Mayor of Worcester Blog

A celebrity came to town to deliver the Civic Society’s Annual Lecture held in the Guildhall, and what a delightful evening it proved to be! Griff Rhys Jones was in Worcester with his wife for the occasion, a charming couple who really made the evening something special. Griff spoke for about an hour or so, without notes, in a most captivating way on the subject of “Our Heritage”.  A most timely subject as our City reaches out to become recognised as a Heritage City, in the company of Bath, Chester and Cambridge.  Admission was free and around 200 people attended. A raffle was held with some brilliant prizes including an enormous chocolate hamper which I named “death by chocolate”, and  during the evening over £700 was raised for the three charities, bringing our total for the Mayoral year to around £30,000.

WODYs, the youth section of the Worcester Operatic & Dramatic Society, held a rehearsal in St Mary’s Hall, Northfield Street, in preparation for their production of Les Miserables at the Swan Theatre from 2nd to 6th August 2016.  A cast of 67 eight to eighteen year-olds sung a variety of well loved numbers such as I Dreamed a Dream and One Day More.  We stayed for about an hour and a half, but could have easily spent the rest of the day there as the singing was quite breathtaking and with three months still to go, I think it will be an event not to be missed this August. Not only will it be a great show, but the cast will be raising money from the interval raffle for Worcestershire Young Carers too.  Freda and I will be going and if you do want to book tickets, the Box Office number is 01905 644427.  There’s much more information on their web page at http://www.wodys.com/

An usual service was held in our Cathedral: a “Pet Service”. My first thoughts were centered on the prospect of a number of dogs not getting on too well, or maybe a cat would be the centre of their attention.  As it turned out, all the animals, (mainly dogs, but there was one tortoise), were beautifully behaved – not so much as a growl!  It was a very nice event and the people were great and just as well behaved as their pets.  The most significant thing for me was seeing another example of our Cathedral being managed for the people.  This is not always the case, and we should be grateful to the Bishop and the Dean and Chapter for such an open approach.

 

Two addition plaques were recently “unveiled” noting the locations of Trinity Gate, near the Corn Market, and St Nicholas Gate, (which was also known as Gaol Gate), in St Nicholas Street.  I believe originally there were nine gates through which Worcester could be entered back when it was a “walled city”; most have now been identified and plaques erected, thanks to the efforts of the Civic Society and sponsors.  I’m very much in favour of these plaques as they help to bring Worcester’s history to life and preserve important locations.  They are helping to make Worcester more interesting for our visitors while making us, the people of Worcester, more aware of our city’s past.

The ribbon was cut to open Colmore Tang Construction’s transformation of the former MEB offices on Blackpole Road into luxury apartments, known as Bridgewater House. The £10 million redevelopment by property developer Seven Capital has seen the building revitalised into one and two-bedroom properties, with a penthouse suite at the top of the building. providing residents with scenic views across the city towards the Malvern Hills. Demand for the apartments has been high, with all 75 apartments selling in just two months!

Whiston Court retirement community, off Upper Tything, opened its doors to reveal 37 one and two bedroom apartments, beautifully-designed and finished. But most importantly, it’s a not-for-profit development run by a local charity called the Abbeyfield Worcester Society, which is dedicated to combating loneliness among older people in Worcestershire. Aimed at the over 55s, Whiston Court offers assisted living accommodation for those who want to remain independent. It has the option of on-site support if needed, and it prides itself on its caring community ethos.

Recently I had the pleasure of making a speech from the pulpit. Not being ordained, this was a bit unusual, but the congregation seemed pleased with my few words. The venue was the lovely St Swithun’s Church, which lies rather hidden (just off the High Street and adjoining The Shambles). Built in the 1730s, it is often described as a “Georgian gem in the heart of Worcester” and has changed little since.  Owned by the Churches Conservation Trust, they are about to embark on major repair work to make the roof watertight and provide some much needed toilets and heating facilities.  I had been invited to see what could be achieved if a grant from the Heritage Lottery Fund and monies raised locally can be secured. There are some exciting plans which will bring the church back to life, if all goes to plan. I wish them every success.

St Joseph’s Catholic Primary School in Warndon, (just off Chedworth Drive), which opened in 1966, celebrated its 50^th anniversary with a service led by Archbishop Bernard Longley.  Fr Paul, who is the Parish Priest, was delighted by the number of people that attended, in fact the school hall was packed to capacity and it was a lovely service.  The children were incredibly polite and well behaved and were a credit to both the school and their families.

