Last Saturday was Polish Heritage Day and I was so pleased to join members of the Polish Community in Worcestershire to celebrate the occasion.  We were honoured to have the Consul General, Mateusz St siek, join us for the day for the raising of the Polish flag in Cathedral Square and the laying of flowers at the War Memorial.  We were all presented with a gift of bread and salt, which is a traditional greeting in Poland.

Later the Consul General and other members of the Worcestershire Polish Association joined me in the Guildhall forecourt for the unveiling of the bust of Polish pilot Franciszek Surma, about whom I have written before in this diary.  I also opened the Battle of Britain exhibition which is a panorama about the brave Polish pilots and airmen who came to Britain’s aid in the Battle of Britain in WW2.  It was a pleasure and an honour to be part of the celebrations and to meet the visitors who had come for the occasion.

It has been an international week.  On Tuesday I had a Zoom meeting with the Mayor and Council in Gouzeaucourt to sign the Twinning Agreement, which was passed at our Council in March.  Speeches were made and thanks to the skill and expertise of our translators, we could all understand what was being said.  Jacques Richard, the Mayor of Gouzeaucourt and I signed our copies of the agreement at the same time.  Then the National Anthems were played and we all drank a toast to friendship and co-operation – and long may our twinning last.

The City Council, County Council and Police and Crime Commissioner elections have taken place this week and by the time you read this some of the results will have been published.  The right to cast a vote is a privilege we have in this country which is not shared all over the world – and many have fought long and hard in the past for that privilege.  I hope you voted; whether your choice of candidate was elected or not, democracy has been exercised, with the resultant winners and losers.