Back to school and success of Pride events

Back to school and success of Pride events

The start of September means many families across the borough will be preparing for a return to school with new classes, teachers, subjects and courses on the horizon.

It can certainly be a very busy time for all concerned but it also provides an opportunity to lookahead to the possibilities for the 2021/22 academic year.

The past 12 to 18 months have been a challenge in many aspects of our lives due to the coronavirus pandemic and our young people had to face disruptions to their education like never before.

The hard work and dedication from everyone across all of our educational settings has been phenomenal to ensure the prospects for our young people have not been diminished.

Our teams have been working hard with schools to ensure a safe return – in line with government guidelines – for all settings across the borough and I would like to wish everyone the best of luck for the term ahead.

The Paralympics are underway and I’m sure many of you will be joining me in supporting the Team GB wheelchair basketball team, featuring Leigh’s own Gregg Warburton.

At the time of writing the team has made a great start to the competition and hopefully by the time you are reading this they will have made further progress on their way to the latter stages and the medal matches.

The performances of our Olympians and Paralympians have been inspirational and we look forward to tracking their progress beyond this year. We’re all incredibly proud of them.

I would also like to remind residents that the refurbished archive facilities at Leigh Town Hall are open to the public, which includes exhibitions related to the exploits of our past sporting heroes here in the borough.

It’s worth a visit for all the family and is open Tuesday through to Saturday between 10am and 4pm.

Finally, I would also like to say thank you to everyone who made the Pride 2021 events across Wigan and Leigh a success in recent weeks.

Each year the events get an even greater following and it’s fantastic to see equality and diversity celebrated in this way.

The Wigan event returned to the town centre again after going online because of the pandemic last year.

In Leigh, the events were the first organised by Pride in Leigh for the town. Well done to everyone who played their part.