Coun Anne Cheetham
Mayor of Rossendale
I WOULD like to begin my first Mayor’s Column by saying how honoured myself and my Mayoress, Ms Dorothy Jones are to be the Mayor and Mayoress of Rossendale 2022-23.
We were installed at the Annual Meeting of the Council on Friday, May 20 and I would like to thank all councillors and my family and friends for joining me on such a joyous occasion.
We are very much looking forward to finding out what this year has in store.
I can’t go any further without also thanking the outgoing Mayor, Councillor Jackie Oakes whose successful year was crowned with a massive charity fund in excess of £17,000 resulting from the hard work of herself and her committee.
My chosen charities for this years’ Mayor’s Charity Fund are:
● Community Defibs for Rossendale - An organisation set up to try and facilitate the purchase and installation of Community Access Defibrillators in Rossendale.
● Dementia Friendly Rossendale - A charity supporting Rossendale residents living with dementia and also their family/carers.
● Rossendale Hospice - Rossendale Hospice is a charity that aims to improve the quality of life of our patients, through expert nursing care, compassion, understanding, emotional and psychological support. Rossendale Hospice care for people in Rossendale who have a life limiting condition.
I hope you will all able to join me in raising money to support these very deserving causes.
Our Mayoral term was kicked off with a visit to the opening of The Cake Room in Bacup, the first morning after my installation as Mayor. It’s wonderful to see new, local businesses thriving in our valley and I wish Cameron and his team all the best in their new venture.
During the past week we have also had the pleasure of attending a number of local events to celebrate and commemorate the Queen’s Jubilee. I would like to pass on my sincere thanks to the various organisations that invited us along to join them, including Rossendale Rubicon, Brandwood Housing Complex, Dawn Taylor, Rossendale Male Voice Choir and the Unitarian Church in Rawtenstall. We met some fantastic people, ate some delicious food, and had a thoroughly enjoyable time.
Amongst all the Jubilee excitement, we also had the chance to attend the Dansworks Annual Awards Presentation. Dale and his team had once organised an excellent celebratory event and their efforts and dedication to the children that attend the dance academy should be applauded. We also helped to present awards to a number of children throughout the evening; it was a very special occasion and myself and my Mayoress were honoured to be a part of recognising their talents and achievements.
It has been wonderful start to our Mayoral experience and myself and Dorothy are looking forward to the engagements already booked in the diary for the following few months.
Lastly, I would just like to congratulate Cllr Janet Whitehead on her appointment as Mayor of Whitworth 2022-23. Hopefully, we will see you at a number of our local events over the next 12 months.