Adult Services account for over a third of the council’s revenue budget and is a very important part of what we do.

Trafford Council aims support people to live healthy, independent lives, and so it was good to start the week by joining a meeting of officers from Trafford’s health and social care teams to reflect on the services we provide while considering way to ensure our residents get the best possible support.

I’m so grateful to our employees for the hard work and commitment they provide in social care every day.

In the afternoon, I joined Executive colleagues and senior managers to consider the refresh of Trafford Council’s Corporate Plan. The document sets the strategic direction for the council and will continue to be refreshed with our employees and partners over the next few months.

We want to make sure Trafford is a great place for everyone, from giving children and young people the best start in life, keeping people healthy and independent, to doing our bit to promote economic growth while addressing our housing and climate crises.  Work will also continue to ensure our wonderful sport, arts, culture and heritage opportunities are accessible to everyone.

I’m really excited about the positive vision we’re putting together for Trafford’s future.  And there was more exciting news to discuss at our meeting of Public Executive on Monday evening.

We launched a consultation on our plans for Trafford Wharfside- a project that has been in the news recently as our neighbour Manchester United considers its plans to deliver a world-class stadium. We look forward to continuing to work in partnership with the club.

We also received updates on the multi-million-pound investment into Longford Park and sport and leisure facilities in Partington.

Other highlights from this week include attending more ‘Let’s Talk’ sessions with our council employees- it was good to see such a high attendance on each occasion.

I also had the opportunity to give two brief interviews with That’s TV Manchester.  One of the interviews covered our Wharfside Masterplan proposals and the other was about the new game taking off in Stretford and Old Trafford: Beat the Street!

As I write, over 3600 people are playing Beat the Street in Stretford and Old Trafford and hunting down ‘beat boxes’ attached to lampposts in the area.

People are using cards or an app to record when they find a beat box in a bid to earn points, which could then lead to prizes.  The game is free and accessible to all. It promotes physical activity and our Public Health team have been instrumental in getting the game off the ground- including securing funding from some of the active travel work underway in the area.

It was a pleasure to join Cllr Karina Carter, staff and children at Seymour Park Community Primary School for the launch and to sign up for the game too – I’m currently on 50 points!

It was also wonderful to see children at this Rights Respecting School be so passionate about their right to clean air and a safe journey to and from school- they were very passionate about the School Street – and gave a fantastic demonstration at the end of the day.

Finally, it was good to spend some time with our Trafford North Neighbourhood Policing Team this week on a speed awareness session.  Residents had been reporting speeding hotspots in the area and the police let me and my two ward colleagues, Jane and Steve, participate in an exercise.  Another example of partnership work in action.  Greater Manchester Police launched Bee in the Loop last year- I’d really encourage people to sign up to this service as it provides updates on activity in the local neighbourhood and advice on crime prevention.

Have a great weekend.

Tom.