A week last Saturday began at a fast pace when I joined Bev Craig, who is standing to be the next Mayor of Greater Manchester, at Stretford Parkrun. I had not done much training beforehand, but Bev turned out to be a great running partner and coach. Thanks to her encouragement, I managed to achieve a personal best. It was a virtuous way to start the weekend before heading over to Altrincham for the annual Altrincham Festival Parade. It was a pleasure to be part of the judging panel for the floats again this year, alongside Connor Rand MP and the Mayor of Trafford. After the festival, I returned to Stretford to visit the pop-up museum, where Hazel and Justine Gibb had put together a Bee Gees exhibition. They are both rightly proud of their connection to the brothers and of the strong links the Bee Gees have with Stretford.
I spent much of the rest of last week catching up with colleagues from the Trafford Labour Group. They shared updates about what has been happening in the communities they represent, including both the opportunities and challenges they face as local councillors. Trafford is a very diverse borough, and every ward has its own character and priorities. One issue that came up time and again was the importance of our environmental services. Those services matter to our residents and our councillors and I will continue to look for extra funding so we can invest further in these services over the coming year.
Sustainability was another important theme during the week. On Tuesday morning, I visited Move Urmston to see a new data centre that will help provide heat for the leisure centre’sswimming pool. The centre is almost ready to begin operating, and it is a project I have followed closely over the last three years. It was great to speak at the event and show how new technology can work alongside efforts to find more sustainable energy solutions. While some of the technical details were beyond me, the potential energy savings were easy to understand. These savings will help Trafford Leisure invest in more opportunities for local residents. The company behind the project, Deep Green, is also supporting tree planting across the area.
Later in the week, I spoke at the Northern Sustainability Summit in Manchester. I talked about Greater Manchester’s commitment to reaching net zero, restoring nature and delivering other parts of our Five-Year Environment Plan. I am very proud of the progress made under Andy Burnham’s leadership in this area. I also know how much our environment matters to residents and community groups across Greater Manchester. I hope we can continue building on that success in the years ahead, and I know it remains an important priority for Bev too.
Back at the Town Hall, I enjoyed taking part in our latest Let’s Talk session, which brings together colleagues from across the council. During the session, I introduced members of my new Executive team. Elsewhere, I also had the chance to meet our latest group of work experience students, who spent a week with us learning about local government. Later in the week, I spoke at a conference for Trafford headteachers and met our new Director of Education.
Finally, at the weekend I had the pleasure of watching some of our youngest musicians perform at one of Trafford Music Service’s summer concerts. I look forward to seeing them continue to develop their skills and confidence in the yearsahead. I also spent time campaigning in Stretford and Hale, speaking to residents on the doorstep, and enjoyed seeing some acts perform that this year’s Brit Fest as well.