OBSERVER reporter Katie Fitzpatrick learns how to highlight Rochdale’s positive side ...

AS A reporter for the Rochdale Observer I have got to know the town, its surrounding areas and many of its residents well over the last six years.

But I have never thought about how I can put my knowledge to good use for the people visiting the borough.

So the aim of enrolling on an ‘Ambassador for Rochdale’ course was to help me understand more about Rochdale and how I can present our borough in a ‘positive, enthusiastic and knowledgable way’ to people on UK breaks or visiting from overseas.

I was joined on the course at Touchstones by representatives from Rochdale Tourist Information, Marks and Spencer, the leisure and cultural service Link4Life, Rochdale tourism officer Tim Nuttall, hair stylist John Peers, Simon Crompton of the Baum wine bar and restaurant, Rochdale bus station supervisor Steve Cain, police community support officers and civil enforcement officers.

We were told that latest figures show that Rochdale had 7.5M visitors in 2007 and the borough made a staggering £365M from tourism, which we ‘ambassadors’ can help boost even further.

Katy Moussaada of tourism consultancy and training said: "When people ask obscure questions you are going to be able to help out and visitors are going to go away having had a better experience during their time in Rochdale."

To get us warmed up, we were split into teams and asked to say what makes us proud to live and work in the borough and to provide little-known facts about Rochdale.

Touchstones, the birthplace of the Co-operative movement, space shuttle and Concord nose cones manufactured in Littleborough, Gracie Fields, the architecture of the town hall, the world record for the largest pancake and Take That having their hair cut at John Peers’ salon for their first photoshoot were all listed.

I was then challenged, with Mr Cain from the bus station and civil enforcement officer Rosie Holdaway, to draw up a two-day itinerary for the billionaire Google founders Larry Page and Sergey Brin, who we had to imagine were looking to open new offices in the area.

We booked them into the Wine Press overlooking Hollingworth Lake, took them on a tour of the town centre including a meet-and-greet at the town hall with the mayor, Councillor Robin Parker, had lunch at Nutters restaurant in Norden, met the governors and headteacher of the new Trust school to replace Springhill High and Balderstone Technology College at Kingsway Business Park and for the evening’s entertainment we went to Middleton Arena and for a meal at the Royal Toby in Castleton.

The visit was rounded off with lunch at the Baum and the handing over of a Rochdale AFC shirt.

Next I was challenged, with Link4Life business development manager Gwyn Fitton and PCSO Andy Gray, to give directions from Touchstones to the Exchange and Wheatsheaf shopping centres with tourists in mind.

We brushed up on our knowledge about famous Rochdalians – Lisa Stansfield, Anna Friel, Bill Oddie, Colin Baker and Lord Byron – and completed a quiz with questions about the borough and its facilities such as ‘where can I hire a car?’, ‘where can I find a pub that sells locally brewed beer and what is the name of the beer?’ and ‘where can I buy souvenirs ?’

This updated our local knowledge and put us in the customers’ shoes.

So if I spot you struggling through the town centre with your suitcase, looking for the nearest pharmacy, foreign currency exchange or public park to soak up the sunshine, I might be able to help or at least point you in the right direction.

And I might just bombard you with enough fascinating information about Rochdale to encourage you to book another stay...