Mayor’s Week: 25 – 31 May 2018

Mayor’s Week: 25 – 31 May 2018

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A sombre study visit to Srebrenica in Bosnia and Herzegovina brought home to me the realities of war, ethnic cleansing and genocide. During the trip, organised by the charity Remembering Srebrenica, I heard how communities seemingly at peace with each other turned in 1995 to commit the most heinous of crimes whilst the world watched. At Srebrenica, over 8,000 Muslim men and boys were brutally murdered in the biggest genocide in Europe since the Holocaust. The hate-fuelled messages and anger peddled before the genocide, is a stark reminder of what continuous exposure to a divisive narrative can lead to.

On my return I attended an awards celebration at the Worcester Arena for the fabulous contribution University students had made to the city through volunteering. I thanked the students for making Worcester such a wonderful place to live in and left them with a reminder that the law of giving is as true as the law of gravity – the more you give, the more you will get back!

The Mayor visits the A Mile In My Shoes exhibit at Cathedral Square
The Mayor visits the A Mile In My Shoes exhibit at Cathedral Square

It was a pleasure attended the launch of A Mile In My Shoes, a unique arts project in Cathedral Square. It’s basically a giant shoebox in which you literally try on other people’s shoes on and listen to their life story. It gives us the opportunity to learn, understand and appreciate someone else’s point of view. The shoe box is there for until Sunday and it’s free, so please go to see it and broaden your horizons.

That leads me nicely onto my core message of the week, making sure we take the time to understand each other, to accept our differences, to celebrate other people’s successes as much as our own, and to learn to Love not Hate in order to create a flourishing, beautiful and peaceful city.

Mayor’s Week: 17 – 24 May 2018

Mayor’s Week: 17 – 24 May 2018

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It was a humbling experience to be voted in as the new Mayor of Worcester at the Annual Council meeting. It is an honour to serve the city and residents that have given me so much, and helped to get me to where I am today.

It’s going to be a busy year. The challenge of work, council business, mayoral engagements and family life will be testing, but the motivation and opportunity of giving back and helping local people will offset and outweigh any minor inconvenience.

My theme for this mayoral year is “Love not Hate”, with the aim of uniting communities and strengthening this great city of ours.

There will be plenty of events this year that promote and bring us together and I urge you to join in and support my three charities – Worcester Live, St Richard’s Hospice and Worcester Community Trust.

The importance of my theme was hammered home at one of my first events at Cafe Bliss, the Belizean café based at Worcester Arts Workshop. This was an event aimed at celebrating the contribution this little cafe had made to the city.

In eight years of trading, Café Bliss has done more to bring together communities than any initiative I have known in recent times. It is a true melting pot of cultures where everyone is welcome with open arms and no one is judged for their looks, beliefs, the way they dress, speak, physical disability, colour of their skin or sexual orientation. That shows to me that the residents of Worcester are tolerant and welcoming and also that it is possible for us all to get along with each other perfectly well, respecting each other’s views without compromising our own personal beliefs.

Remember to love not hate and spread the message of peace to your family, friends and your neighbours.

Mayor’s Week: 29 April – 4 May 2018

Mayor’s Week: 29 April – 4 May 2018

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By the time you read this I will know whether or not I am remaining a city councillor. No matter what the outcome of this week’s election, I know I will continue to enjoy living in this wonderful city. I detailed once before in an earlier blog the reasons why ‘I’m Backing Worcester’ – I meant it then and I mean it now. Worcester is a great city.

In spite of the approach of the election this week, I have continued to attend some really nice events.

The first was at the Guildhall, where four people from Worcestershire received their British Empire Medal. Presented on behalf of Her Majesty the Queen by the Lord Lieutenant, Lt. Col. Patrick Holcroft, the decorations reflected their work within the community. This included the work of Worcester Acute Hospital and Organ Donation, the setting up of a Trust Fund in respect of Leukaemia, as well as supporting those who are visually impaired and taking part in sport and services for the community of Bromsgrove. It was a lovely ceremony with some very proud (deservedly) recipients.

Alongside other local Mayors I was able to attend a charity event supported by the Mayor of Droitwich, Councillor Shaun Best. While he provided an evening of entertainment, a raffle and auction raised a considerable amount for his charities, the Droitwich Challengers Gateway Club (supporting people with learning difficulties) and St Richard’s Hospice.

The following day, all councillors were reminded of a particular responsibility they hold as “corporate parents” to those children who are “looked after” within our county. The Chairman of the County Council, Councillor Ann Hingley, held her Civic Service at the Cathedral and the theme was our care for those children, be it by foster parents or in residential homes. The Cathedral choir provided some lovely singing, ably accompanied by the Franche Community Primary School from Kidderminster.

Mayor’s Week: 21 – 28 April 2018

Mayor’s Week: 21 – 28 April 2018

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My mayoral year is rapidly drawing to a close; however, the engagements continue and I’m pleased to say Alison and I are still welcoming some fantastic groups of volunteers at the Guildhall.  One of our latest groups of visitors was supporters of Cherry Orchard Primary School, who take it upon themselves to organise various events to provide extra funding.  Having children either at or having previously been to the school, they are keen to secure a bright future for all the pupils in attendance there.

On Friday evening we went to the Guildhall to take part in the Mayor’s Charity Quiz Night.  The questions were quite varied and there was a section all about Worcestershire.  I thought I knew a bit about our County, but it was surprising how many of the competitors knew a lot more!

Saturday morning was very interesting; I was asked to open the Young Enterprise Fair in the High Street.  The concept is brilliant – teach youngsters how to come up with entrepreneurial ideas, form a company, market and sell the product.  There were 14 stalls in the High Street, each manned by students from different local schools with some great ideas.  I got there quite early on in the morning, but they had all sold some of their items that they had made or bought by the time I arrived.

That afternoon, with my daughter Karen as Consort, I visited a local hotel where the Worcester South Rotary Club was celebrating its 50th anniversary.  It was a pleasure to be able to see their exhibition describing the many projects they had been involved with over the years.  Continuing to raise money and using different initiatives to provide services for those in need, both home and abroad, is central to their ethos.

The following day we were again at the Cathedral, this time to take part in the St. George’s Day service.  A small but very vibrant band provided the music for the afternoon and their performance really did add to the enjoyment.  After the service marching bands together with scouts and other youth organisations processed along the High Street.  Judging by the numbers of onlookers I really think that the people of Worcester do appreciate traditional pursuits.

Tuesday saw the last of the Mayor’s charity events with the Civic Society’s Lecture, which was given this year by Lieutenant Colonel (Ret’d) Mark Jackson OBE.  The talk was all about the Worcestershire Regiment’s history and its connection with the county.  Some interesting facts were revealed, including how in 1770, a future US president, John Adams, defended British soldiers who were involved in the infamous Boston Massacre.  It was a fascinating talk, with money raised for my chosen charities as a welcome addition.