Thank you for the music...

A presentation was made to Donald Eastwood by the Mayor of Bolton, Cllr Cliff Morris, on behalf of the Music Service in recognition of his support to music in the town.

Mr Eastwood has retired from politics after spending 25 years serving as a councillor on Bolton Council. During that time he spent 14 years as Chairman of Education and Arts before stepping down in 2000.

When Mr Eastwood was chairman, the Education and Arts department also encompassed libraries, the youth service and the music services.

During his chairmanship many local education authorities were forced to disband their music services because of funding cuts, but Mr Eastwood led political support to keep a strong music service in place in Bolton.

Mr Eastwood said: "When I was chairman, it was hard work getting enough money for the music service because money was so tight. The director at the time encouraged me to make sure the music service kept going and we always managed to find the money from somewhere.

"It was at a time when many local authorities had to give their music services up but we managed to get awards for keeping it going and since then we have really seen it grow."

Mr Eastwood said that the success of the music service was just as much down to parents who had volunteered to help and the work schools had put into starting up music groups.

Inspectors have described support for music as "outstanding" when they visited the town two years ago.

Mr Eastwood is a keen music enthusiast in his personal life,too, enjoying all types of music, particularly mainstream jazz.

The presentation was made as part of the week long schools' music festival at the Victoria Hall.

Mr Eastwood said receiving the presentation had been a surprise although he had suspected something was being planned because people had been so insistent that he attended.

On the night, choirs from 12 primary schools performed along with students from the Bolton Urban Music Project.