Borough ready to remember

Chelsea pensioners visit Mayor in Parlour. Cllr Kay Knox (Mayoress), Mohammed Adil (Youth Mayor), Cllr Jim McArdle (Mayor), Denis Shiels and Alf Hey.

PREPARATIONS are under way as Oldham gets ready to remember the victims of war for Remembrance Sunday.

This year, events will be held in Oldham town centre, Chadderton, Crompton, Failsworth, Lees, Royton and Saddleworth.

Council leader Howard Sykes said: “I am committed to ensuring that all the remembrance events that take place across the borough do so in a dignified manner.

“With operations in Afghanistan still at a high tempo and those in Iraq only just finished, the pressure on our Armed Forces is still very high.

“It is important that the council sends a clear and unequivocal signal that it supports them now and will not forget those who have given their life in the past.”

TWO Chelsea pensioners were welcomed to the borough when the Mayor hosted a civic reception for them.

Denis Shiels (82) and 89-year-old Alf Hey (right) were honoured by the Mayor and Mayoress, Councillor Jim McArdle and Councillor Kay Knox, and Oldham’s Youth Mayor Mohammed Adil (back).

The two men are guests of the Royal British Legion, and are in Oldham to take part in Sunday’s Remembrance parade.