The next scheduled Local Council elections in Calderdale will be held on 3rd May 2018. We have some useful information that might help your engagement with this election. As ever, the most important thing to remember is to use your vote!

What do local councils do?

Councils are responsible for providing local services and facilities. Your elected representatives or councillors represent you at a local level – this is known as local government. Depending on where you live, your council is responsible for all or some of the following areas:

• Council housing
• Education services
• Electoral registration
• Environmental health
• Leisure and recreation facilities
• Libraries
• Local planning
• Local transport
• Parks and public places
• Regulation of local business
• Roads and footpaths
• Social services
• Waste and recycling

How do I meet my local councillors?

Ward Forum meetings, held four times a year, should always have at least one local councillor in attendance. If you have a concern or issue you would like Calderdale Council to take to the meeting on your behalf, the Ward Forum team will be happy to help – Email wardforums@calderdale.gov.uk or call: 01422 392317

• Halifax Central Forum – Park, Skircoat, Sowerby Bridge and Town Wards
• Halifax North and East Forum  – Illingworth & Mixenden, Northowram & Shelf, Ovenden, Warley
• Lower Valley Forum – Brighouse, Elland, Greetland & Stainland, Hipperholme & Lightcliffe, Rastrick
• Upper Valley Forum  – Calder, Luddendenfoot, Ryburn, Todmorden

What about this May’s Elections

You may also find your local councillors and their rival candidates either visiting you or leafleting your home trying to win your vote. This is a great time to raise issues that concern you. Remember what the councillors are responsible for (see list above), and don’t be afraid to raise local issues that really bother you.

Topics you might discuss and feel strongly about include older people’s services, the reduction in services in general, libraries and other long established services that might be threatened.

Don’t Forget to Vote

Most importantly of all, don’t forget to vote – it’s a cliche, but your vote really does count and these are the elections where your personal concerns are best heard.

The Candidates

Brighouse: Howard Granville Blagborough (Conservative); Jennie Rigg (Liberal Democrats); Kate Sweeny (Green); Oliver George Willows (Labour).

Calder: Sarah Courtney (Labour); Richard Hugh Marshall (Conservative); Donal Antony Martin O’Hanlon (Liberal Democrats); Jenny Shepherd (Green).

Elland: David Collins (Conservative); Barry Edward Crossland (Green); Angie Gallagher (Labour); Michael Wallace Whiting (Liberal Democrats).

Greetland and Stainland: Mike Barnes (Labour); Marilyn Greenwood (Liberal Democrats); Mark Richard Mullany (Green); Oliver Darryl Williams (Conservative).

Hipperholme and Lightcliffe: Steven Cliberon (Labour); Martin John Hey (Green); Alisdair Calder McGregor (Liberal Democrats); James Pillai (Conservative); Colin Raistrick (Independent).

Illingworth and Mixenden: Guy Beech (Conservative); Sean Loftus (Independent); Alexander Parsons-Hulse (Liberal Democrats); Angela Christine Street (Green); Dan Sutherland (Labour).

Luddenden Foot: Catherine Jane Crosland (Liberal Democrats); Scott Anthony Patient (Labour); Michael John Prior (Green); Jill Smith-Moorhouse (Conservative).

Northowram and Shelf: Stephen Baines (Conservative); Jon Grinham (Liberal Democrats); Elaine Hey (Green); Daniel Richard Manning (The Yorkshire Party); Helen Sutcliffe (Labour).

Ovenden: Katherine Louise Horner (Green); John Reynolds (Liberal Democrats); Helen Josephine Rivron (Labour); Gill Tolley (Conservative).

Park: Amjad Mahmood Bashir (Conservative); Surraya Bibi (Independent); Finn Mygind Jensen (Green); Mohammed Naeem (Labour).

Rastrick: Regan Gerhard Dickenson (Conservative); Kathy Haigh-Hutchinson (Liberal Democrats); Peter Judge (Labour and Co-operative); Angharad Lois Turner (Green).

Ryburn: Robert Holden (Independent); Steven Leigh (Conservative); Rosemary Tatchell (Liberal Democrats); David William Veitch (Labour and Co-operative); Katie Witham (Green).

Skircoat: Sean Bamforth (Liberal Democrats); Colin Hugh Hutchinson (Labour); Anne Marie Nelson (Green); Andrew James Tagg (Conservative).

Sowerby Bridge: Jeff Featherstone (Conservative); Dot Foster (Labour); John Richard Ward Nesbitt (Green); Tom Stringfellow (Liberal Democrats).

Todmorden: Janet Mary Battye (Liberal Democrats); Jacob Nathaniel Cook (Conservative); Chris Jackson (National Front); Susan Mary Press (Labour); Kieran Luke Turner (Green).

Town: Mark Llewellyn Edwards (Conservative); Alan Patrick McDonald (Green); Bob Metcalfe (Labour); Benjamin George Simmons (Liberal Democrats).

Warley: Frank James Holt (Green); Amanda Parsons-Hulse (Liberal Democrats); Shakir Saghir (Conservative); Audrey Smith (Labour).

Find out your likely retirement income using the Money Advice Service’s pension calculator. This online tool can give you an estimate of the income you’ll get when you retire. This will include income from defined benefit and defined contribution schemes, plus your basic State Pension.
You’ll also find out if your likely retirement income is less than what you’d need to fund your desired lifestyle in retirement.

Start the Pension calculator

People with active social lives tend to be happier and healthier, and that’s the underlying principle of Calderdale’s Staying Well project.

The Staying Well team can work with any adult in Calderdale from 18 years and over to access social activities and health and wellbeing related services in the community.

There are loads of community groups and all kinds of things to do all across Calderdale from Art to Zumba!

To find out more call them on 01422 392767 or visit https://stayingwellhub.com/

We all know that we should talk to the Samaritans if we are down and have no one to turn to. The Samaritans’ vision is that fewer people die by suicide. Every six seconds, someone contacts Samaritans, and every 90 minutes someone takes their own life. You don’t have to be suicidal to call Samaritans. Samaritans offer a safe place for you to talk any time you like, in your own way – about whatever’s getting to you.

Whatever you’re going through, you can call FREE any time, from any phone, on 116 123.

Visit their website for lots of advice and helpful stories: https://www.samaritans.org/

Frequently asked questions
I’m under 18, can I still call?
What happens when I contact Samaritans?
I’m worried about someone else. What do I do?

We all know that we should be taking regular exercise, but sometimes we need a bit of help to get started. Well, here’s something to help: Public Health England Partnerships are re-launching their famous Couch to 5K app in partnership with BBC Get Inspired.

The One You – Couch to 5k app has been designed to get you off the couch and running in just nine weeks. There is now a choice of five trainers to support and motivate you every step of the way, telling you when to walk and when to run.

With spring on the way, now is a great opportunity for you to achieve the couch to 5k.

Join Maria Glot for a talk on Saltaire Village at Rastrick Library on Friday 11 May at 7pm

£5 per ticket with drinks and nibbles provided.

Maria lives in Saltaire and has worked in the tourist industry for many years and is famous for being appointed Bradford District’s first Tourism Officer in 1980. She was instrumental in training the first Blue Badge Guides in Yorkshire.  Her collection of fascinating facts and anecdotes bring Saltaire history to life. Bookings now being taken at Rastrick library or by calling 01484 714858