pleased to be present on this historic occasion as Anil signed the Roll of High Sheriffs and proudly watched as his portrait was hung in the Courts of Justice.

On Thursday evening, we were invited to a Preview of ‘Open Art 2010’ – Tameside’s annual open art exhibition. This fabulous exhibition is on display at Central Art Gallery in Ashton and is definitely worth a visit. We really do have many wonderfully talented artists in our Borough and it was lovely to have the opportunity to be able to see some of their work.

On Friday morning, Sydney and I hosted a visit to the Mayor’s Parlour by a small group of children from Belarus. These incredible young people are visiting the area as guests of the Chernobyl Children Lifetime Charity . Belarus received over 70% of the radioactive fallout from the Chernobyl nuclear explosion in April 1986 and as a result, thousands are born every year, or go on to develop, thyroid cancer, bone cancer and leukaemia. Since 1992, Chernobyl Children Lifeline has brought child victims of the Chernobyl disaster to the UK for recuperative breaks with host families, allowing the children the opportunity to recharge their immune systems by eating fresh food and breathing fresh air for a few weeks.

It was wonderful to meet them and to share the excitement and happiness that their holiday has brought.

After waving goodbye to the children, we quickly jumped into the car and travelled over to Hattersley Community Centre to attend a 1st anniversary party at the invitation of the Freedom Club.

The Freedom Club is a social group for people with mental and physical disabilities. Originally, the club began a year ago at the Zion Congregational Church in Hyde, but due to its success, has recently had to move to a new and much bigger base at Hattersley Community Centre. It was great to be able to join the birthday celebrations and to meet everybody involved and also to see just how much the club means to them all.

On Friday evening, Sydney and I had a lovely evening at Audenshaw Masonic Hall with the ladies of Soroptimist International of Ashton-under-Lyne . We were invited to attend the group’s annual dinner and we had a wonderful time. We now look forward to working with the new President, Mrs Linda Fayers and her members at various events throughout year.

On Saturday morning, we were delighted to be able to attend Tameside’s first ‘Big Dance’ event on Ashton Market Ground. Organised by the Council’s Sport Services, the ‘Big Dance’ provided a wonderful array of dance performances from across the Borough. The day was free of charge and also offered workshops for the whole family to try in the hope of encouraging more people to get active through dance. It was lovely to see so many people getting involved and having fun.

From here, we headed over to Denton for the Tameside Armed Forces Day  event in Victoria Park. Once again Tameside Council was delighted to join the whole nation on this special day in showing its appreciation for the contribution made by all those men and women who serve or who have served in Her Majesty’s Armed Forces.

The event began with a small parade led by the Adamson Band  from Denton Town Hall to the War Memorial in the park where there was an opening ceremony and a short service led by the Reverend Shirley Harrison.

Following the service, there was a fantastic programme of entertainment throughout the afternoon including a war-time tribute singer and a dramatic performance of poetry and song by Falklands veterans Andy Farrell and Darren Poyzer.

All in all it was a very special day and a fitting tribute our incredibly brave servicemen and women.

On Sunday, the sun shone once again and it was a perfect day for the annual Stalybridge Festival . Sydney and I were pleased to be able to join the Carnival Parade as it made its way through the streets of Stalybridge and into Cheethams Park. It was lovely to see so many people, especially family groups enjoying the event and the glorious weather.

Following the parade, we made our way over to Werneth Low for the annual Peace Day Service at the War Memorial. Each year, the members of the Hyde War Memorial Trust  and the Country Park Rangers host this event to remember and give thanks to those men and women who have given their lives in all conflicts, in order to bring freedom for ourselves and future generations. It was a beautiful service led by The Reverend Mark Bennett and supported by representatives of The Royal British Legion .

For our final engagement of the week, we visited Hollingworth Conservative Club for another Armed Forces Day celebration. The event was very well attended and it was wonderful to see once again so many people supporting the occasion – a lovely way to end a wonderful week.

Thank you for joining me.

I hope to see you again soon.

Best wishes.

Week Commencing Monday 14th June 2010

Hello everybody, thank you for joining me.

Well I have been in office for almost a month now and I can’t believe how quickly the time is flying by.

