Leaders Column - The Advertiser w/c 28July 2008
7/30/2008
It has been an exciting week and even as I write this column the news concerning Salford Reds has been released. The
hard work put in by Salford Reds and the Council working in partnership
has achieved every Salford Reds supporters dream with the return to the
top flight of the Super League. This is a wonderful opportunity and the team must now challenge at the highest level to win trophies. This
announcement coupled with the plans for the new stadium will begin a
new and exciting era for the club. I am sure that you will all join me
in congratulating the club.
On a different
theme I was delighted this week to take part in a unique event – a
special, three-day conference to find out how our City can make the
most of the exciting opportunities in the future.
MediaCity:UK
alone is expected to bring employment opportunities for more than
15,000 people, adding more than £1.5 billion to the regional economy.
There is clearly a lot of promise and expectation and it is imperative
that the City Council and its partners make the most of this
opportunity for all residents.
The conference
called a Future Search, brought together into one discussion, under one
roof, a cross-section of our community: different ages, different walks
of life, different opinions, different perspectives. We
brought together residents, the community and voluntary sector,
business, health, regeneration, police, fire service, schools,
university, economic development, councillors and most importantly,
young people.
This approach has been
successfully used as a catalyst for action in other parts of the world
so I was keen to see it working for our City.
The event was organised by the Salford Strategic Partnership with brings together agencies working in the City. Key
decision makers and residents from across the City worked side by side
to identify the issues they felt would really improve people’s lives,
whilst discussing the barriers that may prevent them from fulfilling
their full potential in life. However, we all agreed on one objective:
the importance of connecting every person with the opportunities that
our City offers in terms of jobs, education, training and leisure
activities.
Future Search is an approach that
harnesses the energy and creativity of people to encourage them to work
together on key issues. The 60 people who attended really want the City
and those within it to fulfil their potential. One thing that really encouraged me was the positive approach shown by young people who are genuinely excited by our City. The young people that attended had so many ideas on how we should move forward and I can only applaud them for their exuberance.
Throughout
the conference significant commitments were made by different
individuals and organisations. We will be taking these forward over the
coming months to make sure that these ideas are brought into fruition.
However
it is not just the responsibility of those that attended the conference
to ensure that things happen, we can only make significant changes in
the right direction if we all sign up and take hold of the
opportunities that are given to us and I hope that residents will
support the commitments that we unveil in the future.
Posted: 7/30/2008
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