A huge privilege to serve the community and our wonderful borough

BECOMING Mayor of Rochdale, the place I am proud to call home, is the honour of my life and it will be such a huge privilege to serve the community and our wonderful borough as its civic head and first citizen.

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My mayor making ceremony was a lovely evening, and to be surrounded by family, friends, councillor colleagues and residents from across the borough made it all the more special.

Having the ceremony held in our stunning, newly restored, Grade 1 building added to the splendour of the occasion.

Our town hall was built as a symbol of civic pride, it is exactly that pride that I want to bottle and share with every part of our rich and diverse borough during the year ahead.

I am looking forward to visit ing our towns and villages, schools and colleges, businesses and industries, charities and voluntary groups, health settings and care homes.

Across the borough, I will be reaching out to every part of our pioneering community with its proud co-operative history, rooted in the present, with more than a glimpse to a brighter future which makes it such a wonderful place to live, work and grow up in.

I have always passionately championed the arts and culture and this will be at the heart of my work over the next 12 months. Throughout my mayoral year, there will be a focus on literature, music, theatre, dance, heritage, arts and crafts.