Mayor of Worcester

It has been another busy week, with events ranging from graduations and films to reading, dancing and healthcare.

I had the pleasure of joining Heart of Worcestershire College for their graduation ceremony.

We met at the Guildhall before processing through the city to Worcester Cathedral in our academic and civic robes.

Graduations are always such joyful events. It is wonderful to see people celebrating all the hard work that has gone into earning their qualifications, surrounded by proud friends, family and tutors.

One of the fantastic things about Heart of Worcestershire is that their graduates span a broad range of ages.

They have a huge passion for upskilling and reskilling students at any point in life. The whole ceremony made me want to take on another qualification. Congratulations to everyone who graduated!

I also did something I never thought I would do, a flashmob. I am not a great dancer but it was for a great cause.

The event brought people together to celebrate National Fitness Day and raise money for Alzheimer’s Research UK, with the important message that “age is just a number”.

Alaric (my consort) and I did our best to keep up with the group and spent most of the event laughing.

It was brilliant to see different generations getting involved, having fun and getting moving together, even if we weren’t all perfectly in time. Thank you to Tania Skerit and her team at Berkley Care Group for organising the event.

Tuesday evening was the opening night of Worcester Film Festival. I love seeing events which bring visitors into Worcester and give us the opportunity to show off our city.

We started at the ODEON for the opening film before heading to Tonic for the reception.

It was so surreal watching the heart-warming and funny film, which featured Michael Sheen, and then being able to interview some of the lead actors at the end.

I really hope next year I am able to come and enjoy the whole five-day festival.

Finally, I visited The Hive for their Summer Reading Challenge medal ceremonies. More than 600 children completed the challenge this year, reading six books over their summer holidays.

As a former teacher, I love seeing children excited about reading and learning, and it was a privilege to help celebrate their achievement.

I also enjoyed talking to the children about all the characters they had met through books they had read.

Congratulations to every young reader who completed the challenge. I hope you discovered at least one book this summer that you will remember for years to come!

The BBC Hereford and Worcester Make a Difference Awards celebrate members of our community each year.

It was great to be invited along to the ceremony, to recognise so many people and meet so many new people receiving credit for the work they do. It would be difficult to calculate how many lives have been changed and hours have been volunteered by the people in the room that night. They are an inspiration to all.

I spent the weekend meeting some more wonderful people. Starting on Friday, Heritage Tours took place throughout the city, opening up many historic buildings to the public.

It was wonderful to show people around the Guildhall and tell so many stories about the place I grew up.

This brought many people from other cities and they were fascinated by our rich history.

Another event that brought many people to our city this weekend was Worcester Music Festival.

I have played the festival for the last nine years. It is brilliant every time.

Each year musicians, sound engineers and organisers give up their time to raise money for a charity. This year they have the same charity as me, Onside.

It was a great honour to open the festival, talk about all the fantastic work that Onside do and to play the first set of the weekend with my best friend, Keiran.

Thank you to everyone who works hard throughout the year for this weekend. I hope all the organisers are having a well-deserved break before starting again for the next one.

The heritage tours and the festival continued on Saturday, then the Worcester City Run was on Sunday.

Thank you to all of the organisers of the run for inviting me. So much time and effort goes this huge event, from setting up stalls, organising runners to getting many streets throughout the city closed.

It is greatly appreciated by the thousands of people who take part each year. My favourite part of the day was handing out prizes to the children. For many of them, this was their first formal race.

I am enjoying all of the events this year involving our local schools.

Before this year, I worked as a teacher so it is great to put these skills to use. I got to do so when Nunnery Wood students visited the Guildhall.

We showed them the building, let them compete in a quiz and then I allowed them to ask any questions they had.

Some of my favourite questions included “when can we get a pump track in Warndon”, “how much do you earn” and “where did you get your shoes from”.

I did my best to answer as many as possible.

The final major battle of the English Civil War was fought in Worcester on the 3rd of September 1651.

375 years ago, here in our city, King Charles II was trying to regain the throne after his father, Charles I, had been executed.

