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Your Chance to be Mayor for a Day
If you were the Mayor, what one thing in
Wigan borough would you change and why?
That’s the question local young people need to answer if they want to
take control of the town for 24 hours.
The ‘Mayor for a Day’ competition is being run for the second successive
year as part of Local Democracy Week, which will be held between October
15th and 21st. All Wigan Borough residents aged 13 to 19 can enter the
competition, which will give one lucky winner the chance to become the
borough’s official figurehead for the day.
Last year, 14 year-old Hindley High School pupil Beth Pugh was picked
from hundreds of entries to don the mayoral cloak. Beth says, “I really
enjoyed the experience. I was picked up in the morning by the mayoral
car, I went to an awards ceremony at the Wigan Investment Centre, a
presentation in Haydock and I had my picture taken at Wigan Town Hall.
My cheeks were hurting from smiling!
“I found out what the mayor does and I learnt a bit about the council
and the role of councillors. I had no idea what to expect from the day
but I’d encourage young people to enter the competition because it was a
lot of fun.”
LDW is a national campaign run by the Local Government Association which
aims to raise awareness about the role that local authorities play. It
also aims to encourage more people to get involved in the decision
making process at local level, particularly the younger generation.
Wigan Council and its partner agencies have a host of events planned to
celebrate LDW this year including an “I’m a Councillor – Get me out of
here” online contest and two Question Time events hosted by BBC reporter
Dave Guest.
Mayor of Wigan Cllr John O’Brien says: “Local Democracy Week gives us a
real opportunity to raise the profile of local government and the work
we do as councillors. It is important that people know what we do and
how they can influence the decision making process.
“It is particularly important that we do everything we can to engage
with young people, as their participation in local politics is
traditionally low. The Mayor for a Day competition is just one way we
are trying to do that and I’m more than happy to stand aside for a day
if it helps raise awareness. As long as I get my robe back at the end of
the day!”
• If you want to become Mayor of Wigan for a day, simply answer this
question: “If you were the Mayor, what one thing in Wigan borough would
you change and why?” and email your answer with your name, age and
contact number to
linconline@wlct.org Deadline for entries is Monday October
1st.
-ends-
Notes to Editors
• For further information please contact Kennedy Stewart, Young People’s
Press Officer at Wigan Leisure and Culture Trust, on (01942) 486927.
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