The week started off very well with Fred Seiker’s 100th birthday celebration, which was a delight.  Fred lives here in St Peter’s and as I’ve written in these columns before, he served in Burma in the 2^nd World War and after being captured by the Japanese in 1942, was forced to work on the Burma Railway, known as the Railway of Death.  Fred wasn’t repatriated until 1946 and had suffered greatly.  In 1995 he wrote a Booker prize-winning book, “Lest We Forget”.  Fred remained a Dutch national and never sought British nationality, although he spent much of his time in England.  The delightful event that occurred on his birthday was that, although this meant he wasn’t able to receive a telegram from the Queen, David Cameron, Prime Minister, stepped in and wrote to him personally, making Fred’s birthday complete!

The Three Choirs Festival Chorus and the Three Choirs Festival Youth Choir performed at Buckingham Palace as part of the tercentenary celebrations, concluding with a recital and reception hosted by HRH The Prince of Wales in Buckingham Palace.  It was a great event and a number of us from Worcester were privileged to be there.  You can read more about the occasion and the Three Choirs Association here:- http://www.3choirs.org/

The Mayoress and I had the opportunity to visit Perry Wood School to award Blue Peter Certificates to some pupils, and it was a real pleasure. The children were so appreciative and pleased to receive their certificates and very interested in the Mayoral chain, its history and what it meant. I hope they will take up my offer to visit the Mayor’s Parlour and tour the Guildhall.

The opening of the Victorian Christmas Fayre was a lively occasion and this year it was bigger and better than ever despite the weather, which could have been a lot better.  Chris Bates of LSD Promotions did a remarkable job in pulling all the strings together to deliver such a good Fayre.  There were over two hundred stalls, not only in the High Street, New Street, Corn Market and so on, but reaching into Broad Street, linking Angel Market to the main Fayre.  There were 13 school choirs and over 40 confirmed acts in total across the city streets.  My thanks also go to Sean Roberts, Mark Harrison and also Dave Joins of Cotswolds Markets for provision of stalls.

One of the performances we saw was the Deaf Direct Signing Choir and that exceeded all expectations; it was a ballet of hand movements and facial expression that was captivating.