He had marched into England with a mainly Scottish Royalist army and was trapped in Worcester. Oliver Cromwell’s Parliamentarian army surrounded the royalists. Thousands were killed or captured.

To commemorate this event, the Battle of Worcester Society (alongside the Sealed Knot, reenactors, commandery staff, cathedral clergymen and volunteers) held several very well attended events.

Over a few short days, I attended some fantastic history talks. I learnt how to fire a musket, how to wield a pike, and how to practise 17th-century medicine.

We also enjoyed a great meal in the Bishop’s Palace, where the dress code was Roundhead, Cavalier or black tie. Thank you to everyone who has worked all year to make the events happen.

My Inaugural Sessions was another event. I got to wear my civic dress and play bass guitar while I did so. My face still hurts from smiling.

It was so wonderful to welcome so many local musicians, people who have played in Worcester many times before and new bands.

It was especially nice to see some of my ex-students take the stage as Director’s Cut.

Thank you to the whole Guildhall team, to Bottles bar, Carl Freeman, Severn Event Services and my wonderful charity: Onside for helping us make history.

Next time for less serious dressing up: Worcester Comic Con.

Although, there were some seriously impressive outfits at the costume competition.

I had an extremely difficult time picking the winners with the other judges. Win or lose, everyone seemed to be having a wonderful time and the whole area was awash with colours, glitter, masks and wild wigs. Thanks to Zoe Crofts and the team for inviting us.

On Tuesday I was back in the robes for the first day of Worcester University graduations.

There were hundreds of students graduating in Worcester Cathedral but it never got less exciting to see each one of them receive their qualification.

Each so filled with joy and eagerness about their future. It is wonderful to think that, no matter where they go, Worcester will still be a part of their journey.

Although, I am selfish and I hope all of these brilliant minds stay right here in our wonderful city.

Thank you to the Worcester University team and the team at the Cathedral for inviting me to the event and for introducing me to the wonderful Toyah Willcox, who received her honorary doctorate. She was an incredibly kind person and an inspiring speaker.

The idea of a twin city or twin town came after WW1, when soldiers who had witnessed the devastation in northern France raised funds towards the rebuilding of Poix-du-Nord’s community centre.

This practice grew in popularity after WW2 playing a role in promoting reconciliation and reconstruction in western Europe and continues today as a way to foster links and friendships between communities to prevent future conflicts.

In 2006 Worcester entered into a friendship agreement with Vernon, in France. This was to mark the significance of the Worcestershire Regiment’s support during the Second World War.

In August 1944 the Worcestershire Regiment helped the resistance fighters to liberate Vernon and further liberate Northern France and the Low Countries.

This year marks 20 years of friendship with Vernon and I was so glad to see so many people come to visit our wonderful city.

A great thank you to the Worcester Twinning Association for organising the week.

I particularly enjoyed giving a tour of the Guildhall and sharing cake in the Mayor’s Parlour.

Thank you also to the Worcestershire Regiment for organising the lovely wreath laying that they do every year at Gheluvelt Park to signify our continued commitment to friendship with the people of Vernon and ensure their liberation will be remembered.

This week we also were able to visit The Men’s Shed in St Clement’s Church.

I brought my dad along, who was very excited to visit because it takes place in the crypt of the church.

My dad used to visit the church about once a fortnight because he attended St Clement’s Primary School and it was very surreal for him to be back.

We also both very much enjoyed the shed.

It was wonderful to meet some of their members and see the fantastic projects they are working on.

I saw their woodwork, including a brilliant wooden fox that will be placed in a few of our parks.

A group of women were creating some glass artwork, including a piece that was going to replace a diamond of glass in one of the doors in their home.

My dad also just enjoyed having a cup of tea with the other men and talking about his days working as a farm labourer. I really hope he goes back for another visit soon.

I am looking forward to the many celebratory events we have lined up later this week for the 375th Anniversary of the Battle of Worcester.

I know that The Battle of Worcester Society have spent a lot of time organising events that will bring the history to life for so many people and I look forward to joining them.