It’s been a couple of weeks since my last update as I continue to type a little slower whilst one arm remains in plaster, however I remain busy as I balance my council duties with election agent responsibilities in Altrincham & Sale West.

Over the last couple of weeks I’ve had several meetings at the Town Hall, including some related to our local health and social care services. Health and care take up a significant proportion of our overall spend and it’s important we continue to consider the needs of our residents and how best we can meet them with the services we provide.

One of my highlights of the last couple of weeks at the Town Hall was hosting St Anns RC Primary School Council.  I joined the Mayor in her parlour before we took the children on a tour of the Town Hall, ending up in the council chamber.  I really enjoy visits to the town hall from some of our local school children and hope they will continue as I often learn a lot about the aspirations and concerns our younger residents in Trafford have.

I’ve also learned a lot from our amazing first cohort of Supported Interns who have been with us at Trafford Council since last September.  Each young intern has made a wonderful impression on everyone they’ve met during their time working with us and each has now secured employment.  We will continue with the scheme later this year, in partnership with Trafford College and Pure Innovations, and it is open to young Trafford residents with an Education, Health and Care Plan.  It was a privilege to join our first cohort at a celebration event last week- good luck for the future.

Outside of the Town Hall I enjoyed attending the opening of DB Schenker’s logistics hub in Trafford Park.  It’s welcome investment from an international organisation and demonstrates how important Trafford Park remains as an economic powerhouse.  It was also good to hear about the steps taken to reduce the building’s carbon footprint- including installing solar panels on the roof.  I also enjoyed my visit to the Lumina Village site across the road from the Town Hall.  Huge progress has been made since construction started and we’re on track to deliver hundreds of new homes by 2026.

Progress is also being made at another of our regeneration sites: Stretford Town Centre.  Work continues on securing businesses along the new look King Street, and I very much look forward to unveiling the winning entry of our name the square competition at Stretfest on 6^th July!

Back on the General Election campaign trail I’ve enjoyed supporting Connor Rand’s campaign in Altrincham and Sale West.  Connor and so many activists are working incredibly hard to secure every single vote.  It feels that change is on its way but none of us are complacent and we’ve got a lot of work to do before 10pm on 4^th July.  I’ve particularly enjoyed the time I’ve spent in Timperley in recent weeks- it’s where I grew up and lots of old memories keep coming back!

I enjoyed attending the launch of Labour’s Manifesto and hearing about our priorities for Government, which are very much in line with our local priorities for Trafford.  I also really enjoyed joining Ed Miliband on the campaign trail in Broadheath.  I’ve always admired Ed- he understood the challenges we face from climate change when he was Secretary of State for Energy and Climate Change in the last Labour Government, and I hope to see him back in that position in a couple of weeks.  I also look forward to working with him from a Greater Manchester perspective as portfolio holder for Green City-Region.

Finally, earlier today (Sunday) I joined our GM Deputy Mayor, Kate Green, at the Greater Manchester Music Hub Celebration Concert at the Bridgewater Hall.  This is a great occasion where music services from across Greater Manchester come together to celebrate our very talented young musicians.  As ever it was good to see a strong presence from Trafford, thanks to our wonderful Trafford Music Service.