Mayor of Worcester

Occasionally a week will start off with a bang – and last week certainly did, as my wife and I celebrated our birthdays in London. We saw a show, Miss Saigon at the Prince Edward Theatre, which was brilliant and we would thoroughly recommend it. Then we did a circuit on The Eye and had some splendid views of London. As if that wasn’t enough, thanks to the generosity of Lord Faulkner of Worcester and Robin Walker, our MP, we were treated to lunch in the House of Lords and dinner in the House of Commons. A remarkable and unforgettable weekend! We would like to take this opportunity to thank both Richard and Robin for a very privileged and enjoyable experience.

The Arena was the venue for this year’s City of Worcester Sport Awards. The event was co-hosted by Andy Price, the Chair of Sport Worcester, Steve Cram CBE and Allison Curbishley, and they made the evening something special. Our Sport, Art and Play Team, led by Hannah Cox, organised a really memorable event; the Arena was full of smiling faces!

One of the good things about our Sports Awards is that it is not just the athletes who are recognised. The categories also recognise coaches, schools and volunteers to Physical Activity, allowing for a much more rounded and inclusive approach.

Another great event held in the Arena was the concert of the Band of the Grenadier Guards; the Arena is such a fantastic venue for all manner of sport and entertainment, and our thanks must go to the University Team for having the vision and foresight to create it.

The event was a joint production by Worcester Live and of course The Grenadiers, who are superb and performed brilliantly to a packed audience. The range of music was wide and all of it was thoroughly entertaining. That is until the very last piece, when the Major conducting said that the last number would be different as he had received a letter from a Worcester resident. He read out the letter which said the writer had been rehearsing for ages in front of a mirror, much to the irritation of everyone around him, in the hope of achieving his life time ambition to conduct the Band of the Grenadier Guards. He then said the letter was signed by the Mayor!! Much to my absolute embarrassment I had to take centre stage and conduct the band. I suppose there are few Mayors that can say they have done that!! I did get some sympathy applause.

If you haven’t visited Shrub Hill Railway Station recently it might be worth paying a visit – if only to see the Victorian waiting room which has been lovingly and fully restored. New tiles have been made and applied, replacing any broken or damaged items and the degree of detail applied to restoring the original look is remarkable. The waiting room was officially opened by the Duke of Gloucester and is a £461K project funded by Network Rail and the Railway Heritage Trust, with support from Historic England, London Midland, and Worcestershire County Council, which has allowed the Grade II listed building to be restored so that it can be used by passengers.

The historic grand waiting rooms on platform 2b of the station were built between 1857 and 1868, with the south room originally used as a ladies waiting room and the north as a third class waiting room. One of the waiting rooms is open to passengers, while the other has been turned into much-needed space for staff.

The voluntary team of “flower Ladies”, who look after all the floral arrangements whenever there is a major event at the Guildhall, came to the Parlour for tea and cakes on the 9^th September. It was a delight to receive them and thank them for the beautiful contribution they make to events. Their contribution lifts the whole look and ambience, and they do it so well. Thank you Ladies – your work is very much appreciated.

The opening of the Organ Donor Memorial at the Worcester Royal Hospital was a moving event and led me to do some research. What did astonish me was to read that right now worldwide, there are more than enough people waiting for an organ to fill a large football stadium twice over. Every ten minutes someone is added to the waiting list and each day, an average of 79 people receive organ transplants. Around 22 people die each day waiting for transplants that can’t take place because of the shortage of donated organs.

So apart from an obvious need to remember and thank those who have donated, if this memorial raises awareness by just a few percentage points and helps to increase the numbers of those prepared and able to donate, it will be serving a very worthwhile cause.

If you haven’t already signed up you can do so at:- https://www.nationalfundingscheme.org

It was a disappointing start to the week with rain washing out some very good plans, the main casualty being the Carnival. The event was run this year basically for two reasons; one to see if the people of Worcester want one (the crowds that turned out proved without doubt that they did), and the other was to sort out all the logistics – including security arrangements and health and safety.

It was such a shame about the weather – the rain ruined all the paper costumes that the parents and children made, Pitchcroft flooded and the fun fair was forced to up stumps and depart! As Mayor I think that Worcester should have an annual carnival and I hope the future will see a bigger event with motorised floats, which will bring the whole community together.

On a very, very positive note the European Wheelchair Basketball Championship, held at the Arena, was magnificent! Really fast, energetic, entertaining sport played out by incredibly keen and committed teams of great players. Not only was the sport great, the venue was second to none and provided world class facilities for all the competitors, administrators and spectators alike. Hats off to the University for such great forward thinking and planning to deliver this national venue for disabled sporting events; so good for Worcester!

Our teams did us proud; the women’s team did well to gain bronze. In their match against Germany, who won Gold, we lost by one point with a final score of 55 to 56. They deserved more and nearly won that match when the very last ball, worth two points, in the very last second of the match bounced off the ring of the net just as the whistle blew!! Our men’s Team won the Championship Final with points to spare. A truly superb week in Worcester’s sporting calendar.

The Battle of Worcester Drumhead Service took place on 3^rd September, starting in the Commandery and then processing up to the top of Fort Royal, where two volleys of musket fire preceded a short service by Cannon Tonge and then a talk by Stephen Roberts. The Battle of Worcester Society is committed to bringing the fascinating and vital heritage behind the battle of 1651 to life for us all and during this event a book titled The Diaries and Papers of Henry Townshend was launched. It is about his experiences of life during the siege of Worcester in 1646.

 

Another great week, although the Mayoress and I did get rather wet on a few occasions! One of those was the Brentknoll Vets Family Fun Day & Dog Show, which was held at the Countryside Centre by Worcester Woods. The turnout was superb with over 400 entrants and it was such a shame when the skies opened and the rain fell down – well in reality it lashed down, driven by a strong wind which was almost horizontal at times! Despite this the show went on. I struggled to cut the ribbon to open the event but managed it eventually, getting soaked in the process!

The Little Shop of Horrors at the John Moore Theatre, Kings School, had no weather worries as the show was snuggly indoors. A cast of 22 young actors aged from eight years of age to late teens, supported by an experienced production team of three, put on a brilliant presentation. Company Manager Alan Feeney should be rightly proud of this production, the audience loved it. Well done Alan.

Of course the event of the week was the opening of the European Wheelchair Basketball Championships, which are being held right here in Worcester at the Arena on the West Bank, Hylton Road. I saw my first live match when GB played Germany earlier in the summer, and what an experience that was. The game was fast and furious and thoroughly entertaining; it was also great to meet the Team after the game. I was won over and became a fan immediately!

In fact it’s great to welcome the European Wheelchair Basket Ball Championships to Worcester. The foresight of David Green and his University Team have made this possible by building the Arena, a sporting facility that is now the National Venue for Wheelchair Basketball and other sports. So a big thank you for putting Worcester squarely on the sporting map.

Having these Championships here in Worcester is a great boost for our city, 73 action-packed matches split over 33 sessions allowing great opportunities to watch top class sport, right here on our doorstep. I’m sure the entire City would like to give support to the Great Britain teams as they embark on their road to Rio.