Happy New Year - Welcome 2016

Happy New Year!

I hope that everyone has a healthy 2016 and that it is kind to us all!.

Sadly I ended 2015 attending the funeral of a lovely young man, close friend and school friend of my eldest son.  St Wilfrid's Church was filled to capacity with people standing as all pews were taken.  This young man made an impact on so many and the attendance at his funeral was testimony to this.  Sleep tight Jonathan (Khany).  Having known him since a small child, I will always remember his cheeky smile and personality.

I also spent the week before and after Christmas sorting problems for people in Standish who come to me for help as local Councillors do so little. Getting the bins empties of a resident who has assisted bin help and whose bin was missed just before Christmas was just one example. Reporting flooding on local roads to get signage to warn drivers was another.   My heart goes out to those who were affected by the floods.  This year Carl and I sent a donation to the flood appeal rather than sending Christmas cards.

2015 was a very mixed bag.  The threat of redundancy, great nieces and nephews being born, and happy fun times with grandchildren and family.    

May saw us lose the local election by a very small margin, more than doubling our votes and getting far more than Gareth Fairhurst did in the whole of Wigan in his quest to become an MP.  He lost his deposit!  Let us hope that in 2016 his lies, slander and electioneering fairy stories stop and that he finally produces audited full accounts of the money raised for the 'Save Ashfield' fund.  A park that never needed saving in the first place and cost us taxpayers nearly £40,000. 

2016 brings us much to look forward to.  I have been selected to stand for our party for Standish in the local elections.  I declined requests to stand in other Wards as I feel that having lived and worked in the community in Standish for 40 years, my heart and soul are here and Standish is worth working and fighting for.  Let us work together to make it a better place, to make the best of the new houses we have been forced to accept and to fight to stop more being built!  I will continue as a member of Standish Voice to keep Standish a place we all want to live in.

An end of a year makes you reflect and I thought about community activities - here are some of the things I have helped with in the Community:

• Held roles of Chair/Treasurer and Secretary of St Wilfrids Primary PTFA
• Ran school bank for St Wilfrids
• Delivered cookery lessons for pupils at St Wilfrids
• Chair of joint schools PTFA, St Wilfrids, St Maries, Woodfold and Standish High raising much needed funds for refubishment of St Wilfrids swimming pool (even dressing up as tweety pie!)
• Chair of Standish High Friends Association
• Raised funds to buy the school mini bus
• Worked at Standish High School for 17 years
• Curriculum Staff Governor of Standish High School
• First Aid Instructor, instructing officers of Church Lads and Church Girls Brigade, Girls Friendly Society and members of the Community
• Led Friends of Standish Library to raise funds
• Installed 2 defibrillators in Standish for 24/7 access, linked to North West Ambulance '999' service, winning Gold Award for their installation
• Organised over 40 theatre trips for members of the community
• Assisted in removal of fly tipped furniture
• Assisted with parking dispute involving local councillor painting double yellow lines on the road
• Worked with all schools in Locality 1(Standish, Shevington, Aspull, Beech Hill, Whelley and Ince) to raise standards of Mental Health Awareness, assessing and awarding schools with Bronze, Silver or Gold awards and organising presentation event.
• Ward and Hospice in the home volunteer for Wigan and Leigh Hospice
• Bereavement support volunteer for Wigan and Leigh Hospice. Experienced in bereavement support

These are just some of the things I have worked on over the last few years, there are many more,too numerous to list but I have plans for more in 2016 to benefit Standish and its residents.

I love Standish!  Happy New Year to you all!