I am now into my final week as Mayor of Worcester before I hand the chain over at Tuesday’s Annual Council meeting. Some of my fellow mayors in Worcestershire have already handed over to their successors at ‘mayor making’ ceremonies across the county. On Tuesday I will open the Annual Council meeting as chairman and the first item following the chaplain’s prayers will be simply to elect a new mayor.

I have five outstanding functions to report. On Sunday the mayoress and I attended the Severn Arts Festival of Music at the University Arena, where over 100 school children and students from across Worcestershire demonstrated their musical skills. We were joined by Laura Worsfold, the Severn Arts CEO, who we have met several times over the past year with the excellent Arches Festivals.

On Monday the mayoress and I attended a Service of Thanksgiving for the Life of Jeff Carpenter, followed by a reception in the Guildhall. A former Worcester City councillor and mayor of the city between 1984/5, he was made an Honorary Alderman in 2016 in recognition of his outstanding service to the City Council. The Reverend Canon John Paul Hoskins led the service that included readings, tributes, and poetry recitals from members of his family.

On Friday a civic reception was held for the International Guild of Town Pipers Festival in the Guildhall. There are delegates from many cities from the UK and the Netherlands who are all members of historic music groups and will be performing in and around the city during 16th-17th May wearing their historic costumes. Thank you to Roger Offord, Chair of the Guild and Sue Pope, member of the historic music group The City of Worcester Waites, for organising this fantastic festival.

Today I will be entertaining Rosemary Hopkins and her guests in the Parlour. This is a prize she won at the raffle at the recent Worcester Competitive Art Festival that the mayoress and I enjoyed attending.

Finally on Monday I welcome students from New College, Worcester to the Parlour.