In the words of the late John Smith MP leader of the Labour Party 'the opportunity to serve our country is all that we ask'.

John Smith was a man from the same community, values, upbringing and education as me. Service to our community led me to take on my role as your Mayor. By the time I end my term next month I hope that I have in part repaid the people of Macclesfield for the welcome and warmth I have had.  

Easter time sees the days grow longer and warmer and is a time of renewal and hope. I recently held the Mayor's prayer breakfast organised by HOPE in North East Cheshire. An opportunity for me to thank our churches for their service to our community. Churches are not a place that exist for a Sunday only. Increasingly our churches support the spiritual, physical and emotional needs of our town. They are active in many of charities working with all ages in the community from young to old, including ROAR (Reach Out and Recover), CR8 and Just Drop In to name but a few. I would like to offer my thanks for their work. 

It takes a village to bring up a child. Equally for those going finding their path to recovery via ROAR, or our young people finding their voice in Just Drop In , it takes a courage, determination, and the support of the community to succeed. The opportunity to see a young women in Just Drop In sing in front of a hundred people for the first time, the Macclesfield Seals at the recent Rotary Swimathon, or seeing members of ROAR engage in their path to renewal has inspired me. It has reconfirmed my commitment to serve our community.  

Mayor of Macclesfield Sandy Livingstone attended the Rotary Swimathon in March (Credit: MTC)

It is a challenging time economically and politically, volatile is an understatement. We live now in a world where we expect instant service and change driven by the advances of the last 20 years. As someone who works in property development delivering regeneration, building new homes and communities takes many years to realise. Our town centres driven by out of town and online retail will need to adapt, large landlords will have to accept lower rents, and will have to accept that the town centre is a place for people to live in, to enjoy hospitality, with a retail and shopping offer based on our independent businesses. It will be challenging and take time for this to emerge. Our location, the quality of our schools, local businesses, culture and people will found our future. 

The Town Council Regeneration group is working with Tim Roca our MP, Cheshire East, and local business will push for more. So far we have seen new public toilets, the refurbishment of the indoor market, and are considering working with our local businesses whether a BID (Business Improvement District) will add to the work the town council does and will lead the marketing of our town as place that is ready for investment. The potential release of surplus car park land by Cheshire East offers an opportunity to bring more affordable housing into the centre of the town. Our country needs millions of new homes we face a choice of building them on green fields or building them in our towns on sites like these to enable this to renew our town centres. I know which choice I would make. 

Next month see the 80th anniversary of VE day the end of the Second World War. A war against the greatest evil the world has seen, a war that was just and had to be won at all costs. The special generation that served on land, sea and air, in the factories, the mines or the home front won the war and the peace, they created the two great corner stones of our society the Welfare State and the National Health Service. On May 8 please give thanks and have a quiet moment of reflection for those we never came home or were wounded in body or mind. 

May will see my term as Mayor come to the end. There is plenty more for me to do before I finish my service to you. Mac in May the free music and film festival in the town centre on May 3 and 4, VE Day , and the 10th birthday of the Town Council on May 17. It will also be my great pleasure to recognise a great cast of individuals , community groups, charities, and businesses at the Mayor's Civic Awards on May 11. I am not done yet.