Mayor of Worcester

In a rather regular looking house on Edgar Street there is an organisation that helps young people with their mental health. They give young people a safe space and the chance to talk through issues and develop mechanisms to cope with the world they are living in, and they do all of this through play.

Last week I was thrilled to visit Our Space Play and Family Therapies to talk about the work they do and the issues they face securing funding for their work. They have many extensively trained therapists but they are not currently eligible for registration with the Health and Care Professions Council, in the same way that arts or music therapists are. Therefore, they rely on donations and parents to be able to pay for their work. They offer a really valuable service in our community and I hope they are able to secure funding to continue for a long time.

It was lovely to return to Kidderminster over the weekend, where I spent many years studying at Kidderminster College. This was for Mayor Shazu Miah’s Civic Service. I thought Shazu’s choice of reading was lovely. It spoke of how we should support and learn from the younger generation, which related to his charity, Kidderminster & District Youth Trust (KYDYT). KYDYT run a number of youth clubs in Kidderminster and aim to support and empower young people. Shazu’s other charity is H.E.L.P Kidderminster, who support homeless people in the community. Both are fantastic causes and well needed.

On Monday, I welcomed some German exchange students to the Guildhall. They were part of an exchange programme with Blessed Edward’s and they were somewhat impressed by my very rudimentary German speaking ability. It is concerning to think that I achieved an A in my GCSE German 10 years ago and now I can just about string together a few lines. However, I was able to introduce myself as “die Bürgermeisterin” and tell them they were a “fantastiche gruppe von studenten”.

I judged my first-ever speaking competition at Hollymount School. The year 3s and 4s gave a reading of their favourite poem and the Year 5s and 6s read a short piece they had written about someone who inspired them. Among the list of inspiring people were Sir David Attenborough, Ariana Grande and “my dad”. It was incredibly difficult to judge the competition as they were all brilliant. I had to stop myself from putting 10/10 in all categories. The students clearly enjoyed it and developed skills that will support them for the rest of their lives. The competition is run each year by Worcester Rotary Club, who do many things to support Hollymount and their sister school Carnforth.

Firstly I would like to say thank you to the wonderful staff at Fairfield Learning Centre for giving me a tour of their refurbished and expanded learning facilities last week. It was really lovely to meet some of the students, see the art, hair and make-up that they were working on and try some of the food they had been cooking. The cheese scone was fantastic. I was also very happy to cut my first ribbon of my Mayoral year. One down, hopefully many more to go.

At the start of this week I welcomed descendants of John Sanders to the Guildhall. They had travelled from Canada for a few days to trace back their family history. It is believed that John Sanders painted a portrait of William Shakespeare in 1603. The painting has stayed with the family for over 400 years, travelling with them across the Atlantic. Whether or not it is an authentic portrait of Shakespeare has not been confirmed but, if it is, it would be the only portrait of him painted in his lifetime, 13 years before his death.

Both mother and daughter who came to visit were really surprised by how large and historic the Guildhall was. The daughter described it as “like a palace”. They were also pleased to hear that it was open to the public six days a week. I think this is what makes the Guildhall so special. It is a beautiful asset to our community and visitors to our beautiful city.

My theme for the year is “community”, because I believe there has never been a more important time to celebrate the power of people coming together.  This world can often feel polarised and divided but it is important to recognise what unites us rather than what separates us. Worcester is a wonderful mixing pot of historic traditions mixed with new ideas, culture and creativity. It is wonderful when I get the opportunity to make people feel welcome here, whether visiting for the day or setting down roots.

This weekend I am looking forward to the Elgar Festival! Their motto for the festival, “Elgar for Everyone”, really sums up the work they do to make the great composer accessible. I am excited to hear a talk from independent recording producer Andrew Keener about his work in the studio with Elgar conductors. I am sure it is a very different set up to my time spent in the studio recording sixth-formers’ music technology projects.