It’s been a busy few days in the constituency. Huge crowds of people of turned out to enjoy the fabulous Cotton Carnival through Stalybridge on Saturday, which happened to be the hottest day of the year. My kids were among hundreds in awe of giant puppet Farrah the Fox and friends!  There were excellent performances, a huge visual impact, and a real vibe about the town. I believe there is even footage of me dancing in Armentieres Square, which doesn’t happen very often!

Thank you to everyone who made it happen, including Historic England, Global Grooves, Tameside Council, the Bridge Cultural Consortium, and Emergency Exit Arts. The Cotton Carnival celebrated our area’s proud industrial history, and belatedly marked the end of our time as Town of Culture, having been postponed a year following the sad death of our late Queen.

Friday night also saw Stalybridge in high spirits as Street Fest enjoyed its best weather yet, complete with delicious food and live music. I hosted a group of officials from Greater Manchester Combined Authority, showing them our initial regeneration work and future plans. GMCA has been a significant source of funding to get problem sites like the old police station sorted. It was brilliant to show them Street Fest and inspire our investors as a town on the up. This week we also launched the Stalybridge Project Board to oversee the all-important £20 million regeneration project. The inaugural meeting was great- lots of determination to make a success of this vital injection.

Over in Hyde there was also heaps of ambition for the town’s future at the Hyde Together AGM. Hyde Together was founded as a Community Interest Company to work towards a bright future for the town, and I’m really grateful to everyone involved for the energy and skills they are bringing to making Hyde fit for the future. I also enjoyed a great visit to The Hyde Club – thanks to Carol and Kev for showing me their immaculate bowling green and lovely clubhouse- and a constructive meeting of Faiths United Tameside.

Whilst on Hyde, I also met with local police about their efforts to curb motorbike crime locally. Criminals face consequences for unacceptable behaviour, not communities. Anyone with intelligence is urged to share it anonymously via the Crime Stoppers website. I want to see zero tolerance on this kind of activity, as of course you do too.

Down the road in Longdendale, Gin Fest returned to Broadbottom Cricket Club, in scorching conditions. Well done to Chair Steve, chief organiser Alison and everyone at the Club for a fabulous day of sport and community.