Mayoral Blog

Councillor Susan Quinn

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 26 September 2011

Well it’s been a very exciting week for the Borough.

Engagements began on Monday evening when I was pleased to host a Reception for residents from Park House Sheltered Housing Scheme in Droylsden in the Mayor’s Parlour.

And then on Tuesday, Kieran and I were delighted and extremely proud to be involved in the visit to Tameside by His Royal Highness The Duke of Gloucester . His Royal Highness started his day at Tameside College  before taking the time to officially open the new Tameside Centre for Enterprise   in St Petersfield and the new Hartshead South Building at Tameside Hospital . It was a wonderful day and a historic occasion for the people of Tameside.

On Wednesday afternoon, I attended a Citizenship Ceremony at Dukinfield Town Hall before visiting Tame Street Garage in Stalybridge to make presentations to a group of young people who have just completed the second project in the Council’s Caterham Sports Car Scheme.

After six months of work, three vehicles have been built and are ready to be returned to Caterham in exchange for three new kits which will be the basis of the next project.

Seven young people have been involved in the scheme, which has the backing of Tameside College and the council’s own youth service alongside the Police, New Charter, Community Transport and the Tameside Patrollers, all of whom provided volunteers to support and mentor the young people. The scheme was originally inspired by the Hyde Group , who used Caterham kits to help their new graduate entrants get hands-on experience of mechanics and engineering.

All the young people and their mentors have worked exceptionally hard and I was delighted to have this opportunity to extend my congratulations and good wishes to them.

On Thursday evening, I was pleased to welcome guests to the Mayor’s Parlour from the Dukinfield Ladies Group. The ladies work very hard within our local community fundraising and offering practical assistance to many good causes and it was lovely to be able to thank them for their kindness.

On Friday, I visited Greatwood House in Denton for the 100th birthday of Mrs Karoline Savident and on Saturday evening, Kieran and I had a great night at the Festival Theatre in Hyde at the theatre’s professional production of “The Airborne Adventure of Elizabeth and Jeanne” supported by the Tameside Arts and Events Team. It’s fantastic to see the quality of theatre being produced within the Borough and I’d definitely recommend an evening out at the Festival Theatre.

To bring the week to a close, on Sunday, I had lovely afternoon at Etherow Lodge Park in Hollingworth. The Friends of the Park had organised a Country Crafts and Family Fun Day. There had obviously been a great deal of thought and effort put into the day and it was good to see so many people enjoying the fun and activities.

And that’s it for another week.

Thank you for joining me.

Best wishes

Week Commencing Monday 12 September 2011

Hello again,

Engagements began this week on Tuesday evening when I attended a meeting of Full Council at Ashton Town Hall.

On Thursday, I took part in an interview with Tameside Radio  to chat about my Firefighter’s Experience Day last week with the Greater Manchester Fire and Rescue Service .

On Friday, I was pleased to attend the Annual General Meeting of Home Start   Tameside, together with their Annual Volunteers Awards Ceremony at Denton Methodist Church Hall. Home Start offers free support, friendship and practical help to families with children under 5. The organisation does some wonderful work within the Borough and it was an honour for me to lend my support to this event.

Later, Kieran and I were delighted to attend the Annual Malayan Veterans Dinner at Ashton Town Hall. It was a wonderful evening and it was a pleasure to share this special event with the veterans and their families.

I had a lovely afternoon on Saturday in Hyde Park for The Park Café’s Autumn Scarecrow Festival. It was great fun hunting for the scarecrows in the park and town centre and taking part in the many activities on offer.

From here, I headed over to Holme Lea Care Centre in Stalybridge for the 100th birthday of Mrs Emma Richardson and later in the evening, I watched a fabulous production of ‘The Rise and Fall of Little Voice’ courtesy of the Mossley Amateur Operatic and Dramatic Society .

On Sunday, I was invited to the official opening of The Colonel Mary Creagh County Headquarters and Cadet Training Centre for the Greater Manchester Army Cadet Force  in Hawkshaw, Bury. The opening ceremony was conducted by General Sir Nick Parker, Commander in Chief Land Forces  and it was a very important day for everybody associated with the County’s Army Cadets.

And that’s it for this week.

Thank you for joining me.

Best wishes.

Week Commencing Monday 12 September 2011

Hello again, thank you for joining me.

Engagements began this week on Monday afternoon when I had the pleasure of visiting Sunnyside Care Home in Droylsden for the 100th birthday of Mrs Lillian Taylor. It was lovely to meet Mrs Taylor and to be able to extend my good wishes on her special day.

In the evening, I was delighted to welcome volunteers from Prime Youth Club  in Droylsden. The volunteers do so much for the young people in the local area and it was wonderful to be able to pay back some of their kindness and to say thank you and well done.

On Wednesday morning, I attended the Tameside Training Consortium 6th Annual Conference for Social Care at Dukinfield Town Hall. The event included a very amusing monologue from two lovely ladies who were both in their 90’s.

Later, I was pleased to welcome to the Town Hall a group of ladies from the Fairfield Moravian Church  Wednesday Fellowship Group.

