Mayor of Worcester

Some events only happen at Christmas time and we’ve been involved with many this week.

The music events included my mayoral charity concert of seasonal music by The Elgar Chorale conducted by Malcolm Macleod, with readings by Sir Roy Strong, Gabrielle Bullock and Tim Watson. Over 100 people enjoyed a great evening of entertainment and helped raise money for my charities.

Next day, Worcester Festival Chorus performed Handel’s Messiah in the Cathedral, which is such a wonderful way to celebrate Christmas.

The Royal Grammar School and Blessed Edward Oldcorne Catholic College both invited us to their carol services and their very talented choristers, musicians and readers produced outstanding performances.

Other Christmas events were about caring for disadvantaged Worcester people. We helped Rotary pack and deliver food parcels to around 500 mainly elderly residents.

St Paul’s Church laid on a free Christmas meal for disadvantaged residents living nearby. This took place in a magical location –  the church had been transformed into Narnia by a large-scale decorating effort and skilful lighting.

The first ever Mayor’s Christmas Banquet for the Homeless and Disadvantaged took place on Tuesday, and I was delighted to welcome about 80 guests into the Assembly Room at the Guildhall.  Kristen Barone, the YMCA’s chef, produced a magnificent turkey lunch with all the trimmings and Christmas pudding with brandy sauce. Waitrose generously donated all the vegetables and puddings. A music quartet, organised by Food Bank manager Grahame Lucas, provided the entertainment. It was great to see so many smiling, happy faces from people facing real challenges in their lives.

On Thursday, we visited Royal Mail’s delivery office in Wainwright Road where our very hard-working posties ensure we get our cards and parcels before Christmas Day.

In the evening, the mayor had a night off and Santa Claus toured Tolladine on the Lions Club’s sleigh – there is no obvious connection between these two facts!

Christmas must be soon, because this week we have watched three nativity plays! The first was at Kings St Albans School in Diglis, where we were enchanted by over 30 small children performing in Prickly Hay.

Later we experienced the 16^th Worcester Scouts’ version of the Christmas story in the Cathedral.  They had produced a sequence of scenes from the nativity using Lego, and photos of them were displayed on a large screen. Never before have I seen a giraffe in the Bethlehem stable but this, and many other twists on the familiar tale, raised many a smile from the audience! This was part of the annual District Scouts Carol Service, which I highly recommend.

Our third was at RGS The Grange, where over 50 year one and two children performed.

Last Friday afternoon I switched on a large number of Christmas trees in the Cathedral cloisters, which look magical and deserve to be seen by everyone. The trees were decorated by many different local charities, schools and groups to raise money. This is an annual Christmas Tree Festival organised by Daisychain Benevolent Fund, which provides for children in hospital.

We were privileged to attend the launch of a superb book of poems called Can We Inspire You written by the Creative Group at St Paul’s Hostel. These very talented people prove beyond any doubt that, just because someone has been homeless does not mean they cannot, with support and encouragement, make positive contributions to society.

Yet more creative talent was on show at the Worcester Society of Artists exhibition, which I opened at the Museum and Art Gallery in Foregate Street. It was hard to decide which painting I liked most!

The magnificent Worcester Male Voice Choir sang their Christmas Concert in Pershore Abbey. As always, it was a real pleasure to hear them. Not long till Christmas!

Our week started with Worcester Victorian Christmas Fayre, which was the best ever. Record numbers of visitors arrived, bringing a welcome boost to our city’s economy. We visited almost every stall to make the very difficult decision on which ones should win awards as the best presented. Stall holders made superb efforts to dress in Victorian outfits and to offer attractive wares.

Feedback from both visitors and traders was generally positive. Some first-time visitors told us they thought our city was wonderful and that they would be back in summer. People thought the Fayre was well organised and enjoyed the entertainment and lively atmosphere.

Worthy of a special mention is the Deaf Direct Choir. This enthusiastic group performed using sign language and received rapturous applause from the crowd.

On Saturday, we attended the Twinning Association dinner where we met our visitors from Kleve, Le Vesinet and Ukmerge who all had stalls near the Guildhall.  I was pleased to thank them for adding an international dimension to our Fayre.

We judged Christopher Whitehead Language College Bake Off Competition on Monday. Around 100 entries had been reduced to six finalists but deciding the winning order was a real challenge. We decided that appearance alone should not decide the outcome, so had to taste them all first! Congratulations to the worthy winners.

Wednesday evening was the Blessed Edward Oldcorne Catholic College Presentation Evening. It is always a real pleasure to see our young people being recognised for their achievements and I had the honour of presenting the Citizenship Award.

I hosted visits to the Mayor’s Parlour and Guildhall tours for students from Regency High School and the 2nd Cub Scouts.

We also attended the launch of MyTaxiApp, a mobile phone app which allows local taxi users to call a licensed cab and know when it will arrive. Journeys are tracked and credit cards are accepted.

Pre-Christmas activities help us to overcome the depressive effects of shorter days, longer nights, colder weather and the recent heavy rain. The High Street in front of the Guildhall was thronged with a large happy crowd of children and adults last Thursday when Pudsey Bear helped me switch on our Christmas lights.  BBC Radio Hereford & Worcester presenters Elliott Webb and Matthew Boyden hosted two hours of live entertainment before the High Street was flooded with light from our beautiful gold and silver Christmas decorations.

The mayor of Ross-on-Wye invited us to their Christmas Market on Sunday afternoon where we witnessed the lighting of their Christmas tree. Whilst on a completely different scale to our own Victorian Fayre, Ross is a charming town and their Christmas Market had about 40 stalls selling a wide range of goods to enthusiastic visitors.

I opened Worcester’s annual Victorian Christmas Fayre on Thursday which, as usual, attracted large numbers of visitors to our city. I was also delighted to welcome guests from our twin towns in Germany, France and Lithuania. Every year groups of people from Kleve, Le Vesinet and Ukmerge sell their traditional wares from stalls in our Fayre. They are most welcome here and I arranged to fly their national flags in Cathedral Square and over the Guildhall in their honour.

Jeffrey Carpenter, Clifford Lord, Derek Prodger and Robert Rowden are four former councillors who served our city for a combined total of over 100 years.  I was delighted to host a ceremony at the Guildhall in their honour and to confer upon each of them the title of Honorary Alderman. Councillors work long and antisocial hours for the benefit of local people – work which few are prepared to do, so it is right that we thank those who give long service. Friends and families came to support our new aldermen at a very happy event.