Talking Politics by Councillor Elwyn Watkins - Chair of Rochdale Township.

Although I was born and bred in Rochdale, I have been fortunate enough to have lived and travelled in many parts of the world. This certainly makes one appreciate the best things about our town. It may sound surprising for a reader on a grey slaggy Autumnal day, but when I was based in the middle of the Arabian desert I used to dream of a nice bit of drizzle and a bit of cold. When it did rain, the children used to run out into the street to sing, dance and ride their bikes through the puddles. What a contrast to Rochdale!

I did, though, compile a list of things that I most missed. This included the sound of church bells, the sound of bubbling brooks and the smell of the changing seasons. In the desert there are no smells. Since I have become a Councillor I would also add to this the range and variety of voluntary organisations that we are fortunate to have in Rochdale. This includes everything from people who help the homeless to those that work very hard to break down the barriers between our different communities.

Whilst our town is not unique in this regard, there are few, if any, towns that have as many voluntary organisations and certainly none that do so much. Their role is priceless. If we were to calculate the volunteers' time in terms of money it would surely add up to many hundreds of millions of pounds. However, just like our rain, we sometimes do not realise the important job that voluntary organisations do. Without them our town would be a much poorer place.

That is why I was pleased to see that our Council has now agreed new funding arrangements with some of our most important voluntary groups. Under the old system funding was often done on a year to year basis. We are now trying to put in three year funding agreements. This allows voluntary groups to better plan their services. In return, we are working with them to make sure that what they provide fits in more closely with the Council's priorities and objectives. In the longer term we need to look carefully at what the Council provides directly and what we can help the voluntary sector to provide on our behalf. Getting this right is one of the most important challenges that the Council faces.