Left to right: Mayor of Worcester Roger Knight & Deputy Mayor Mike Whitehouse

Well this has been something of an explosive week. Talk about photo bombing – my diary suddenly became “bombed” by more engagements than I can count!! It was a great honour to be elected Mayor at the Annual Worcester City Council meeting and I look forward with pride to serving our City during this municipal year.

In addition to the usual Mayoral duties we saw the sad departure of our Managing Director, Duncan Sharkey, who is off to pastures new in Milton Keynes. A lunch time reception was held in his honour and around 160 people attended, which I think says something about the man, the job he has done over the past five years and the esteem in which he was held by the team. Good luck in your new role Duncan and our best wishes for health and happiness for the future.

A group of exchange students from Germany visited the Guildhall on Wednesday, arranged by Blessed Edward Oldcorne College. They were a pleasure to talk to, very well behaved, interested in our City and amazed by its history. We also had the honour of marking the celebration, on the Guildhall steps, of the 25th anniversary of Headway, a charity that does some remarkable work supporting people who have suffered with brain injuries

The Sea Scouts had their annual inspection and it was quite an occasion. I was impressed to find that the courses available, allow Cadets to accrue recognised qualifications which, if all the courses available were completed, could be the equivalent of five GCSEs.   A Royal Navy Commander, stationed in Bristol, attended and conducted the inspection, which was very thorough, and he fed back to the Cadets his findings and the value of their training, he also spoke to the visitors who had come to see the event. I felt the Cadets were a credit to Worcester and I also believe that they are gaining a great foundation for later life.

Left to right: Mayor Roger Knight, Martha, Sylvie & Joe at the Splashpad

Our parks were inspected this week to ascertain whether or not they are to maintain their Green Flag status. I met with the judges in the “Sons of Rest” in Gheluvelt Park and talked through the progress made and successes that we have had. This particular park has benefited, in recent years from a £1.4m Heritage Lottery grant and apart from a magnificent new play area and general refurbishment, this funding enabled the Splashpad to be built. Replacing a 1950’s paddling pool, the Splashpad has become a real destination and so successful that it contributed considerably in attracting some 750,000 visitors to Gheluvelt Park in its first full year of operation.