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Former Mayor - S. Hackman

Former Mayor - S. Hackman

Councillor Sara Hackman 2014 - 2015

 

Looking back over her year in office as Mayor of Douglas Sara Hackman said it was: ‘A privilege to have had the opportunity to represent Douglas and to have met people from different walks of life, many in the third or voluntary sector working hard to transform the lives of others.’

 

Mrs Hackman, who stepped down from the Council on May 6 2016 to return to ‘civvy street’ said to serve as Mayor and been ‘humbling’ but also ‘fantastic fun’.

 

Much of the ‘fun’ element came from raising funds for the mayoral charity appeal, in which she was ably supported by her mayoress, Councillor Carol Malarkey, and her charity committee. ‘They all worked tirelessly over the year, and came up with so many inspirational ways to raise money, from Murder Mystery evenings to “oompah” nights, pampering sessions to a wonderful African extravaganza which brought a blaze of fantastically colourful costumes to the Council chamber.’

 

At the end of the 2015-2016 civic year Mrs Hackman and her colleagues succeeded in raising £15,000, which was divided equally between Junior Achievement Isle of Man, the Manx Breast Care Unit Appeal and the RNLI. (Her support of the RNLI extended to venturing out on the Douglas lifeboat, an experience that saw the first citizen of Douglas turn a gentle shade of green).

 

‘I had some amazing times as mayor and,  among the highlights, if you can call it that, was the Deeply Dippy event in aid of the RNLI, which involved running into an icy-cold sea at six points around Douglas, supported by some hardy friends and colleagues, including my mayoress, Carol.

 

‘Over the year it was an honour and a privilege to meet so many interesting people: members of the Armed Forces visiting the Island ahead of Remembrance Sunday; officers from HMS Vigilant at their home port of Faslane; Army cadets on “mini-manoeuvres” at their Tromode HQ; Her Royal Highness the Princess Royal; representatives from Ballymoney, the County Antrim town with Douglas has a twinning agreement; and stars of the TT, to name but a few. I evenposed with ice sculptures of penguins and met dancing dragons to celebrate Chinese New Year.

 

‘I was also honoured to send a message of congratulations on behalf of the people of Douglas to Her Majesty the Queen on the occasion of Her Majesty’s 90th birthday.

‘I said it was fun to serve as the Mayor, but there’s also a more serious side to the role. It’s about raising the profile of the town to visitors, businesses and potential new investors, so I was proud to be in at the beginning of the Council’s new, more entrepreneurial approach to engaging with the business community and working in partnership with that sector to drive economic growth.

 

‘I had the privilege of opening the new Henry Bloom Noble Library in its new location in Duke Street and two other highlights which stand out were the opportunities to bestow the Honorary Freedom of the Borough of Douglas on two remarkable people: Councillor Raina Chatel, for her long-standing service to the Council and the people of Douglas and for her charitable work, and to Hector Duff for his tireless devotion to ensuring those who lost their lives serving in the First and Second World Wars are not forgotten.

 

‘Their selfless devotion to others and their obvious affection for Douglas typifies what makes the Island’s capital the very special town it is, a town I was honoured to serve as Mayor for 12 truly memorable months.’

 

The charities to benefit from the Mayoral Charity Appeal during the municipal year 2015 - 2016 were:

 

  • Junior Achievement Isle of Man
  • Manx Breast Care Unit Appeal
  • RNLI

 

 

A select list of events from the 2015 - 2016 Municipal year.

 

 

 

Last modified on Monday, 20 June 2016 13:15
Published in Former Mayor
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