You know it’s a great start to the weekend when it begins with a good walk followed by a visit to a local allotment where tea and cake is on offer!

Last Saturday was a real treat for me as I returned to the wonderful GM Ringway which took me and other walkers from Manchester to Sale Water Park.

This is a fantastic way to get some fresh air and discover what’s just on your doorstep. For further details about the 168 mile stretch of walkways click here.

Sunday was equally rewarding when I returned to Moss Park Allotments with, Cllr Rose Thompson, to meet with my allotment friends Dave and Allison, who I’ve now known for several years.

This is such a wonderful and relaxing spot– and one of my favourite places in the Borough.

Later I travelled to Bridgewater Hall to watch the Greater Manchester Music Hub Celebration Concert.

It was a fantastic performance which showcased five ensembles and featured the hub’s most talented pupils- including over 400 children in the Junior Chorus.

It was great to see so many Trafford children take part.  Congratulations everyone.

It was back to business on Monday, which began with a tour of some of Trafford’s fantastic libraries.

It is vital that we nurture much-loved services like this as they are such a lifeline for so many people.  It was great to meet so many of our library service team- thank you for all the brilliant work you do.

On Tuesday, I travelled to Manchester following an invite to attend the Greater Manchester Socio-Economic Duty Summit – hosted by Graham Whittam CEO of Greater Manchester Poverty Action (GMPA).

The duty requires organisations to adopt measures to address the inequalities that result from differences in occupation, education, place of residence or social class.

It was a thought-provoking session and one I would like to research further.  I finished the day back in Trafford attending meetings.

On Wednesday, it was an honour to attend a meeting of the Trafford Deaf Partnership at the Town Hall.

I was great to learn about the British Sign Language Charter (BSLC) put together by the British Deaf Association (BDA). It is imperative that we do more to improve accessibility.

In the afternoon I got a chance to visit the Millbank Lock housing development in Partington.  It was great to meet residents who have made Partington their new home.  When complete, the development will consist of 449 homes- of which 117 will be affordable.

In the evening, I attend the meeting of Full Council.  I won’t mention the very packed agenda in my review, as the meeting was streamed, but you can catch up on events by clicking here.

On Thursday, I met Liz Murphy, the chair of the Trafford Strategic Safeguarding Partnership. Safeguarding is everyone’s business and I look forward to working with Liz in the future.  In the afternoon,  I was invited to meet Rachel McMillan, the CEO at St Ann’s Hospice, and her team.  We discussed the importance of partnership working and, in particular, the role hospices have in healthcare, including palliative and end of life support.

In the evening, I was fortunate to be invited to see ‘Shrek the Musical’ at Victoria Park Junior School. Everyone who starred in the show did an outstanding job. Well done!

On Friday, I chaired the Greater Manchester Green City Region Partnership, for the first time.  The partnership brings together organisations from across the area to provide oversight of the ‘Greater Manchester’s Five Year Environment Plan’.  It’s worth taking a look at what we discussed here.

This afternoon (Saturday) I was invited to watch the junior matinee of ‘Matilda’ performed by members of Urmston Musical Theatre.  It was a fantastic show.  And you were all brilliant.

This is my final review before the summer break, although council work will continue through August, I sincerely hope you all enjoy the rest of the summer – and I look forward to catching up with you in September.

Best wishes,

Tom