The Citizen 50 - Page 2
Ashton-Under-Lyne 
Audenshaw Denton Droylsden Dukinfield Hyde Longdendale Mossley Stalybridge
Page 2
Local firms hard at work
If Tameside Works First has worked anywhere, it is at the borough’s eight cemeteries, where local firms have been hard at it since February.
The pioneering £10 million scheme was labelled a crunch-busting package when it was announced in late January with the aim of helping small and medium-size enterprises.
Within four weeks, Three Colours Decorators was hard at work at Dukinfield Cemetery, renovating the memorial lodge and chapel. The Stalybridge firm had been hard-hit by the recession and owner Colin Skehan was delighted to get the contract.
Electrical work at the Dukinfield memorial lodge has been carried out by another Stalybridge company, Complete Building Services. Censors have been fitted so that the lights in each room are only activated when someone enters.
As well as helping the local economy, this move will result in energy savings, thus helping the environment.
And two men who had been unemployed for several months were taken on at Dukinfield to do general maintenance work over the summer.
Audenshaw company Classic Maintenance has installed new gates at Dukinfield, and Droylsden Glass and Ashton firm B Hall Tree Surgeons have been employed at Hyde Cemetery. Cheshire Services, based in Dukinfield, has created a car park at Hurst.
Following strict legal procedures, kerbs are to be removed from around derelict graves at Mottram in order to improve the appearance of the cemetery. Masons and builders from across Tameside have been employed to anchor memorials or, if necessary, to inlay them.
Inlaying is the laying down of the stones so that they are level with the ground. This means that they cease to be a danger while ensuring that the historical information recorded on them remains visible. Ground maintenance can easily be carried out and feedback from members of the public has been excellent.
Monuments of local interest, such as the First World War memorial at the entrance to Dukinfield Cemetery, unveiled in 1921, have been renovated.
Dukinfield mason BA Hodcroft is working on a new memorial scheme for the people who are cremated. This supports the charter for the bereaved, provides families with more choice and improves the grounds.
Future work includes the completion of the footpath repair programme and projects such as reinstating the water feature at Droylsden Cemetery.
And Hyde company Furnace Construction has won a £400,000 contract to install mercury abatement equipment at Dukinfield Crematorium in accordance with EU directives.
Senior registrar Mike Gurney said: “Bereavement Services has used the extra money from Tameside Works First to improve the services it offers.
“The public are already noticing the difference and many of the contractors we are using have told us that without some of this work they could well have folded.”
Young apprentices graduate
Move over Alan Sugar - there’s a new batch of apprentices in Tameside and they’re graduates of the council’s Young Apprenticeship scheme.
Fourteen 14-16 year olds joined the Young Apprenticeship scheme in 2007 to help acquire skills in business, administration and finance. They worked for one day across the council in services such as facilities, exchequer, arts and events, primary catering and neighbourhood and community.
The pupils came from Copley, Hyde and New Charter schools and worked in partnership with the council and training provider Skills Solutions.
As well as spending one day a week in their council placement, an additional day was spent with Skills Solutions course tutor Cath Murphy. She helped them to achieve the qualifications needed for the award, including NVQs, technical certificates and key skills. Several took additional qualifications relevant to the service area they were working in, such as IT and food hygiene.
Copley High School hosted the group for the day’s classroom learning and topics were enriched by additional visits to universities, Manchester’s courts, banks and other commercial premises.
“We really see fantastic results from this scheme,” said Cllr Allison Gwynne, executive member for children’s services, “ We see the young people’s confidence and self-esteem grow significantly over the two years as they get involved with services and work with adults and members of the public. It’s great for developing their employability skills and introducing them to a working environment.”
An additional group of business, administration and finance Young Apprentices are now participating in the council’s scheme, and a new group is due to start in September 2009.
Jobs boost
The future’s looking bright for Tameside’s young unemployed. The borough is to receive at least £5 million from the Government’s Future Jobs Fund.
