As in previous years the Ashton congregations of The Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints held a recent concert for local charities collecting approximately 12,000 brand new toys over the last 20 years. Many dignitaries have also attended in the past including Mayors from all the local boroughs, MPs and members of Oldham SACRE.
| Temple Square is always beautiful in the springtime. Gardeners work to prepare the ground for General Conference. © 2012 Intellectual Reserve, Inc. All rights reserved. | 1 / 2 |
This year was no different with over 490 toys collected over the two nights in December and donated to Oldham Food Bank, Threshold Kids (including two refugees), Rochdale Childer and Failsworth and Chadderton Rotary Clubs. The Mayor and Mayoress of Oldham, Cllr Ateeque Ur Rehman and Cllr Yasmin Toor, the Deputy Mayor of Mossley Cllr Greg Brett, were all in attendance plus members of the Oldham Food Bank.
Local Church leader, Kevin Fletcher stated that it has been a tradition in Ashton to work with community groups and to especially help at this time of year when so many youngsters do not have much. He was very humbled by the amount of gifts donated and the hard work that went into each concert and the special spirit brought by the musical items and video shown.
Lindsay Preston conducted the choir, which was made up of members throughout the Ashton area and held at the Ashton meeting house. Mrs Maureen Cooper MBE of Rochdale Childer expressed her thanks for the wonderful gifts donated over the years and how they touched the lives of so many children.