Mayor of Worcester

This week has been busy with electoral commitments.  As Mayor of our city I play a neutral role, avoiding any political discussion and not expressing political views when performing the role.  I am, however, only able to hold the privileged position of Mayor because I am a City Councillor and was elected as Mayor by my fellow councillors last May.  If I was not a councillor, I could not be Mayor, and so it is true of all past and future Mayors that first we have to be politicians in order to hold that office.

I have been honoured this week to be able to take part in the fifth Polish Heritage Day to be celebrated here in Worcester.  I recorded a message which will be put on to a video to be presented and promoted by the Embassy of the Republic of Poland in London on 1st May, Polish Heritage Day.  It is an opportunity for me to thank the Polish pilots and airmen for the part they played in WW2 in protecting Great Britain from invasion during the Battle of Britain.  I was also able to say thank you to the Polish people living here who have shown a true community spirit during this year of pandemic, helping and supporting their neighbours.

On Friday and Saturday, I launched a series of talks and demonstrations for the City Council’s ‘Know Your Place Worcester’ and the NHS’s ‘Life Stories Worcestershire’.  These free online platforms give access to hundreds of archive photos, historic maps and pieces of data which will enable people to discover more about their local area and explore the city’s heritage.  This is a valuable and much-loved resource for local people to reconnect with their past – I was happy to share some of my memories with others at this launch.

I hope that you are enjoying the good weather and the new freedoms of being able to join with another household, or as part of a group of six, in the open air.  Small steps to be taken with caution towards a more familiar way of life.

Since I wrote my diary last week we have heard of the sad death of the Duke of Edinburgh.  My sincere condolences go to the Queen and all the Royal Family who are now mourning the loss of a dearly loved husband, father, grandfather and great grandfather.  I attended a Memorial Service at the Cathedral on Friday afternoon to remember and pay respects to a man who devoted his life to public service and who will be sadly missed by many.

On Monday we experienced the first lifting of the lockdown restrictions and I visited the Tourist Information Centre at the Guildhall to wish them well.  By the time I had arrived at 9.30am, someone had already been in to make a purchase, which was a good start to the week.

I popped to the shops again on Wednesday to say hello to Mr. Simms Sweet Shop in the High Street and I am pleased to say that they had been very busy since re-opening on Monday.

Business was also good for the traders at the Angel Market.

Afterwards I visited the newly opened cycle store in the Crowngate.  Here you can leave your cycle safely, protected by CCTV, while you do your shopping and then if, when you return, you have a flat tyre, there is a repair kit on hand to help get you home.  What more can our city cyclists need?  Well done to Mike Lloyd at Crowngate Shopping Centre for thinking up this super idea.

It is not only the Mayor who has had an unusual year in office.  On Thursday evening I was delighted to join the Rotary Club, Worcester Severn, for the presentation of the Geoff Palmer Awards to three people who had been outstanding in their volunteering work.  Both the President of Worcester Severn and the District Governor of Rotary spoke of how their year in office had been very unlike anything they had expected.  Thank you and well done to the recipients of the awards and all our volunteers in the city.

I hope you are all enjoying meeting friends and family again in the open air – simple things which we have missed and now value hugely.

I hope you all had a restful and joyful Easter weekend.  Wasn’t it wonderful to be able to meet with another household in the garden and share a meal and chat together face-to-face? Dave and I had a busy time with one daughter and family visiting on Saturday and the other visiting on Easter Sunday. Our son and his family will soon be able to travel up from London and we can see them too. How much we can now appreciate the simple things of life, like seeing friends and family when we have been prevented from doing so for so long.

The long-awaited opening of non-essential shops is eagerly anticipated and I have noticed that shop owners in town are busily getting their shops ready for Monday. I will be visiting some of them next week to wish them well and also to make some purchases How lovely it will be to be able to see and touch things again before I buy them.

I enjoyed the fresh air on Tuesday and walked a good way along the Malvern Hills. The weather can only be described as interesting. I started off in sunshine, then the sky started to cloud over and the hail came down which turned into snow. The wind was fierce and with stinging face and blown about hair I was so surprised when the sun came out again. A full weather forecast, all in a few hours!

Dave and I have had our second Covid vaccination this week. No photo this time, because so many people have now received the magic jab and so we all progress into a safer and more normal world together. Please make sure that you have your vaccination when it is offered and help to protect others. It is not only our only way back to normality but also helps to prevent the development of new variants and so enables us to live with the virus.