Mayor’s Column: Councillor Billy Sheerin

Councillor Billy Sheerin was sworn in as the Mayor of Rochdale at the annual Mayor Making Ceremony on Wednesday 22 May 2019.

Usually, the mayoral year comes to an end the following May, but due to the coronavirus crisis which resulted in remaining engagements being cancelled and his mayoral year subsequently cut short, Councillor Sheerin was offered the chance to stay on as Mayor of Rochdale for another year (May 2020 – May 2021).

This column focuses on some of his highlights from the past month.

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I would like to encourage everyone to actively take part in the national census on 21 March. The census is a nationwide survey of housing and the population which occurs every ten years, and all households in England and Wales will be asked to take part through individual 16‑character access codes.

2021 is the first year that the census will be conducted online, and it is also the first year to include a question on service in the Armed Forces – because of the Royal British Legion and Poppyscotland’s ‘Count Them In’ campaign launched in 2016 - and a question on sexual orientation and gender identity in a bid to uncover the disadvantages LGBT communities might face at local authority level.

The census will be good in Rochdale to truly discover the diversity our population has, and in what areas things are needed most.
 

Read more: 2021 National census to take place next monthPublished: 25 February 2021

Not being able to go out to businesses and hold events has really taken a toll on my Mayor’s Charity Appeal. I am currently really struggling to fulfill donations to worthy causes around the town, which has been a real disappointment for me as raising thousands of pounds for local charities is what being the Mayor of Rochdale is all about.

I would like to give sincere thanks however to Councillor Allen Brett who has done a fantastic job in selling the Mayor's Charity Quiz’s and has motivated other councillors to sell them too.

• Enter the Mayor's Charity Quiz

I’m also very thankful to Wing Commander David Forbes DL MBE who has set himself the mission of walking 500 miles by the end of April to raise funds for my charity appeal - Springhill Hospice, Parkinson’s UK, Leukaemia UK, Hydropool, Shopmobility, M6 Theatre and other local charities and groups.

David has such a big heart and I’m so pleased he is doing this for the Mayor’s Charity. I hope people will support him and my charities by visiting this link. Any small amounts will be well used:

• www.gofundme.com/f/davids-walk-for-charity

Read more: David Forbes has walked over 300 miles for charity in just two monthsPublished: 02 March 2021

 

 

I have had several engagements this month, all of them mostly Zoom meetings, as you can imagine.

I attended Hopwood Hall Estate’s annual general meeting on 29 January, but nobody else did… as I was an hour late! The virtual meeting began at 6pm but I thought it was 7pm (when the meeting ended) so I was gutted and gave my sincere apologies. However, I do believe a new committee was appointed amongst other things.

Greater Manchester’s Hate Crime Week ran from 1 to 7 February and aimed to raise awareness of crimes committed against someone because of their race, religion, disability, trans identity or sexual orientation. Acts of hate crime can include verbal abuse, intimidation, threats, harassment, assault, bullying, or damage to property.

I attended two presentations during this awareness week - one hosted by Mary Adekugbe, founder and chairperson of Rochdale’s Nigeria Community Association, and the other by Nicky Iginla, CEO of the Caring and Sharing Charity Organisation also based locally.

The presentations were both very good and informative meetings. As I sat listening to the hate crime individuals have experienced since moving to this country, I felt very moved. Some stories were quite disturbing to say the least. I love to be invited and support things like this.
 

Read more: Rochdale stands together against hate crimePublished: 06 February 2021

Read more: Greater Manchester residents urged to ‘be kind’ as Hate Crime Awareness Week set to beginPublished: 31 January 2021

I also attended Better Health 4 Middleton’s monthly meeting on Zoom. Run by Tony Ettenfield, these meetings are a chance for residents to bring their views to the table on health and wellbeing services in Middleton and across the Rochdale borough.

I have lots of admiration for Tony who brings new people to the meetings every month; Middleton are very lucky to have someone of his calibre fighting in their corner for better services. I try to attend these monthly meetings whenever I can as I do very much enjoy them.

 

 

Thursday 18 February saw me visit Castleton Community Primary School with Phil Bradley, the Managing Director of PLP Construction, who invited me along with Ian Cunliffe, Site Foreman for JBJ Construction, and the headmistress, Lindsay Torrance.

The primary school has recently been extended to have four new classrooms to cater for more school places, and has been built during this latest lockdown period, so the new rooms will be ready to go when pupils officially return on 8 March.

I went along to have a tour as the Mayor – even though I am also ward councillor for Castleton – with my mask on and socially distanced. No children were present as we arranged the tour for the half term break.