Madam Mayor's Diary
Friday 4th January
We attended the Showmans Guild of Great Britain’s annual luncheon at the Park Hall Hotel, Chorley. My Consort and I had an excellent lunch and enjoyed meeting some of the fairground personnel, as well as many of the Mayors from the North West.
Saturday 5th January
We attended the Salfordian Trustees Annual Dinner at the Salfordian Hotel, Southport. As I am one of the trustees and the trust is one of my charities, I was very happy to be invited and to meet with the other trustees and to be brought up to date with all that has happened in the past 7 months. I also had an opportunity to see the improvements made to the hotel since I took office.
Sunday 6th January
My Consort and I attended Manchester Cathedral for a service of thanksgiving to mark the retirement of Bishop David, the Bishop of Bolton.
Monday 7th January
I chaired the Council Agenda Setting Group at the Civic Centre. Following this I welcomed Mrs. Carole Chan and her mother into the Mayor’s Parlour. They had come to discuss a charity fund raising event for my Mayors Charity Appeal. It is to be a karaoke evening at Charlies Club in Manchester. I am really looking forward to the night and I hope lots of money will be raised for my charities.
Thursday 10th January
I chaired a meeting of my Charity Committee and I am pleased to say all is going well and quite a few events have now been organised including my Charity Ball on February 15th at Buile Hill Banqueting Hall, Salford. If you wish to know more about the events for my charities please contact Elaine Watts at Salford Civic Centre.
In the evening my Mayoress and I attended St. Georges Handicapped and Able Bodied club for the pensioners Christmas Party. We were entertained by a very good singer and played a few games of bingo. Sadly I didn’t win but we had a good time.
Friday 11th January
We welcomed a delegation of 20 Chinese people from the Taiyuan City Government, who are currently attending Manchester Business School. They were attending a presentation on financial management at Salford Civic Centre and I was asked to welcome them to Salford in the Mayor’s Parlour. I was thrilled to meet them and was very impressed with their eagerness to learn about Salford and the Mayoral chains. The short time I had with the delegation passed very quickly but I will always remember their visit.
Monday 14 January
I began the week at Manchester Crown Court to attend the Reading of the Proclamation. This was a short ceremony to witness the reading by a High Court Judge, in the presence of the Lord Mayor of Manchester, myself and the High Court Judges for Greater Manchester.
Tuesday 15 January
My consort and I met with Dave King, Director of City Light Trust, to discuss the week of prayer held in 2007. We reflected on the week and also on the evening of prayer held at the Salford Civic Centre. We also discussed the future work of the City Light Trust.
Following this we attended the Annual General Meeting of Court at University House, Salford University. Several Mayors from Greater Manchester attended too. It was good to hear the university is doing well and has a promising future.
We then attended a Citizenship Ceremony at Salford Civic Centre, when 36 foreign nationals took British Citizenship. After the ceremony I congratulated them all and lots of photographs were taken with the new citizens.
Wednesday 16 January
I chaired the City Council meeting held at the Civic Centre.
Thursday 17 January
My Mayoress and I were invited to the Rotary Club of Irlam’s Charter Night Dinner at the Rhinewood Hotel, Glazebrook. We had a very good night and learned a great deal of what the rotary is all about.
Friday 18 January
I welcomed Barbara Keeley, MP into the Mayor’s Parlour to receive a cheque from her for my charity. Barbara had run the Manchester 5k race and received £250.00 sponsorship from Peel Holdings. I was very grateful for the cheque and thanked Barbara and Peel Holdings for their generosity.
Saturday 19 January
My Consort and I attended the Greater Manchester County Royal British Legion Annual Conference held at the City of Salford RBL Branch, Ordsall District Centre, Salford. It was my pleasure to welcome the delegates to Salford and wish them well for the future. Sir John Timmins, the retired Lord Lieutenant opened the Conference and appointed the new Lord Lieutenant of Greater Manchester, Warren Smith as the new County President of Greater Manchester. The main address came from Mrs P. Fowler-Watts the manager of Lister House, who informed the delegates of the work being carried out at the home for ex service personnel.
Sunday 20 January
Just when I thought Christmas was all over, my Consort and I were invited to the Association of Ukrainians Annual Christmas Concert held at the Ukrainian Community Centre, Bolton. We were joined by the Lord Mayor of Manchester, the Mayors of Bolton and Bury and over 100 members of the Ukrainian community. We had a splendid afternoon listening to the Ukrainian carols and watching many traditional dances from the performers all dressed in their colourful national dress.
