Friday 25th January 2008
(ref:
21/2008)
What kind of future will our young people inherit?
Bright or bleak? Carefree or chaotic?
This is just one of the weighty questions that people from all over our borough will be getting together to try and decide at this year’s Wigan Borough Partnership Convention.
More than 300 people from all walks of life and from all parts of the borough will converge on Wigan’s JJB Stadium on Friday February 1 for one of the highlights of the borough’s community calendar.
And the big issue facing delegates from public, private and voluntary organisations across Wigan will be…change.
The invited audience will be steered through a day of discussions, presentations and group work by the BBC’s own Wigan-based TV reporter Dave Guest. The audience will be asked to consider the future and the changes they can make now to help improve it.
Each guest will also be asked to bring a personal item with them that typifies something they would like to change.
Key-note speakers will include Leader of Wigan Council Lord Peter Smith and Deputy Chief Executive Sue Johnson who will take the delegates through the finer points of the borough’s new Local Area Agreement.
This will include:
- What the council is doing to improve the borough
- Why it is difficult to tackle the major issues?
- How do we solve our problems?
- How do we innovate and improve?
Ashton, Wigan and Leigh Primary Care Trust Acting Director of Public Health Rona Cruikshank will look at behaviour change and its effects on health.
While chair of the Wigan Borough Sports Council Trevor Barton will look at some key issues for change, including young people and participation.
Leader of Wigan Council Lord Peter Smith says:
“We live in a world where the pace of change seems to be getting faster by the day. It is an inevitability of our modern lifestyles and it is important that our borough is ready to embrace the changes that face us both as individuals and as a community.
“Anyone looking at our borough over the past few years will realise that it is also changing at a rapid pace. The physical and economic geography of our borough has changed and the benefits we have reaped so far have been vast.
“But there is undoubtedly more change ahead and we want to not only to be ready for it, but to capitalise upon it for the benefit of everyone.”
Lord Smith adds: “Of course it is not just about what the council should be doing, it’s about the changes we all need to make – from healthy eating, to exercise, to skills and learning. The Partnership is a great way of introducing this concept to the wider community.”
