Reporter becomes town ambassador

Rochdale Town Hall

The borough of Rochdale has been hit with some negative press in the past months. But no matter how much the recession shakes up the local economy, there is always a wealth of heritage and community spirit that can never be taken away, says Rochdale Online News reporter KIRSTY RIGG…

Lots of towns have historic jewels that sit beneath the surface of modern life. Rochdale town centre shops for instance, look just like any others, but if you look a little higher up you’ll see that the buildings are inspiring pieces of historic architecture.

This is just one of the factors highlighted at Rochdale Ambassador training course at Touchstones this morning (Tuesday 12 May).

A variety of local people who are vital to the running of the town attended, including Town Centre Management, PCSO’s from Greater Manchester Police, council representatives and, of course, the local media, Rochdale Online News. All of which were keen to become ambassadors for the town they so proudly work and live in.

Course leader Katy Moussaada put the keen envoys into groups and set them on tasks related to the history and geographical knowledge of the town.

The groups each gave a presentation on the places to go and things to do, each with a celebrity in mind which they would show around.

One of the most popular places to wine and dine was The Baum, Toad Lane, where a visit can naturally tie in with a historical visit to the Co-op museum, one of Rochdale’s best claims to fame.

Katy said: “Rochdale is a unique place with its amazing Town Hall which local people take for granted.

“And it is the birthplace of the Co-op, something which would interest visitors from across the planet. I think Toad lane and the museum there is probably the best tourism point I the centre of Rochdale”.

A major part of the course was to understand the sheer vitality of the tourism trade. Much to everyone’s surprise, 7.5M people visited Rochdale in 2007, injecting a staggering £365M into the economy.

This compares well with the overall annual value of tourism to Manchester, and Greater Manchester, of £5.7B.

Tim Nuttall, tourism officer for Rochdale Borough Council said: “This is a really important course to reveal Rochdale’s true qualities and make the most of them.

“I have been in this post for two years and I have seen the greater things the town has to offer”.

Rochdale Online News reporter Kirsty will be joining her team of fellow ambassadors again next Tuesday for the second and final session.