By Deputy Mayor Councillor Matt Lamb,

It has been a great honour to have stepped in as Deputy Mayor of Worcester to carry out some formal engagements on behalf of the Mayor over the last couple of weeks.

The Three Choirs Festival is rightly celebrated as a wonderful annual celebration of choral music and Worcester has been lucky to have hosted the festival this year. I accompanied the Mayor and other councillors, civic leaders and guests from Gloucester, Hereford and other towns at the service at Worcester Cathedral to mark the official start of the festival. In the evening I was honoured to welcome the Duke of Gloucester to the cathedral for a sublime performance of Charles Villiers Stanford’s Stabat Mater.

The amazing work done by health care workers was brought home to me when I was asked to help judge this year’s Worcestershire Health and Care Awards. The awards look to honour our healthcare heroes who work so tirelessly to help and care for the people of Worcestershire every day. It was a very difficult to task to choose between such a range of utterly dedicated professionals and volunteers who spend their lives caring for others. In the end we managed to shortlist the finalists in the 12 categories and the winners will be announced on 19 September.

There has been a long and close relationship between Worcester and the United States, including visits by former Presidents John Adams and Thomas Jefferson. Therefore, it was a delight to welcome members of the Tea Time Magazine Club to our city on their visit from the US. The club gathers Americans who share a love of that most British of refreshments and where best for them to visit in Worcester than the Museum of Royal Worcester where they enjoyed a tour and a fascinating talk on teapots and tea sets?