Mayor of Worcester Blog

Christmas is on the way and on Saturday afternoon, consort Andy Lee and myself, celebrated all things Christmas with the Ukrainian community at Hope Church.

It is brilliant to see this once run down and empty building fully refurbished and in use.

The order of the event was to persuade St Nicholas to come out and visit the children in his stocking-filled grotto.

Snow and some very creative snowflakes were made and snowmen were built, with noses made of carrot of course. This was done with the help of some very eager children.

There was some entertaining dancing with a diva of a dinosaur and some beautiful Christas songs sung.

St Nicholas made his appearance and the more than enough stockings were given to some very excited children.

Seeing so many happy faces gave such a lift to our entire day.

On Wednesday evening the Elgar Chorale of Worcester performed the Mayoral Christmas Charity Concert.

Piers Maxim, a very talented Director of Music, alongside this stunning choir entertained with festive carols and readings.

I am proud to announce the turnout was the largest ever and I certainly recommend booking very early next year, to ensure you have a seat.

Mince pies, wine and juice was on offer for the adults and I found some oranges for two lovely grandchildren who attended with consort Stuart Wild, wife Liz and daughter-in-law Katie.

Consort Andy Lee sat with myself at the front and consort Mike Mullins sat in the middle with his wife Pam so all three consorts were in attendance, thank you consorts!

On Thursday morning I was able to meet new City Council staff as part of their induction.

I found it fascinating to meet staff from across many departments, including audit, housing, outdoor conservation, the crematorium, the museum and bin collection.

Mince pies were happily shared.

My theme for the year is ‘youth matters’ and my charity is Perdiswell Young People’s Leisure Club, which is the largest provider of youth services across the city.

This week has been all about young people and has completely reinforced why ‘youth matters’.

I started the week at RGS The Grange for their Christmas celebration.

Children in reception, year one and year two combined for a significant cast of 82.

Joseph, Mary, angels, wise men, shepherds, a fantastic array of animals, narrators and the persona of some staff members, all came together for the story of the nativity including songs, dancing and much more.

The staff leading the production were excellent and had a real rapport with the children.

I have been to many schools, state and private and regardless of their status, I can see how important education is to the teaching staff and making sure that their students do well, both academically and pastorally. Teaching staff thank you for all that you do.

This week I also watched the film production of “Dancing Moon”, created by the amazing volunteers at Dancefest.

The group are located at five of the buildings Worcester Community Trust manage, they hold regular weekly classes for children aged four to 16.

Many genres of dancing are clearly taught and with excellent choreography “Dancing Moon” was born.

The children loved seeing themselves in the film and it was a treat to give out certificates rewarding them for their hard work.

Towards the end of the week, I went to an event hosted by the Hereford and Worcester Army Cadet Force Charitable Trust.

Army cadets are not funded by the army, which one could be forgiven for thinking and the funding they do receive is being significantly cut.

More support is needed for this valuable institution, our future generation.

On Friday evening I attended the Remembrance Service at Fernhill Heath War Memorial Club.

I received a warm welcome and there were clever displays indoors and out.

Laying a wreath directly under the plaques of names of those lost locally soon brought home the reality of war.

It was particularly touching to see children representing the neighbouring Hindlip First School turn out for an evening 8pm service.

On Saturday afternoon I attended the act of remembrance for Geoffrey Studdert Kennedy, better known as Woodbine Willie, at St John’s Cemetery.

The cemetery is tree lined and peaceful, an apt resting place from the noise of war.

Nicknamed “Woodbine Willie” for giving Woodbine cigarettes and spiritual aid, to injured and dying soldiers, this priest and poet was incredibly brave and rightly awarded a military cross.

On Remembrance Sunday I attended the Worcester Cathedral service and being in the civic procession I was able to really appreciate the crowds that had turned out.

Seeing so many people, it was difficult not to smile, alongside Beatrice Grant the Lord Lieutenant, who took the salute outside the Guildhall.

On Armistice Day I was at Foregate Street station in time for the 7.26am poppy train.

A touching tribute, started due to covid restrictions. Wreaths are collected on trains at stations and placed on the memorial on Platform 1 at London Paddington, ahead of the 10.45am service.

At 11am I was outside Worcester Cathedral cenotaph to lay a wreath and observe the two minutes of silence.

Standard bearers, veterans and the public were alongside each other and have been a constant comfort, throughout this Remembrance weekend.

At 1pm I attended a lunch with the Rotary Club of Worcester, now 101 years young.

They are a charitable, thoughtful and welcoming group, who meet frequently and fundraise a lot. A minute of silence was also held to mark Armistice Day.

In recent years, the term “fast fashion” has become synonymous with affordable and trendy clothing, churned out at lightning speed to meet consumer demand. However, behind the facade of convenience and low prices lie a host of negative issues that have far-reaching consequences for both people and the planet.

The industry is notorious for its excessive use of resources, including water, energy, and raw materials. From the cultivation of cotton to the dyeing and finishing processes, each stage of garment production contributes to pollution and environmental degradation.

Equally troubling are the human rights abuses that pervade the fast fashion supply chain. In pursuit of ever-lower production costs, many companies outsource manufacturing to countries with lax labour regulations, where workers are subjected to long hours, low wages, and unsafe working conditions. Reports of child labour, forced labour, and exploitation are all too common, highlighting the human toll of the industry’s relentless drive for profit.

Maybe that sounds all a bit too worthy? Thankfully, there are so many alternatives of which Worcester can be proud. There is a fantastic local group called the Social Sew In which, in their words, “is encouraging the public to be inspired to rethink, reuse, repair, and rework items of clothing and textiles to reduce carbon emissions and the colossal wastage and pollution of fast fashion”. For those that need a bit of professional help step forward Lucy Akehurst, the owner of Worcester’s The Zip Yard. Last week I had the pleasure of meeting Lucy to recognise her achievement of reaching her 30,000th customer.

Thursday saw the culmination of months of hard work to create the Mayor’s Charity Fashion Show in aid of Age UK. Nunnery Wood High School, Christopher Whitehead Language College and Heart of Worcestershire College made an incredible fashion show out of donated second hand clothes. The students sourced their materials, made their designs and produced clothes that were then shown, often by themselves, on a catwalk as the culmination of the charity dinner. What an experience for some of Worcester’s most talent young people – I’m so proud of you.