Civic honour wows Groundwork chief

CIVIC appreciation: Cliff Ellison (second right) receives his award. With him are (from left) Deputy Mayor Councillor John Hudson; the Mayor, Councillor Olwen Chadderton; Council leader Jim McMahon and Lib-Dem leader Councillor Howard Sykes

Oldham Council
A LOCAL businessman received an award last night for his outstanding contribution to the borough’s voluntary sector.

Cliff Ellison, executive director at Groundwork Oldham and Rochdale, received the Civic Appreciation Award at the council meeting in thanks for his effort in helping to transform the company into a hub for community projects.

The former civil servant and senior executive officer at the Manpower Services Commission came to Rochdale in the Eighties to help establish the Training Enterprise Council (TEC) where he worked as operations director before becoming chief executive in 1995.

In 1998 he led the merger of the TEC, Business Link, Chamber of Commerce and Enterprise Trust to form the Rochdale Borough Chamber of Commerce, Training and Enterprise.

He joined Groundwork as the executive director in early 2007.

Since then, he has stabilised the organisation and won it an array of awards and recognition.

Cliff said of the honour: “Wow is the only word that comes to mind.

“I feel a little bit overcome. I can’t thank you enough for this award — it is without a doubt one of the proudest moments of my life and the greatest honour I have ever achieved. “

Council leader Jim McMahon said: “The work Cliff did to get Groundwork on track is a reason why it is so strong today.