Our week started with Worcester Victorian Christmas Fayre, which was the best ever. Record numbers of visitors arrived, bringing a welcome boost to our city’s economy. We visited almost every stall to make the very difficult decision on which ones should win awards as the best presented. Stall holders made superb efforts to dress in Victorian outfits and to offer attractive wares.

Feedback from both visitors and traders was generally positive. Some first-time visitors told us they thought our city was wonderful and that they would be back in summer. People thought the Fayre was well organised and enjoyed the entertainment and lively atmosphere.

Worthy of a special mention is the Deaf Direct Choir. This enthusiastic group performed using sign language and received rapturous applause from the crowd.

On Saturday, we attended the Twinning Association dinner where we met our visitors from Kleve, Le Vesinet and Ukmerge who all had stalls near the Guildhall.  I was pleased to thank them for adding an international dimension to our Fayre.

We judged Christopher Whitehead Language College Bake Off Competition on Monday. Around 100 entries had been reduced to six finalists but deciding the winning order was a real challenge. We decided that appearance alone should not decide the outcome, so had to taste them all first! Congratulations to the worthy winners.

Wednesday evening was the Blessed Edward Oldcorne Catholic College Presentation Evening. It is always a real pleasure to see our young people being recognised for their achievements and I had the honour of presenting the Citizenship Award.

I hosted visits to the Mayor’s Parlour and Guildhall tours for students from Regency High School and the 2nd Cub Scouts.

We also attended the launch of MyTaxiApp, a mobile phone app which allows local taxi users to call a licensed cab and know when it will arrive. Journeys are tracked and credit cards are accepted.