Without doubt, one of the highlights of the Mayoral Year was my visit to the Queen’s Royal Hussars at their base in Germany to participate in a tank exercise – and to develop the close relationship between the Regiment and Worcester.

After I presented the scroll investing them with the Freedom of the City last year, the Regiment paid our City the highest honour by extending a special invitation to its Mayor to spend time with them on duty. The British army is without doubt the most professional in the world and my visit confirmed what a fantastic bunch of troops they are.

For me, driving and firing shells and rounds from two Challenger2 tanks will remain an unforgettable experience and memory. Despite jocular comments to the contrary, I can confirm that I slid effortlessly into and out of the tank although I must confess that the extremely tight space inside made seats in British Airways economy seem like positive luxury!

I am sure we are all looking forward to Saturday 27 June when the Regiment will be exercising its Freedom to march through the City – so make a date to go along and enjoy what will be a great day of pride and fun.  A special thank you to Lt. Col. Alex Porter and RSM Neil Rudd for making my day so very special – and for the seamless efficiency and friendliness they demonstrated.

Opening the Young Enterprise Spring Fair in the High Street and then presenting the Awards to the winners gave me much pleasure as these young people – most of them no more than 16 years old – had set up and registered their own businesses. Hugely impressed by what I saw – enthusiasm, imagination, originality, initiative, professionalism, confidence – left me very optimistic about the future. Amazing uses for old vinyl records particularly aroused my interest, as a collector and user still of vinyl myself.

My guests this week included a group of staff from Tesco’s – and what a lovely bunch of people they were. Both of us are on the front line for the public and it was interesting to learn about their various roles. For 20 seconds they were all Mayor, as they tried on the Chain of Office.