Mayor’s column
WE both hope you found our last column, which gave a brief overview of the mayoral regalia, interesting and informative. That came about as January is a quiet month for Mayoral activities which gave us time to recover from our very busy, but immensely enjoyable December timetable.
Late in January we enjoyed a meal at the Ashoka restaurant which raised funds for our chosen charities; perhaps a reminder of these would be appropriate here.
Rubicon is an excellent organisation developed by and for people with mental health problems. There is real joy in their meetings and those who help run the project have my constant praise.
Vision is a young people’s Christian organisation based in Waterfoot whose mission is to try and nurture a Christian ethos in the young people of the valley, a task they complete with some success.
The White Horse Project is a young people’s help group based in the ‘Boiler House’ in Waterfoot, manned by many volunteers including leadership from St Anne’s, Edgeside.
We are also looking to support a few other young people’s organisations as yet undecided but we thank all those of the valley who have contributed to our fund to lend much needed support to these worthy groups.
The mayor was honoured to be a guest at the Walmersley Golf Club Dinner which was approached by one of the most interesting drives I’ve been on and I got to meet Agyness Deyn’s dad into the bargain!
Our second visit of our year to Dansworks’ prizegiving ceremony was just as exciting as our first visit back in September last year; there is such a lot of talent being developed in this group so well done to all concerned.
On the same day we attended a celebration service at Vision headquarters in Woodlee Mission in Waterfoot and were treated to a celebration of all the exciting developments they are involved in.
At the start of February we helped judge the ‘ Youth Enterprise Challenge’ run by the hospice to help celebrate the efforts of schools in raising finance for the hospice itself. The venue was Alder Grange Sixth Form Centre where representatives from the five participating schools were present.
Some interesting and exciting methods were chosen by the participants to raise the cash, with prizes being awarded to Whitworth Community High School, Fearns Community Sports College, Haslingden High School and the host school, Alder Grange.
We had a really busy day on February 4; we attended our church in the morning and rapidly moved to Accrington Town Hall to attend the NSPCC fundraising concert given by the excellent 2nd Rossendale Scout Band and the Houghton Weavers, then subsequently attended a special service of a ‘Sequence of Words and Music from Epiphany to Candlemas’ at Blackburn Cathedral. A very full, day but one which gave us much pleasure and many blessings.
We attended our third invite to the Rossendale Players at the New Millennium Theatre to see ‘The Haunting of Hill House’ which was excellently presented and was not without its scary bits!
A more light hearted Quiz Night was arranged at the Boars Head and was well attended. Our thanks to all who organised the event and helped raise finance for our Charity Fund.
As I write this we are looking forward to a Valentine’s Day Coffee Morning organised by the Mayor of Blackburn and it reminds me that as we are nearing the end of our year in office (where does the time go?) we are approaching our Mayor’s Ball which will be held on the evening of March 23 at the Riverside venue in Whitworth.
A three-course meal is provided and entertainment by the ‘Red Tones’ with the special appearance of Matt Pacey and his amazing diablo skills. Tickets at £35pp can be obtained through Ms Stephanie Carroll on 01706 252427 or email: stephaniecarroll@ rossendalebc.gov.uk
We both hope to see you there!