Monday 21 January
My Consort and I visited Salford Probation Office. We had a very interesting presentation on some of the work undertaken by the people on community service. We also had an opportunity to talk to the probation staff and some of the residents of Salford who benefited from the service delivered by the probationers.
Thursday 24 January
My Mayoress and I visited Buile Hill Park Hall to firm up the arrangements for my Charity Ball on 15th February. Over 200 tickets have been sold and it looks as though it will be a successful night. I hope to raise lots of money for my charities.
Friday 25 January
I attended the Salford Children’s Book Award Ceremony at The Lowry, Salford Quays. This is an initiative organised by the schools library service to encourage pupils age 11-14 to read more widely. The children read a number of books by different authors. They then vote on a winner and no one knows until the day who has won.
Later on we were invited to The Lowry Hotel for a cocktail party alongside 400 guests from the North West business world. The hotel had put on the party to say thank you to all the business people who had used the hotel in the past.
In the evening we joined the Murphy family and many guests at Worsley Golf Club to celebrate Councillor Joe and Mrs. Dot Murphy’s Golden Wedding. It was a very special night for them and also for me as Dot and Joe had requested no gifts but donations to my Mayor’s Charity Appeal. I thank each and every one for their very generous donations.
Monday 28 January
I was delighted to welcome to the Mayor’s Parlour for lunch Mr. and Mrs. Rose, who has fostered children from Salford for over 30 years. Mrs. Jones who serves as a magistrate in Salford and was instrumental in setting up community justice in Salford and Professor Eileen Fairhurst, the Chairman of Salford PCT, who were all awarded the MBE. I was eager to congratulate them on their awards and was very interested in the work they had done, in so many different ways, for the residents of Salford.
In the evening my Consort and I attended a reception to meet the Bishop of Manchester at St. Mary’s Church Hall, Cadishead. The bishop is on a parish pilgrimage around the diocese. It was a pleasure to see him again and to hear the words of encouragement to his congregation.
Tuesday 29 January
My Consort and I sold raffle tickets to the staff at the Civic Centre to raise funds for my Mayor's charities.
In the afternoon I attended a Citizenship Ceremony when 19 applicants were sworn in as British citizens. After the ceremony I invited them into the parlour for tea and biscuits when many photographs were taken.
Wednesday 30 January
The day started with an invitation to attend the open day at the Salvation Army, James Street Centre. I heard a great deal about the centre and the work carried out there for homeless men, enabling them to get back on track into work and eventually into their own property and therefore breaking the cycle of homelessness. It was also interesting to hear of the plans for the future when the centre will be open to women as well.
Following our visit to the Salvation Army my Consort and I went on to St. Philip’s Primary School, Salford, to hear the young people show off their creative music making. The school had been chosen by “create” an arts charity to help pupils improve numerical ability through music. We enjoyed their performance and I congratulated them on their achievements and wished them well for the future
We then attended the Charlesstown and Lower Kersal in Bloom AGM and celebration at St. Sebastians Community Centre, Salford. I said a few words and congratulated them on their work over the past year and hoped that the coming year will be as successful.
After a quick change of clothes at the Civic Centre we went along to a commemorative event for National Holocaust Memorial Day at Buile Hill Banqueting Suite, Salford. It was very moving to hear the sad story from a lady who had to flee from Germany who eventually arrived in Britain but lost her father and her extended family in the holocaust. Several schools also took part in the event with short plays and songs. The theme was to remember and also to ensure it never happens again.
Thursday 31 January
This day was dedicated to raising funds for my charities. In the morning my Mayoress and I spent a few hours in Walkden Centre selling raffle tickets and in the evening we attended a quiz night organised by Cllr John Warmisham at the Civic Centre. It was good fun and raised over £400.00 for my charities. Thank you John.
Friday 1 February
My Consort and I, together with Georgina Burrows, a student who was shadowing me for the day, attended an event for high school students to commemorate National Holocaust Memorial Day. Once again it was a very moving experience. We heard from two speakers, one who told the story of his mother and how she came to England and one from a man who survived the holocaust and his journey through Poland throughout the war. It is something I will never forget. The theme for this year was “Imagine, Remember, Reflect, React” the events certainly encouraged us to do just that. .
We came back to the Civic Centre for a light lunch and for Georgina to ask questions and have a look round. I hope she enjoyed meeting us.
This page was last updated on 26 February 2008
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