Oldham prepares for biggest Greater Manchester coronation celebration

Oldham is gearing up for the biggest celebration of the King’s Coronation in Greater Manchester, with a tribute to the best of British music. 

Bunting will also line windows across the borough, and street parties will be taking place as families and friends come together in May this year to celebrate the crowning of King Charles III.  

Read more on what we have in store for this historic occasion on our website.

Congratulations Marnie!

A huge congratulations to Oldham’s very own Marni Swindells, who was last night crowned the winner of this year’s BBC Apprentice.

The 28-year-old became Lord Sugar’s latest business partner and secured a whopping £250,000 investment into her boxing gym.

You can now rewatch Marnie’s winning moment via BBC iPlayer.

Super Kevin Sinfield receives highest council honour 

Earlier this week, local rugby legend and charity fundraiser, Kevin Sinfield OBE was formally presented with one of Oldham’s greatest-ever honours.

The former Leeds Rhinos star officially received the title of Honorary Freeman of the Borough, the highest award a council can bestow upon a person, on Monday night during a council ceremony in front of local councillors and his close relatives.

The accolade was awarded to the 42-year-old in recognition of his eminent services and inspiring achievements to the borough and its people and follows his initial appointment by Council in March 2021.

Read more on this story on our website.

We Can Help – six months on

This Wednesday marked six months since Oldham Council launched its ‘We Can Help’ campaign – a £3m support package dedicated to helping local residents through the cost-of-living crisis.

During this time, we have been directly supporting those who need it the most, and have so far:

Visit Oldham’s Digital Festival 2023 tomorrow!

Oldham Library is hosting a celebration of all things digital tomorrow with a day of coding, digital art, games, workshops, and help and advice all on offer for free.

You’ll be able to explore and experiment with professional and young digital artists from across the borough and lots more too. 

Check out what else we have in store at this year’s Digital Festival.

Get your tickets for charity footy match!

Watch some of the biggest names in football play alongside local celebrities and former Oldham Athletic stars in a charity match at Boundary Park for causes associated with the Manchester Arena bombing.

With the likes of Wes Brown, Jason Manford and Dean Holden all set to feature alongside former England manager Sam Allardyce and Everton and Manchester City legend Peter Reid from the touchline, it’s going to be a great day for everyone.

There will also be live music from the Courtbetweeners and Hunter & The Wolves with more names to be confirmed. 

The event will be held on Bank Holiday Sunday, May 7 with a 3pm kick off, and tickets are £10 for adults and £5 for under 18s, with more information available via the Manchester Remembers Facebook page.

New Family Hubs coming to Oldham

New Family hubs are set be rolled out in six locations across Oldham to make use of existing Family Centres, with the first one opening in July this year.

Family Hubs will offer support and advice to families, from breastfeeding to nutrition, and from health visitor support to Dad groups and co-parenting classes. 

All support is aimed at improving the lives and futures of children and young people in Oldham and will be of particular help to families who are going through a tough time such as parents that would like to support their child’s speech and language development more.

Read more on the impact our Family Hubs will make via our website.

We're continuing to support Oldham families during Easter holidays

Local families are to receive additional food vouchers this Easter as Oldham Council continues to support its residents through the Cost-of-Living crisis.

With parents facing additional costs over childcare and food during the upcoming school holidays, households who receive free school meals will receive vouchers worth £15 per week, per eligible child.

This follows support already issued by the local authority during the recent February, Winter and October school holidays, with these vouchers funded by the Household Support Fund.

Read more on this and what it means for your family via our website.

Town Centre improvement scheme nears completion

An ongoing project to make Oldham town centre more accessible and connected for residents is taking steps towards being finished, just in time for summer.  

The improvements to the town centre started in January 2022, making Oldham easier, safe and more enjoyable to travel around, especially for pedestrians, people in wheelchairs, and those with prams and buggies. 

Read more on the works we have been doing and when they will be finished via our website.

New Youth Hub opens in Oldham

We recently hosted an event to launch a new Youth Hub – a co-ordinated approach to provide support to Oldham’s young people who are thinking about getting a job or returning to training.

Young people are invited to come along to the base of the hub in the new Get Oldham Working offices on Union Street to get the support they need to either find employment, make a career change, or re-engage in education or training at whatever level suits them.

Those who seek help can get access to career advice from Get Oldham Working, Positive Steps and the dedicated Youth Job Centre Plus worker, all under the same brand of Oldham’s Youth Hub.

For more information on the new Youth Hub, visit our website.

Sign-up to the Oldham Halloween Half

Oldham's half marathon, one of the toughest 13.1 mile races in the UK, returns this Halloween, after more than three years away. 

Returning on Sunday 29 October as the ‘Oldham Halloween Half’, this event presents a worthy challenge to any runner, with the course’s hilly terrain promising to ‘get your pulse racing’. 

The route may be gruesome, but it revels in spectacular scenery, the atmosphere is electric and it's an event not to be missed.

So, if you are looking for a new running challenge, you want to raise money for charity, or you’re looking to compete just for fun, sign-up today and take part.

Have your say on transport in Oldham, Rochdale, and Tameside

Bus passengers, pedestrians, cyclists, and other road users are being asked to share their experiences of travelling between Rochdale, Royton, Oldham, and Tameside to help shape highways, bus, and active travel improvements across the boroughs.

Transport for Greater Manchester (TfGM) is delivering the Bee Network, Greater Manchester’s vision for a fully integrated, London-style transport system joining together buses, trams, cycling, and walking by early 2025, with rail incorporated by 2030.

Buses and bus infrastructure will form the single most significant component of the Bee Network, and last year Greater Manchester received more than £1bn from the government’s City Region Sustainable Transport Settlement – with significant funding set to be invested in buses, routes, and services to improve the quality of these journeys across the city-region.

As part of the next phase of this work, TfGM and partners are looking at ways to improve bus journeys connecting Rochdale, Royton, Oldham, and Ashton town centres. The A627 and A671 combined are the main bus corridor connecting the four towns and will be the focus of a new survey.

TfGM, along with Rochdale, Oldham, and Tameside councils, is keen to hear the views of people who use the routes, whether by bus, foot, bicycle, car, or combination of different modes. Anyone who visits lives in or travels through the boroughs is welcome to take part in the survey.  

To find out more, and to take part in the survey, visit the TFGM webpage

See where help with food is available in each district

If you need to know where support with food can be found in Oldham, then our new web page has all the details for you.

We’ve set out where you can go in each area, including what’s open at what time, each day of the week.

To see the interactive map of what is available.ead over to the We Can Help section of our website