I LOVE Birthdays: Six Years of I Love Cheadle Hulme

4 Feb 2022

Happy birthday to us! This time SIX whole years ago, back in February 2016, the great and good of Cheadle Hulme gathered in Rainbow88 to toast the launch of Wendy Green’s new community venture, I Love Cheadle Hulme. Safe to say, much has changed since then, but one constant is our ability to party!

Spotlight YOUR Business

The I Love Communities brand – first heralded with the advent of I Love Bramhall back in 2013 – was created from a genuine love of where we live, a dedication to the shops and businesses and groups that make our villages special. Everyone wants to shop local. Everyone wants to support their local businesses. I Love puts those local businesses on the map, then shines a spotlight on them, so the people who WANT to use the businesses can FIND them.

Cheadle Hulme’s iconic Station Road

Full House at Rainbow88

In the usual I Love tradition, and as an early indicator of just what I Love Cheadle Hulme could achieve, we absolutely packed Rainbow out! All our guests were greeted with a refreshing glass of bubbly and some Rainbow88 delectable delicacies. King of Swing, Alan Burton, got the party started – and kept it that way. Let’s just say it wasn’t an early night…

Our local Mayor and Mayoress joined Cheadle Hulme’s shops, professionals, publicans, restaurateurs, salon owners, entertainers, sole traders, estate agents, headteachers, sports club committees, Scout leaders, church leaders and everyone else you can imagine. We welcomed some of Cheadle Hulme’s longest-established and best-known businesses and met some fascinating new ventures.

Wendy Green, Kate Godfrey, Cheadle Hulme

Wendy and Kate with the former Mayor and Mayoress of Stockport

A Night to Remember

The launch party was a wonderful and memorable evening, as shown on the photo gallery, decorated with our signature and statement I Love Cheadle Hulme balloons. How truly lovely it was to get the businesses, restaurants, shops and pubs of Cheadle Hulme together to meet, network and celebrate the start of something new. It made us incredibly proud to look across Rainbow88 to see all the people we’d brought together and excited at what more is to come!

Familiar faces at that stellar launch party back in 2016 were of course Wendy herself, with sarcy sidekick, Cheadle Hulme’s Kate. Host with the most, the lovely Linda Lam, whose welcoming Chinese restaurant is a local landmark – and a hub of support and fundraising – still loves I Love Cheadle Hulme. She’s since been joined by business partner Steve and with two at the helm, Rainbow88 has flourished. Kate and Wendy will be back there to celebrate the Chinese Year of the Tiger next week.

Kate, Wendy and Linda Lam showing off the I Love Cheadle Hulme brand

Familiar Faces and I Love Friends

Other guests included Nick Porter and Colin of Porter and Daughter, whose restoration of Bridgeway House is now the incredible co-working space, MyHq, and headed by Dawn Porter and her sister Lindsey. Still very much a family firm, then. We also enjoyed a glass of wine (or two, or…) with several local councillors, John and Annette of The Kenilworth, Claire O’Connor whose salon Hair by Claire is 28 years old this month.

I Love What I love Can Do

Since our launch, we’ve lost count of how many dogs, cats and other family members we’ve helped to reunite, how many items of lost or found property we’ve returned to the rightful owners. We’ve raised a LOT of money for several charities, perhaps most notably Prevent Breast Cancer, with two successive years of Paint Cheadle Hulme Pink Activities. We’ve set up and continue to run, on a voluntary basis, our Neighbourhood Alert Scheme after requests from police, councillors and our MP. This helps entire roads and neighbourhoods stay in touch, instantly, with the aim of protecting each other and our homes and cars.

We love to do it. It’s often hard work, we don’t take much time off, but we love it. And that’s what gives us a huge audience and following which then means we are THE best local advertising around. We’ve supported and promoted so many local businesses. They tell us I Love Membership and promotion is a no-brainer. It works. Ian Wilkinson, of Snowden Wilkinson, told us he could always tell when we shared a house for sale. The reach went stratospheric! Nick Porter says his Bridgeway House posts went ‘viral’ after we did our thing. These are just a couple of those who’ve stayed with I Love Cheadle Hulme throughout.

Bridgeway House, home of MyHQ, on Station Road

Live Local Love Local

So yes. Some things have changed in those six years. Some businesses are sadly no longer with us. Others, like Chapel Holistics, are in carefully chosen and capable new hands. Others have evolved and diversified and many have added new strings to their already impressive bows. The last two years have brought us all together even more and made us all the more grateful for and appreciative of our local shops and traders and highlighted the need to do everything we can to support them. So many went the extra mile throughout lockdowns, restrictions and ever-changing edicts. All struggled, one way or another. We’re a small business too, we get it – so we did what we could for our friends and clients.

Whilst the pandemic highlighted the need to support our local village, I Love Cheadle Hulme is here to highlight the local businesses and what they can do for YOU. Here’s to another few years – and another few parties. Cheers!

If you would like to join our ‘I Love’ family, whether you are a business, community group or charity, please click here