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.