Macclesfield Borough Council - Latest News http://www.macclesfield.gov.uk/standardpage.asp?pageid=11930&ViewMode=All Diane Youdale, aka Jet from the TV series Gladiators, has launched pilates and dance classes at Knutsford Leisure Centre, which stages an open day on Saturday 17 May. Follow this link for more details. http://www.macclesfield.gov.uk/news_item.asp?id=1883  "I am glad to express support for Wheels 2 Work. This kind of initiative is obviously important in helping people to gain access to work. I welcome the passion that you are investing in it. Accessibility to jobs and training opportunities is an important factor for people who are looking for work. Jobcentre Plus has issued guidance to local staff, which encourages them to work with local partners including transport authorities, Connexions and the Learning and Skills Council, to help remove these barriers. Wheels 2 Work is an initiative that can help jobseekers take up employment and training opportunities where public transport is not readily available. Jobcentre plus is happy to support local Wheels 2 Work schemes where they represent value for money and are the best way of meeting an individual customer''s needs. I welcome the enthusiasm being applied to this initiative in the North West and I am delighted that you are able to look forward to expanding it. I congratulate all involved on what is clearly a successful and very useful initiative." The Rt Hon Gordon Brown MP, Prime Minister. Transport issues are increasingly a matter of concern for young people who live in rural areas.  Employment, education and training are becoming more and more difficult to access as public transport providers are forced to offer more limited services to the rural areas. Macclesfield Wheels 2 Work provides an innovative way of overcoming transport barriers by offering individuals their own transport solutions for a short period of time until a longer-term solution can be found. This is great news for Macclesfield's Wheels 2 Work scheme as well as the Wheels 2 Work North West Region. Hopefully his added support will enable us to achieve more funding so that the schemes can not only continue, but expand. So far we have helped 47 young people into work, education or training in Macclesfield Borough since October 2006, and over 500 in the North West Region.  For more information please visit www.needwheels.co.uk or contact Scheme Co-ordinator Claire Whitchurch on 01625 504348 or Email c.whitchurch@macclesfield.gov.uk   http://www.macclesfield.gov.uk/news_item.asp?id=1882 Vote for Macclesfield! The six-strong team which runs the Borough of Macclesfield's Cemeteries and Crematoria has been shortlisted for Council Worker of the Year 2008. The staff are just one of six entrants for the new Team Category. Their fate is now in the public's hands - voting is by text  (LGATV 6 Macclesfield, to 80039) or www.localgovernmentchannel.com/awards. Please cast your vote! Follow this link for the full story.  http://www.macclesfield.gov.uk/news_item.asp?id=1879 A £10,000 blitz on ridding the streets of graffiti has been launched in the Borough. Follow this link for more details. http://www.macclesfield.gov.uk/news_item.asp?id=1878 Follow this link for details of new enforcement for on and off-road parking in the Macclesfield Borough. http://www.macclesfield.gov.uk/news_item.asp?id=1877 Follow this link for details of the results of the poll. http://www.macclesfield.gov.uk/news_item.asp?id=1876 Macclesfield Borough Rangers are inviting people to join them on a creative walk with cameras. Follow this link for more details. http://www.macclesfield.gov.uk/news_item.asp?id=1875 Poynton Park is one of the main topics of the May edition of the Rangers' podcast, available from the Macclesfield Borough Council website. Countryside Ranger Peter Dowse will introduce listeners to Poynton Park, for which he has recently become responsible. Presenter Martin James will be looking at what wildlife sightings the Rangers have had during April and speaking to Tony Barker, the Council's  Public Relations Officer, about an award nomination for colleagues in the Bereavement Services Department. They have been shortlisted for Council Worker of the Year in the Team category. Vote for them by texting LGATV 6 Macclesfield to 80039 or log on to www.localgovernmentchannel.com/awards.   Follow this link for the Rangers' podcast. http://www.macclesfield.gov.uk/news_item.asp?id=1874 The Conservatives took 59 out of the 81 seats on the new shadow Cheshire East Council, following elections on May 1. The results were announced on Friday 2 May. Pick up a free copy of a four-page election special newspaper at Knutsford, Macclesfield, Wilmslow and Poynton leisure centres, any library or MBC customer centre. For further details online of the results across Macclesfield, Congleton and Crewe & Nantwich districts and the state of the parties, please follow this link.  http://www.macclesfield.gov.uk/news_item.asp?id=1873 Follow this link for details of the election. http://www.macclesfield.gov.uk/news_item.asp?id=1869 The annual challenge to residents, businesses and organisations in Wilmslow and Handforth to spruce up their area has been launched by the Wilmslow Forum, backed by Macclesfield Borough Council, and sponsored by Strikes Garden Centre of Wilmslow. Follow this link for more details of the campaign. http://www.macclesfield.gov.uk/news_item.asp?id=1862 Follow this link for more details about a Macclesfield-made tie. http://www.macclesfield.gov.uk/news_item.asp?id=1861 To celebrate 40 years since the passing of steam and to coincide with the launch of Cheshire's Year of the Gardens, the 2008 Mid Cheshire Steam Rail Day on Sunday 4 May will include the journey between Crewe and Northwich via Sandbach and the Middlewich Branch. The Steam Day Special, which is run by the Mid Cheshire Community Rail Partnership, is sponsored by Macclesfield Borough Council. The train will be hauled by a fantastic steam locomotive - Stanier Black 5 45407. She will be one of the many guests visiting our beautiful county for Cheshire's Year of the Gardens - an exciting year-long festival celebrating Cheshire as the foremost destination for garden lovers. The Cheshire Gardens Express starts its journey from Crewe and travels to Altrincham via the Middlewich Branch - a line that has not seen a scheduled rail service for over forty years. The service then includes two return journeys between Altrincham and Chester calling at all intermediate stations including Mobberley, Knutsford and Plumley, returning from Altrincham to Crewe in the evening. This is a fabulous nostalgic day out for all the family - a chance for grandparents to relive the days of steam with their grandchildren. To enter, tell us the start and end-points for the Cheshire Gardens' Express. Email your entry with contact details to pressoffice@macclesfield.gov.uk or send a text to 07966 974117 (normal network rates apply) by Monday 29 April. http://www.macclesfield.gov.uk/news_item.asp?id=1860