Amir Khan says ‘chase your dreams’ “If you want to achieve something in life, you need to work hard. It's all to do with hard work. It's about having a dream and chasing that dream. If you lose, you should work harder. Chase your dreams.” These were the words that boxer Amir Khan, fresh from a weekend in Las Vegas which had seen him retain his WBC Silver Welterweight title, delivered to two hundred Bolton School boys aged 7 to 11 years. Addressing the Junior School in an inspiring talk he told them that boxing had taught him discipline and how to behave. His family had encouraged him from an early age to join the gym to burn off his extra energy after he had finished his school and Mosque studies. He advised the youngsters to revise, work hard and study. In an engaging question and answer session, Amir recalled how he had achieved his dream early in life when he became the youngest British Olympic boxing medallist, picking up a silver medal in the Athens 2004 games. He told the boys that boxing is like a game of chess and it is important to have your feet in the right position. Utilising one of the boys he showed the audience how difficult it can be to fight a “south paw” (a left-handed boxer) as the pugilists' feet can clash. Recapping his career, he recalled his first fight at age 11 against Michael Clark in Stoke on Trent and he said that all his opponents to date had been difficult. He admitted it is hard boxing in front of thousands of people and that you need to deliver a punch perfect performance. Prior to a fight he said he has a mixture of nerves and excitement but as soon as the bell rings the adrenalin kicks in and he focuses on the job to be done. During his amateur and professional career, he said he won 101 fights and lost 9. During his professional career, he had won 30 fights and lost 3. He told the boys that the secret is when you lose, at any sport, you need to learn from this, accept it, and come back stronger. Asked what his inspiration had been, he answered unequivocally that it had been his admiration of Muhammad Ali. Answering the question of what he would have become had he not been a boxer, he hoped he might have been involved in Sports Science but joked that he might have ended up stacking shelves! Looking to the future, he said he was determined to fight the undefeated Floyd Mayweather next year. Mayweather had told him to prove himself and he said he had done this by retaining his WBC title.
Christmas cracker for Westhoughton Rotary Every year Santa's helpers on the Westhoughton Rotary Sleigh look forward to hearing the great comment “Now I know it's Christmas” as they tour the streets and collect outside local supermarkets. This year the encouragement from local shoppers outside Tesco went one better. Just as the tune “All I want for Christmas is my two front teeth” started on the Sleigh, a family stopped to say hello to Father Christmas, and a little girl was very keen to give a big smile to show off her missing front teeth! Although there was some bad weather the support and encouragement of local people has enabled Westhoughton's Rotary Santa to raise a wonderful 2014 Christmas total of £7639.92 Rotary Treasurer Ken Wood has been busy with the mammoth task of counting the thousands of coins and many notes given generously because they know every penny raised helps local charities. “It makes all the difference to our work”, he told us, “It pays for donations to projects organised by local organisations and charities and helps towards the costs of our wide range of community events for all ages. Thanks to this money we will be able to run many activities in 2015, for example, a painting competition and exhibition for Primary School children in March and a St George's Day Party for local older people in April.” John Oakes, Westhoughton Rotary President, said he appreciated the dedicated work from his fellow Rotarians lead by Senior Vice President John Moutrie together with members of Westhoughton Inner Wheel and some great friends and supporters of the Club. Mr Oakes explained, “In the past few weeks, we've taken part in the lights switch on in Westhoughton, Bolton and Farnworth, toured for 10 nights throughout the town and collected at Sainsbury's and Tesco, in Market Street and in local pubs and restaurants. As well as thanking our excellent volunteer helpers, I'd like to thank everyone who has helped us in any way including the managers and staff of Krone's, Kia, Tesco and Sainsbury's and all of the pubs and restaurants we've visited. “The Westhoughton Rotary Father Christmas tour is a well established local institution. Our current sleigh alone has been touring since December 1998 and for some years has been towed in style each year by Kia cars. We are especially grateful to Kia at Middlebrook for yet again providing the exclusive use of a brand new Kia car to tow the sleigh throughout December.” Westhoughton Rotary Club would like to extend a big thank you and very best wishes for 2015 to everyone who has supported them in any way.
Westhoughton Station is hit by mindless vandals...again! Westhoughton Station has once again become the victim of heartless vandals. It was back in October when we reported on the first attack and the damaged caused by mindless yobs. The local volunteers determined to carry on, took it in their stride, and got their clean up campaign back on track. Over the past two years local volunteers, 'The Friends of Westhoughton Station' have rallied together in all weathers on the first and third Sundays of each month to clean up the Station, transforming it from a weed and rubbish ridden wilderness to what is now regarded as one of the best kept small railway stations in the North West and a place to make everyone proud. The recent attack of vandalism by senseless thugs is thought to have taken place sometime between Friday 9th and the morning of Sunday 11th January, when Stephen Freeborn, Chair of The Friends of Westhoughton Station, noticed the damage. Empty wine bottles and beer cans had been thrown around the platform shelter, garden ornaments were smashed and left scattered across the railway line. Even the seven foot wooden Station Master, donated to the group, didn't escape from the rampage and had his arms ripped off. He now has a sign attached stating, ‘I have been vandalised.' Stephen Freeborn, told us, “As well as the damage to the Station Master, a pottery 'welcome' sign was smashed, a green gnome was thrown onto the train line and a pottery dog and owl are also missing. It is so disappointing when so much effort is put into creating a pleasant environment for the people using the Station by the volunteers of 'Friends of Westhoughton Station.' If the vandals would like to help and atone for what they did, they can always join us and do some litter picking, bulb planting or wall cleaning on any Sunday at 10am.” The Police have been informed about the vandalism and are currently examining the CCTV footage from the cameras which are in operation at the Station 24 hours a day. For more information or to get involved with The Friends Of Westhoughton Station please contact Stephen Freeborn on 07970 582472 or email [email protected]