Freeman Meacher Ambassador Award

SO SHOCKED . . . Freeman Meacher Ambassador Award winner Mick Harwood, with presenter Jean Stretton, leader of Oldham Council.

TALENTED trailblazer and Oldham ambassador Mick Harwood got the shock of his life when he was awarded the Freeman Meacher Ambassador Award.

Mick, who owns Scoots, Suits and Boots in Yorkshire Street, received the Oldham Council award for his passion and hard work promoting Oldham's Independent Quarter within the borough and beyond.

The successful businessman, who had been kept in the dark about his award, was visibly shocked when he was asked to take to the stage at the Queen Elizabeth Hall and receive his trophy in front of a cheering audience.

Council leader Jean Stretton presented Mick with his trophy and described his years of hard work within the Independent Quarter after it was established in 2012.

She said: "This business has become a beacon of exactly what we are trying to do in the area.

"From putting an eye-catching installation at the shop, to setting up and organising vintage markets along Yorkshire Street attracting people from as far afield as Shrewsbury and Wrexham on scooters, to launching their own IQ Tunes record store."

Councillor Stretton thanked Mick and his wife Jo for everything they did and said how former Oldham East and Saddleworth MP Michael Meacher, who died in October, 2015, and whom the award is named after, had been a great believer in Oldham folk from all backgrounds being given the chance to succeed.

"Well tonight, Oldham wants to say a massive thank-you for everything that you do," she added

A stunned Mick Harwood said: "I'm absolutely speechless, this is probably the proudest moment of my life.

"I'm born and bred in Oldham, and it can only do my business great benefit if I promote my home town."