And that should help to create around 700 six-month job opportunities for 18 to 24-year-olds who have been out of work for 12 months or more.
The programme will last for a year and a half and, in co-operation with its partners, Tameside Council already identified a pool of more than 200 potential six-month placements which can be filled three times over the duration of the 18-month scheme.
Many are likely to come through the pioneering Tameside Works First scheme which was launched in January to provide a boost for the borough’s small and medium-size enterprises during the global economic downturn.
Chancellor Alistair Darling announced the Future Jobs Fund during the March Budget. It is a £1 billion government initiative to create around 150,000 jobs, each of which will be paid at least the National Minimum Wage.
Work will be awarded by the Department of Work and Pensions 
as part of the new Young Person’s Guarantee - an offer of work or training to every 18 to 24-year-old in Britain who is at risk of becoming long-term unemployed.
The money will be used to create jobs in public services over and above normal levels of spending. It will be used for projects as diverse as street repairs, housing refurbishment, in galleries and museums, and in the care sector. The first opportunities should become available in October.
Cllr Roy Oldham, the executive leader of Tameside Council, said: “The Future Jobs Fund will provide a very important boost to our efforts, giving us new resources and opening up new opportunities to get thousands of people into important jobs providing paid work.”
The Association of Greater Manchester Authorities (AGMA) approved the bid, which is being co-ordinated by the Commission for the New Economy.
Hyde Group and council move to help young people
Young people have pole position in an exciting new project which Tameside Council launched in July.
Confident that sports car construction can lead to constructive behaviour, the authority has bought three Caterham 7 kits for youngsters to build. The vehicle is based on the Lotus 7 - the type of car driven by Patrick McGoohan in the cult television series “The Prisoner”.
The scheme, which has been organised in conjunction with the Hyde Group of Companies, was launched by the Executive Leader of Tameside Council, Cllr Roy Oldham, who waved off Sarah Barber (above) as she prepares to start the Caterham Challenge. He came up with the idea during discussions with the Hyde Group on how they could work together to find a scheme which would benefit the boroughs youth.
Sarah, the Hyde Group’s quality systems manager, headed west in a Caterham 7 to start a sponsored drive from Land’s End to John o’Groats. Willow Wood Hospice , Ashton, will be one of three charities benefiting from the challenge, alongside the Macmillan Nurses and Wales Air Ambulance .
Cllr Oldham said: “Tameside Council is buying three kits and one will go to each of the borough’s parliamentary constituencies - Ashton-under-Lyne, Denton and Reddish, and Stalybridge and Hyde.
"Young people are understandably interested in cars and the chance to build a quality sports car gives them the ideal opportunity to channel their energy to a constructive end, learn new skills and gain opportunities".
Cash boost for Tameside roads
Motorists in Tameside will benefit from a share of £45m for additional repairs and safety measures on local roads.
Tameside is one of four areas in Greater Manchester, alongside Oldham, Stockport and Rochdale, that will receive a share of the cash boost, which will fund safety repairs and maintenancework on retaining walls.
Government Transport Minister Sadiq Khan, (pictured with Cllr Oldham) who visited Ashton Town Hall in July, said: "I’m delighted to be able to announce this new Government funding which will allow important works to be carried out on the Greater Manchester road network.
"These will bring long-term benefits for all those travelling in the area, whether for business or leisure, by preventing future problems which would cause disruption and delays for motorists.”
Tameside Council Executive Leader Cllr Roy Oldham said: "We very much welcome this funding. Investment to the borough's roads is crucial to the area's success - not only in improving transport links, but in the economic growth and prosperity that it will generate."
The Government will provide £33.43 million immediately with a further £7.09m to follow when all the necessary consent has been received. Tameside Council is joining the other three local authorities to contribute £4.5 million.
Major retaining walls in Tameside that will form part of this scheme include: Stamford Street, Stalybridge; Park Road, Dukinfield; Manchester Road, Wakefield Road and Stockport Road in Mossley and; Mottram Road, Hattersley.
