For much of this week I’ve been in different meetings with council officers or Labour Group colleagues.  These meetings ranged from service area updates, briefings on some of our projects or catch-ups, including with our local Unison representatives.

However, I did also manage to venture out of the Town Hall on a few occasions too.  On Sunday I joined my ward colleague, Jane Slater, at the Hanami Festival organised by Friends of Victoria Park in collaboration with the National Trust Bloomtown initiative.  The festival celebrates cherry blossom, which is at its finest in Victoria Park this week.  The afternoon included a gong bath, a choir and Jane had the opportunity to try on a kimono.  Friends of Victoria Park continues to put on wonderful events for the whole community and it was lovely to see so many people enjoy the blossom and sunshine that afternoon.

On Wednesday afternoon I was back out on the doorstep speaking with residents in Stretford & Humphrey Park.  The conversations I had ranged from international issues such as tariffs, to overcrowded and poor quality housing.  Later that day it was good to join our Deputy Leader, Cath Hynes, and colleagues Karina and Ged Carter at Urmston Musical Theatre’s production of Beauty and the Beast.  It was a fabulous show with some brilliant singing.  It was also wonderful to see that the show was a sell-out.  Urmston Musical Theatre is such an important institution in the local area and its continued popularity demonstrates how important arts and culture are to Trafford.

My Thursday started at Sale Town Hall for our final ‘Let’s Talk’ of this series.  It was well attended by officers from across different services and I got another opportunity to talk about my experience of cycling.  I then travelled over to the Lowry at Salford Quays for an away day session with Greater Manchester colleagues.  Later that evening I joined the Mayor of Trafford and colleagues at the annual Halle GMCA concert.  The Halle Orchestra is world famous and is closely associated with Manchester.  However, the orchestra was originally established to perform at the Manchester Art Treasures Exhibition- which was located metres from where Trafford Town Hall is today.  I therefore like to claim the Halle for Trafford- and their community outreach continues to benefit local schools in our area.  I’m looking forward to exploring how we can build on the existing outreach work undertaken by the Halle in Trafford.

Finally on Friday I was back in Stretford and joined colleagues for another Stretford Town Centre site visit.  We’ve been doing these visits since summer 2023 and this one was the most exciting yet.  Almost all the scaffolding is down and the project is nearing its final stage, where shop units will be fitted out and the public realm completed.  Over the coming weeks more news will be released about the businesses moving into King Street.  After the visit I ended my week back at the Town Hall working through emails, having a catch up with UA92 and my weekly meeting with the Council’s Chief Executive.