On a sporty note, it was a pleasure to welcome representatives of the University’s “Champion” Netball and Wheelchair Basket Ball Teams to the Guildhall to celebrate their recent success. They were all great ambassadors of both their sport and our University and they made the occasion a very enjoyable one.  I wish them every success in the future.

The Queen’s 90^th Birthday was celebrated here in Worcester by the lighting of a beacon on the top of Fort Royal Park.  Fortunately it was a dry, albeit chilly evening, but ideal weather to celebrate outdoors.  As we lit our beacon we could see the Worcestershire beacon alight on the Malvern Hills.  It was a great event with a lovely atmosphere and everyone present enjoyed the event!

 

 

I met with Chris Martyn-Smith at the recent Retirement Show held in the Guildhall and was delighted to hear of the initiatives the local company is pursuing in an effort to raise local awareness of dementia.

Chris said that ‘’Eclipse HomeCare wants to help families who want a better understanding of how best to support loved ones living with the onset of dementia. This is a problem that families are increasingly having to deal with and our monthly briefings from one of our clients provide a practical insight in how best individuals can be supported whilst at home’’.

Alzheimers UK estimate that there are currently 850,000 people with dementia in the UK and that this number will rise to 1,000,000 by 2025. This is represents 1 out of every 3 people over the age of 85, so the hard fact is that many families will be touched by dementia at some stage.

The next talk in Worcester is planned for the evening of Tuesday 26^th April. For more details please email info@EclipseHomeCare.co.uk

 

St Martin’s Church, along London Road, was the venue for an afternoon of song. Worcester Male Voice Choir partnered with Choeur d’ Annebault, a Choir from Le Vésinet, France, a town with which Worcester has a friendship agreement.  The concert was very good and there’s history in this too!  A short drive from Le Vésinet is Vernon, with which Worcester has a Friendship Pact.  In August 1944, the Worcestershire regiment helped liberate the city and it was this historic event that prompted the two cities to become closer.  The town also takes part in Worcester’s annual Victorian Fayre and gave its name to Le Vésinet Promenade, near Sabrina Bridge in Worcester.

Continuing the musical “note”, (excuse the pun), the Guildhall hosted a superb event with Worcester Concert Brass playing before an audience of over 90 and the band played superbly.  They are always good and on this evening, they were at their best.  Knowing my love of all things RAF, they played the theme from the film 633 Squadron and it sounded absolutely brilliant. It was very moving and listening made the hairs on the back of my neck stand up.  Everybody present expressed their delight at such great entertainment. Not only was it a very good evening, we raised over £800 for the Mayor’s charities.  My thanks go out to both Worcester Male Voice and Worcester Concert Brass, for two superb events.

Also in the Guildhall, the Annual Medical Lecture took place, an event initiated by Dr. David Tibbutt when he served as Mayor.  The event actually started in the Boardroom of the old infirmary, in Castle Street, where we heard a brief explanation of the history of the room and the foundation of the BMA.  This was followed by a very interesting talk by Dr John Harcup on the life and times of Charles Hastings.  After a bite to eat and a coffee we proceeded to the Guildhall for the second part of the evening.

This year we had the honour of welcoming Dr Martin Skirrow, retired consultant medical microbiologist who worked in Worcester from 1968 to his retirement in 1990. Before this he trained in Tropical Medicine in Liverpool and worked abroad as a doctor, doing his national service as a medical officer in the RAF. He was instrumental in discovering Campylobacter, a cause of particularly nasty enteritis (diarrhoea), although he is modest about this. Although it is not really possible to attribute the discovery to a single person, he was absolutely key to the discovery.  Dr Skirrow is a charming man who delivered a very technical matter in a way that lay people could understand and enjoy.  An audience of 80-plus gave him rapturous applause and several stood and spoke in admiration of his achievements.

The Mayoress and I had the pleasure of two visits from America, both in the Mayor’s Parlour and quite different in character.  Two young ladies came over from Worcester College in Massachusetts where they are studying engineering, to see how charities work over here and how funding is achieved.  My other visitor was Brother Rex, a Franciscan Monk from the city of Auburn, Maine, who was very interested in the history of our city.

Amidst the numerous Mayoral engagements I did find time to support the Mayor of Bewdley’s (Councillor Calne Edginton-White) charity fundraising event at West Midlands Safari Park and what a lovely event is was too.  This was my first visit, although my wife has visited the attraction before, and I was pleasantly pleased with the experience.  I’m not sure quite what I expected, but the occasion was set both in the beautiful surroundings of Spring Grove House and the lovely countryside.  We had the opportunity to see a variety of animals in some very well managed environments and I’ve taken the liberty of including a photo in this blog.