My official engagements began on Tuesday this week when Sydney and I attended our first Citizenship Ceremony at Dukinfield Town Hall. We had really lovely afternoon and it was a pleasure to meet and formally welcome the Borough’s new citizens and their families.

Later, we visited the 103rd Regiment Royal Artillery  TA Centre in Belle Vue, Manchester for a Greater Manchester Garrison Army Briefing Evening. It was a very interesting and informative evening aimed to give guests an insight into the Army and its work within our local community, both Regular and TA.

On Wednesday evening we were invited to join the Tameside South District Scouts  at their Annual General Meeting. As Civic Mayor, I am also the President of the Scout District and I was delighted to be able to support the meeting and to learn about some of the wonderful achievements, experiences and successes obtained by our young people and their scout leaders over the last 12 months.

There were no Mayoral engagements on Thursday and Friday but on Saturday Sydney and I attended the Crowning of the Church Rose Queen, Libby at St George’s Church in Mossley . It was a lovely occasion and I am grateful to Libby and her family for inviting us along to share their very special day.

Well it was an extremely busy but enjoyable day on Sunday and I am so pleased the weather held out for everybody as there were so many events being held outdoors.

The day began with a visit to Haughton Green Methodist Church  for a Bi-centenary Service. It was a beautiful service led by The Reverend Martin Smithson who was the Minister of the Church from 1981 to 1986.

From here, we headed over to Sam Redfern Green for the Annual Gee Cross Fete organised by the Rotary Club of Hyde . I was sorry to only be able to stay an hour as it was a great family day with lots of exciting events and activities and it was very well organised, but duty called and Sydney and I jumped back in the car to visit Ashton Market Ground and the annual Ashton Town Centre Vintage and Classic Car Show.

We had a wonderful time viewing the vehicles and chatting to the owners and we had the very difficult task of selecting just one of the cars to receive the Mayor’s Trophy.

To round off the day, we walked over to Old Cross Street Car Park for the town’s annual Walk of Witness and Open Air Service. It was lovely to see so many young people and families enjoying the day and taking the time to participate in this traditional event.

And that’s it for this week.

Looking at my diary, we have a really busy schedule lined up for next week.

I hope you will join me again.

With every good wish.

Week Commencing Monday 7th June 2010

Hello again,

As it was still the school holidays here in Tameside, the week started off very quietly but we were busy on Thursday and Friday.

On Thursday morning, Sydney and I were pleased to attend the launch of the new Shopping Link Service at the invitation of the Opening Doors for Older People Project.

This wonderful new initiative will provide a home to supermarket transport service for older people and people who are unable to access public transport. Not only will the service provide better access to fresh food shopping, but it will also allow people the opportunity to make new friends whilst on the bus and for them to take the time to have a coffee and a chat whilst waiting for the return journey. It is hoped the service will help promote healthy eating, increased independence and choice, as well as reducing social isolation. It really is a fabulous scheme and I send my thanks to everybody associated with the new service along with my good wishes for every success.

Later, we visited New Charter Academy  in Ashton for a Multi-Cultural celebration. I was amazed to learn that there are in fact 26 different nationalities at the school. The event had been organised to recognise and to celebrate these different nationalities. The evening included entertainment and food tasting and it was lovely to take part and to meet the pupils and staff of the school.

On Friday morning, we were invited to a Homewatch  Awareness Day at the invitation of LARA (Lincoln Avenue Residents Association) in Droylsden. As a local resident, it was a great honour for me to attend in my official capacity as Civic Mayor. The members of the Residents Association, together with the local Police, do a wonderful job throughout the year and this Fun Day provided the perfect opportunity to highlight and celebrate the excellent services that are available to our local community and to advise residents where they can go to for information and assistance. The event was well attended and deemed a great success by everybody involved.

From here, Sydney and I travelled over to Hyde Town Hall to attend a concert as part of the Hyde Live Lunchtime Concert Series. We were entertained by the sounds of Jager Brass who were absolutely brilliant and who captivated the audience with both classical pieces and also some more modern day music.

And that brings another Mayoral week to a close.

Thank you for joining me. I hope to see you again soon.

Best wishes.

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