Wigan's outgoing mayor looks back on a busy year as borough's first citizen

It has been a busy 12 months for Coun Kevin Anderson and his partner Samantha Lloyd, who held the positions of Mayor and Mayoress of Wigan 2023-24.

They have attended hundreds of engagements, met people all over the borough, answered some unusual questions from school pupils and raised tens of thousands of pounds for good causes.

In his final interview before handing the chains to new mayor Coun Debbie Parkinson, Coun Anderson revealed how much money had been raised for his chosen charities during his year as the borough’s first citizen.

He said: “I have enjoyed the year and the mayoress has as well. We have attended approaching 300 events.

“My charities have been Wigan Samaritans and ManLeigh, both related to mental health crises. I was at a charity committee and they indicated around £37,000 has been raised during the year, which is very good. It should help to facilitate ManLeigh to have a permanent base and expand the outreach work of Wigan Samaritans.”

He praised the “dedicated bunch of people” on the charity committee for their efforts in organising fund-raising events throughout the year, as well as the support of Rotarians in Wigan and Leigh.

Coun Anderson was first elected to Wigan Council in 1994 and represents the Leigh South ward.

He has attended events across the borough this year but his home town’s sporting success was particularly special to him.

He said: “I have been to a lot of community events and schools. I have met people who I have never met before and learned about activities in the community across Wigan borough in all corners.

“My highlights include Leigh winning the Challenge Cup, but I have never cheered on Wigan Warriors more than this season. I hosted a small but informal reception for Leigh Leopards and Wigan Warriors, with all their trophies. It just showed how dominant we had been last season as a borough.

“It was especially nice to see Leigh come home with the Challenge Cup after so many years.”

It is not just people in different locations he has met, but also people of different faiths.

“One of the things I found interesting was visiting a lot of faith communities in the borough. That’s been quite educational,” he said.

“It’s led me to try to revitalise a multi-faith network across the borough. It’s only been a couple of meetings, but the early signs are it’s likely to go somewhere. We are concentrating on what we have in common, rather than what divides us.”

Coun Anderson has also enjoyed meeting young people across the borough – even if they did have some unexpected questions for him.

He said: “I have enjoyed visits to schools and schools visiting me in the parlour in the council chamber. That’s been one of the nicer parts of the year. Children can always ask those unpredictable questions and that’s been quite enjoyable. I have had to be on top form at times to make sure I have been able to answer their quite detailed questions.

“They have asked if I have any health conditions, how old I am, any allergies, also more general things about what I enjoy about being mayor.”

There have been times when Coun Anderson has had to focus on politics, with him describing chairing council meetings as among the “more challenging times” during his year in office.

He has also welcomed people who have made Wigan their home during citizenship ceremonies, praising the lengths they go to in a bid to become British citizens.

He said: “They have been quite revealing. The people who go through the hurdles to become British citizens have to pass tests – history tests for example, culture tests, value tests – some of which I think a lot of people would find challenging at times. They are self-funding as well and it takes a couple of years to become citizens.

“They are people who have partners who are British or possibly family or European community members with the right to remain indefinitely.”

Coun Anderson opened Rebuild With Hope in the Grand Arcade shopping centre, which is thought to be the UK’s largest charity shop, and praised the opportunities it provides to people facing barriers to employment.

He highlighted the investment by the council in Leigh, particularly improvements at Pennington Flash.

“It’s making it even more popular to the public, with more play areas and more pathways,” he said.

“Leigh Sports Village continues to prosper too, with Leigh Leopards and the women’s teams.”

Having packed so much into the past 12 months, Coun Anderson is looking forward to going on holiday.

He admitted he had won a stay in a holiday home during an auction, but had not had time to arrange to go.

And he will not be putting his feet up, as he will continue to represent the people of Leigh South, as well as taking up a new role as chairman of licensing regulation.

As he looked back on his year as first citizen, Coun Anderson said: “I will miss meeting all the wonderful people I have had the opportunity to meet. It highlights to me how fortunate we are to have so many community activists in the communities of this borough.

“With all the changes we have had over quite a number of years, I think they have helped a lot of people get through some really difficult times, whether it’s people volunteering with food banks, The Brick, people in the faith community, youth workers and so forth. If it wasn’t for those organisations and people, the borough would be a much worse place to live.”