Well… a week that began well, ended well and had lots of good news in between!

The Best of Worcester Awards showcase the awesome talent of our schoolchildren – it’s a terrific event for the city and a start on the mountainous task of deciding who, among the thousands eminently eligible, is to be included in the running for the winners’ prizes next April. It was a privilege to be a part.

It’s a rare event that gets me toe-tappin’ and hands clappin’ but my, what a brilliant performance the Worcester Musical Theatre Company put on at The Swan Theatre on Friday. ‘Celebrate the Season’ sensationally recaptured my 50s, 60s and 70s youth.  Own-up time: I was left buzzing for hours and hours, long after it had finished!

Another day, another delightful dose of music.  Worcester Festival Choral Society’s Mozart’s Requiem in the Cathedral on Saturday was so poignant and moving that I, the Bishop and the Dean all broke with tradition by standing up and applauding, the entire audience following suit.

The RBS wreath-laying memorial service at Astwood marking the debt we owe to Commonwealth servicemen proved as moving as ever on Sunday.  Later on the same day it was my pleasure to journey to Birmingham for an update with the owners of TV stations serving 168 Asian countries, which are airing Worcester’s pioneering moves to provide for needy children.

The scourge of seagulls besieging Worcester has been a controversial issue for as long as I can remember and, like it or not, action of some kind really needs to be taken.  A fruitful meeting to finalise exactly what we could do accounted for much of Wednesday afternoon.  I was happy to leave my consort, my daughter Parveen, to discuss Britannia Square Residents’ Association’s particular concerns about gulls in the city – of which, more on both in due course. The inaugural lecture by UoW Professor Tracey Williamson on the impact of dementia on carers, and an illuminating briefing into the work of the Reserve Forces and Cadets Association at Dancox House, completed a week of action.