Heywood Together Trust welcomes new chairman

Graham Birch

Graham Birch has been appointed the new chairman of the Heywood Together Trust.

Mr Birch is ‘passionate’ about his new role and hopes that the organisation will 'act as a focal point for communications amongst community and voluntary sector groups in Heywood.'

The Trust, which has been running for just over one year, currently has 70 plus members and a Board of Trustees of 8 volunteers.

Mr Birch, stood for Chair of the Trust in May after retiring from Oldham Council. He felt that after being lucky enough to have been employed all his working life, he could pay something back to his local community.

When asked what Heywood Together Trust is working on now, Mr Birch said: , “We’ve put together a really exciting training programme, open and free to all those working with community groups or volunteering in Heywood.

“We want all those enthusiasts working here, all those people who organise groups, clubs, and societies etc. to benefit from this opportunity to really accelerate their development.”

Cautious about links between the Heywood Together Trust training programme and the Government’s Big Society, Mr Birch said: “We will have to wait and see what ideas emerge and be ready to take advantage of any opportunities Big Society may present.”

Speaking about what’s next Mr Birch said: “We’re looking for more members every day and we see our current free training programme as an opportunity to reach out to others and invite them to join us.”