WHEN Aldermen and Burgesses of Altrincham Court Leet followed Town Crier, Peter Powell, into Altrincham Town Hall, they passed a facsimile of Altrincham’s 1290 charter.

At the event, the Provost, Bailiff Alan Laver wearing newly refurbished robes, presented Craig Oxley- Brookes, 31, from Brooklands, with a certificate making him a Freeman of the Borough of Altrincham.

Despite working full-time as store manager at a Co-op elite store in Stockport, Craig had spent almost nine years helping elderly people at Hale Library learn computing.

He said: “I feel honoured and privileged to become a Freeman. It was a nice surprise.

“It was my idea to start the classes because I thought there was a shortfall within the community. It started out as a short term project and is still going.”

Craig runs five week courses starting at 1.30 pm on Wednesday afternoons.

He said: “The students arrive really nervous and then it falls into place. I make people feel at ease and tell them there is no such thing as a daft question.

“The first lesson is key when we try to make people feel comfortable..”

During the proceedings, the Deputy Provost Denise Laver paid tribute to two Burgesses. The first was Mary Eastwood who, the previous day, had held a successful open garden event in aid of the Red Cross.

The second, Frank Tolley, had returned to Holland after celebrating his part in Operation Manna in 1945, dropping food parcels to the Dutch.

* For information about the classes, telephone Age UK Trafford at 0161 746 9752 or Hale Library at 0161 912 5966.