Mayor of Worcester Blog

Sometime you can’t help but wonder at the startling pace of change in our world. When I first wrote this column in my mayoral term 2004-5 it was the Mayor’s Diary in print. Now it’s the Mayor’s Blog!

Even so – and it pleases me no end to say so – some things don’t change, first and foremost my continued pledge to attend as many official engagements as time allows: this week progressing much as I intend to continue.

I enjoyed a sheer delight on Wednesday – the Severn Arts Festival ‘Young Voices, New Visions’ event in the Cathedral, bringing together the youthful musical abilities of gifted Worcestershire schoolchildren. So much talent. So much energy. And so much to be thankful for.

Nor will I ever forget that as your Mayor, I’m walking in the shoes of my illustrious peers. One of the finest was my friend Mike Layland whose all-out drive to forge closer relations with Ghana in 2011 took a leap forward this week with an update by Alhaji Salah Kweku Kalmoni on the progress of a low-cost community housing project in Accra. This is an integral part of the initiative Mike helped set up. As a mark of their appreciation, the organisers have invited me to visit Ghana to see their on-going progress. Mike would have been highly chuffed, I’m sure.

I was also deeply honoured to be able to hand over a cheque for £2,500 to a truly inspirational man the next day – Professor Mohammed Alyas Ayub, founder of a school for the blind in Azad Kashmir. Born blind, but refusing to let it get in the way of his ambitions, he followed his dream and his school is now one of the wonders of the world. His goal, ‘From Darkness to Light’, is one we should all follow.

Despite the international flavour the week took on at first, my own motto was never forgotten: ‘City comes first’. Opening the Oak Apple Day celebrations at The Commandery was a huge honour, as was handing over the prizes to the first winners of the new Worcester Community Lottery.

As someone else once famously said, ‘All go, innit?’ And so it will continue.

It’s with a mix of emotions that I write this first diary of my second mayoral term from the familiar surroundings of the Guildhall.

Pride, at being elected Mayor of this great city that has been home to me and my family for the past 52 years.

Joy, at being able to pick up some of the unfinished business I had started in 2004 but had been unable to complete during my first term as Mayor.

Hope that my vision for a more unified Worcester, a more cohesive Worcester, and a more open Worcester will unfold as each week passes in a year that holds so much promise.

Humility, of course, that Worcester has chosen its second Asian mayor in succession. I imagine that my wishes for Worcester and the wishes of you, its citizens, are largely one and the same, and it’s important to note that the role and traditions of Mayor are safe in my hands (on which subject, I am reliably informed, mine was the 777th and now the 792nd terms to date!).

All of which is coloured with perhaps a tinge of sadness: that there’s still a minority who feel it’s permissible to voice their hate messages behind the cloak of anonymity afforded them on the internet.

As Mayor, my aim, as of day one, is to foster a more open approach towards visitors, local and tourist alike. So if you’re in the Guildhall and you see my door physically open, then you can take it that my office is equally so.

In my first term back in 2004 it was shown that I had attended more events and raised more money for my charities than many of the previous holders – and that’s a tradition I’m keen to uphold. If they benefit my chosen charities, Worcester Headway, Worcester Wheels, our magnificent Cathedral of course, and St Richard’s Hospice, then so much the better.

This is going to be a great year for Worcester. I can feel it, and if you don’t already, I trust you very soon will.