Tameside Council Names Civic Mayor-elect

CLLR Betty Affleck has been announced as Tameside’s golden jubilee civic mayor.

When she is installed at the council’s annual meeting on Tuesday 21 May she will be the 49th person to wear the chain – a line stretching back to James Eason who was elected in 1974, the year the borough was founded.

Cllr Affleck, who is a  retired catering manager, was born in Dublin but moved to Hyde as a child. She has represented Godley ward since 2015 and is the current deputy mayor.

As a Tameside councillor she is chair of the south strategic neighbourhood forum and a member of speakers panel (planning), Hyde Accelerator Town Centre Delivery Group, and Hyde War Memorial Trust.

Her interests include cooking for friends and family, going for long walks, and researching her family history.The Civic Mayor-elect said: “I am delighted to have been asked to serve and represent the borough as civic mayor in its golden jubilee year. I am especially proud to be following in my dad Joe Fitzpatrick’s footsteps, and to wearing the chain he proudly wore in 1987.

“I know it will be an extremely busy 12 months but I’m sure that with my brother Declan – who has agreed to be by my side as my consort, wearing the chain worn by my mother Rose – it will be a very rewarding year. I’m really looking forward to it.

“I’m especially keen to work with as many community groups and schools as possible. I also want to meet volunteers of all ages.”

Cllr Affleck’s chosen charities are Friends of Tameside Young Carers; The Shed, which works with men who would otherwise be isolated; and East Manchester Community Boat Project which is based at Portland Basin.

The Civic Mayor’s chaplain will be the Rev Robert Balfour from Hyde Methodists.