On Thursday morning, I felt very honoured to be asked to officially open proceedings at the West Villa Mental Health Information and Resource Centre Open Day in Dukinfield. Mental health problems will affect 1 in 4 people across Tameside it is therefore important that there is the support and information available to help people to cope for themselves and their families and friends. I was delighted to lend my support to this event in a bid to encourage people to learn more about the facilities and services provided by the team at West Villa.

Later in the day, I met with Mrs Lucille Cohen the President of the Jewish Representative Council of Greater Manchester , together with some of her Honorary Officers and, in the evening, I attended the Annual Prize Giving Ceremony at Audenshaw School .

On Friday, I had a fantastic morning with the other Civic Heads of Greater Manchester at the County Fire and Rescue Service Training Centre in Manchester. The purpose of the event was to give the Mayors of Greater Manchester a small insight into the role of a Firefighter. It was a fantastic day which allowed us the opportunity to gain some hands-on experience of some of the tasks our firefighters encounter on a daily basis.

In the evening, I was pleased to lend my support to a Charity Fashion Show at Hyde Town Hall in aid of Willow Wood Wood Hospice . The event had been organised by my friend and colleague Councillor Helen Bowden and the members of the Hyde Ladies Forum. It was a lovely evening for a very worthwhile cause.

On Saturday morning, I attended a charity event at Fairfield House Sheltered Housing Scheme in Droylsden in aid of ‘Destination Florida’ – a charity providing holidays of a lifetime for poorly ill children and, in the afternoon, Kieran and I attended a tea party and unveiling of the Memorial Stone at Littlemoss Memorial Gardens.

The Memorial Garden has been successfully refurbished from an almost derelict site and has now been transformed with the help of funding from Forever Manchester  and Section 106 Monies allocated by the local Ward Councillors, together with a tremendous amount of hard work and perseverance by the Friends Group. Despite the wet weather, the event was well attended and we had lovely afternoon.

From here, I headed over to the Victoria Park Community Centre in Denton for the Denton Local History Society Annual Exhibition, ‘Denton through the Years’ - a wonderful exhibition depicting various aspects of life in the town.

On Sunday, Kieran and I attended a Charity Cricket Match at Denton St Lawrence Cricket Club  in aid of Haughton Green Young People’s Centre. The match featured teams made up of ex-Manchester City footballers and ex-County Cricketers. It was a great event and I know everybody associated with the young people’s centre appreciated the time and good will donated by the players and the many spectators.

On Sunday evening, I was invited to present the prizes at the Denton and District Chrysanthemum and Dahlia Society  Annual Show. This year, the show was held at Denton West End Community Centre and once again it provided a beautiful display – it really was the perfect way to end a very enjoyable week.

And that’s it for this week.

Thank you for joining me.

Take care and I hope to see you again soon.

Best wishes.

Week Commencing Monday 5 September 2011

Hello everyone, I hope you had a good summer.

Well things are back to normal again now after the holidays and invitations are coming into the office thick and fast.

Official engagements began this week on Monday afternoon when I took part in a photocall, at Ashton Town Hall, with Macmillan Cancer Support  to help publicise their forthcoming, flagship fundraising event ‘The World’s Biggest Coffee Morning’ on 30 September.

On Thursday afternoon I visited the Tameside Local Studies and Archives Centre for the launch of a new web-based Regimental Photographic Images Collection. The digitisation of this wonderful and historic collection of photographs means that anyone worldwide, with access to a computer, can now view and, if they wish, obtain their own copies of photographs from the Manchester Regiment Photographic Archive.

On Friday lunchtime, I attended the John Nugent University Scholarships 2011 Awards  Presentation at the invitation of The Stamford Group Ltd  and later I was pleased to attend the unveiling of a brown plaque at Tameside Hospital  to commemorate the Ashton Union Workhouse which opened in 1851.

I had an early start on Saturday when I visited St George’s Church in Hyde for a Heritage Open Day before travelling to Mossley for a Scarecrow Festival organised by the local churches. I had the very difficult job of helping to judge the competition. The quality of entries was exceptionally high and I was pleased and extremely proud to be involved in the event.

From here, I attended the Hollingworth Carnival Fete at Wedneshough Green.

On Sunday, it was Carnival time once again and Kieran and I were delighted to be able to take part in the annual Denton and Audenshaw Carnival Parade .

Of course Sunday was also the 10th anniversary of the September 11 terrorist attacks in America and Kieran and I were invited to attend a special commemorative event at the Imperial War Museum North  .

The event included the world premiere of a specially composed symphonic work by Kevin Malone, Head of Composition at the University of Manchester  . The music was performed live on both sides of the Atlantic and internet-streamed between the Museum and Wake Forest University  in North Carolina. Sir Howard Bernstein, Chief Executive of Manchester City Council  also addressed the audience here and in the United States via the live link. It was a very moving occasion which reminded us all of the horror and sheer devastation caused by the attacks on the World Trade Centre in New York in September 2001.

That’s it for this week.

Thank you for joining me.

Kind regards.

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