Rita and Tom’s Date with the Mayor

Rita and Tom Roberts with the Mayor Peter Rush

Christmas came early for RBH residents Rita and Tom Roberts with a special invitation from the Mayor of Rochdale to be his guests at the Town Hall.

The Mayor, Councillor Peter Rush, was visiting Yew Court sheltered housing scheme on Warwick Street in Rochdale, where the couple live, to launch RBH’s appeal for Community Champions.

While there he chatted to Rita who explained that her parents, Derrick and Elsie Walker, had been Mayor and Mayoress between 1981-82.

When he learned that Rita, 76, had never seen her father’s official picture, he invited her and Tom, 70, back to the Town Hall to view it.

The Mayor said: “Being Mayor and Mayoress is a great honour and I can imagine how proud Rita was of her parents.

“I was delighted to have the opportunity to show her the official picture of her father and thoroughly enjoyed the time I spent with her and Tom.”

While visiting Yew Court the Mayor had officially launched RBH’s appeal for Community Champions to help transform the lives of fellow residents around the borough.