Mayor of Worcester Blog

What would we do without volunteers?

I recently attended the Volunteer Expo at the Guildhall. It was a delight, as Mayor of Worcester, to speak to and thank some of the stall holders.

I must confess I’ve been on something of a journey with my thinking about charities and volunteering. I used to think, why are we papering over the cracks in support services that have perhaps in the past been provided by the government? Maybe I’m mellowing as I get older, but I’ve come to realise, especially after talking to people like Sally Ellison of Worcester Community Action, that those who give time and money actually receive something very valuable too.

Don’t get me wrong, you have to be in a fairly good financial, emotional and physical position to have the luxury of doing something for others. But if you are in that fortunate position, donating time or money is so rewarding – perhaps it’s just that feeling of empowerment and making a personal difference to something you care about.

So I was very pleased to join more than 300 people at the Volunteer Expo and to see all the many organisations that contribute so much to Worcester – from the South Worcestershire Archaeological Group to Victim Support, and from National Trust to Age UK. The Expo has been running, in various forms, for more than 25 years and it was good to see that attendance numbers were up again after the understandable dip caused by the pandemic.

Age UK Worcester and Malvern Hills is the subject of my Mayor’s charity appeal and I’m pleased to say that you can now make a donation to it at www.worcester.gov.uk/mayor.

On the same day as the Volunteer Expo it was sadly also the funeral of Cllr Simon Cronin. He will be greatly missed by everyone who know him. As one councillor said in an obituary, “it must have taken him ages to walk from one end of the High Street to the other such were the many people who would stop him for a chat.”

The Elgar Festival is for Everyone

Last weekend it was the Elgar Festival. It is a celebration of Worcester’s most famous musical son, Edward Elgar. Held annually during the weekend closest to Elgar’s birthday (2 June 1857), the festival combines symphonic and string orchestra concerts by the festival’s orchestra-in-residence, the English Symphony Orchestra, with chamber concerts, choral concerts, recitals, outdoor concerts, plays, exhibits and talks.

What a terrific week of music. It was an incredible event, the organisers must be commended for making so many of the events either free or affordable. I thoroughly enjoyed listening to two performances in which the Mayoress sang. During the Gala Concert we were treated to Elgar’s ‘The Music Makers’ and Elgar’s symphony no.1. The conductor was the internationally acclaimed artistic director Kenneth Woods.

Whilst introducing the various pieces of music Ken made remarks, to the packed Cathedral, about the parlous state of funding that the arts receive in this country. His pointed words alluded both to the funding cuts to the Arts Council England and the BBC following its recent announcements of cuts to its orchestras and the potential demise of the BBC Singers, the only full-time professional choir in the country.

This sort of got me thinking – why are these cuts happening and why is classical music seen by many as being posh and elitist? Could this be something to do with, what we know we value, and what we don’t know is not valued and so not funded?

I’m afraid so, successive governments have consistently cut music education budgets which, together with an under-valuing of the subject and greater emphasis being placed on STEM subjects, leads to fewer students studying music at GCSE and A level, and the knock-on effect of fewer pupils taking up instruments.

Many music teachers are leaving the profession, music teaching is being carried out in many schools by peripatetic staff that only some schools and parents can afford. This is now all compounded by the cost of living crisis, escalating energy costs in schools forcing head teachers into having to make very difficult decisions about what to cut. I’m afraid it’s a bit of a depressing picture of decline.

There is a lot to learn for a new Mayor. It’s often said that it’s really only at the end of the year that the Mayor is finally fully trained up and ready to go. It’s customary for the Mayor to show pre-booked important visitors and small groups around the Guildhall. Whilst Deputy Mayor I had the chance to tag on to one of Adrian’s guided tours. Worryingly, Adrian being a proper historian and archivist set a pretty high bar to follow.

Fortunately Paul Harding, of Discover History, has now kindly trained me up to at least be able to give a basic tour. Thank you Paul. I’m sure very many Worcester residents have not really looked around the Guildhall – it really is a hidden gem. The Discover History professional guided tour of the Guildhall is competitively priced and very good.

I don’t want to give away all of Paul’s delightful tour anecdotes but I will just share a nearly two hundred year tale of Cllr Henry Clifton, Mayor of Worcester. In many rotten boroughs of the time people were quite rightly rising up to demand the vote. Cllr Clifton evidently on the wrong side of history almost died in the Lower Hall in 1831 after being struck by a brick to the head standing on the Guildhall steps whilst trying to dispel the crowd by literally reading the Riot Act.

Turning from Guildhall tours to another of the Mayor’s responsibilities that of choosing the Mayoral charity. This year the Mayor’s charity will be Age UK. The council have made great strides over the last few years to encourage more wildflowers to grow in many of our parks and roadside verges. I’d like to give a shameless plug for a talk on wildflowers to be given by the Mayoress, Katey Stephen, on Thursday 22nd June. The talk will be in the field at Battenhall Park, is family friendly and free to attend. Donations on the night warmly welcomed on behalf of Age UK.  Book here