Mayor of Worcester

I have just returned from a few restful days in Northumberland, a county close to where I grew up and somewhere I can certainly recommend for your next UK holiday. The break also enabled me to recover from my operation performed by the Worcestershire Acute Hospitals NHS Trust, who were excellent. Now I am back home and preparing for an increasing number of events, as at last we return to some resemblance of normality.

On Thursday Lucy and I were entertained by Elsie and Norm’s Macbeth, performed by Worcester Repertory Company. The Commandery Gardens provide a superb backdrop for live theatre and these performances are one of the summer cultural highlights for our city.

Yesterday (Friday) I had three mayoral functions.  In the morning I was accompanied by Robin Walker MP and the Bishop of Worcester to visit some of the 25 new flats that Worcester Municipal Charities have developed for the city’s homeless.  They are located at Stillingfleet House on Shaw Street.

Afterwards I had to make a quick dash back to the Guildhall to witness the presentation of British Empire Medals to Mr Mervyn Needham and to Julia Eastwood for her work with ASPIE, one of my mayoral charities. The work Aspie does to help adults with autism (including Asperger’s) is so important.  Hopefully their current problems with securing long term premises in the city centre can be resolved.

In the afternoon I joined in celebrations to mark the commencement of work on the Old Fire Station. The development by Guthrie Roberts certainly looks eye catching and will bring high quality contemporary apartments to the city centre – as well as additional commercial space at Copenhagen Street.

(written by Deputy Mayor, Cllr Adrian Gregson)

It was great to see the students in their gowns up and down the High Street this week, to and from the Cathedral for their graduations, celebrating their academic achievements with the support of their families. I know that covid safety has been at the forefront of the University’s planning, as it has been for all of us, in meetings, watching the football and the T20s, going to work, or just sitting (sometimes) in the sun. Hopefully a few more weeks will assuage the disappointment of the Summer Solstice being a damp squib, weather and covid-wise!

On Tuesday I had the opportunity to stand in for the Mayor, with the Deputy Lord Lieutenant, at the raising of the Armed Forces flag, marking the start of Armed Forces week.  I was joined by representatives from the British Legion, 214 Battery, Cadets, Stepway Charity and the Mercia Regiment. A small crowd watched the ceremony outside the Guildhall, and afterwards we were photo-bombed by a couple of students for their graduation pictures! The cadets got a bit more than they bargained for!

Following on from Tuesday’s event, Wednesday this week marked United Nations Public Service Day.  Maybe this can be more obviously marked in the future, considering our experiences over the last year.

I am looking forward to covering for the Mayor again on Sunday to mark the 100th anniversary of the Worcestershire Motor Club. The Greenleaves Centenary Classic Tour event will cover 100 miles of county lanes, with a ceremonial waving off of these classic cars from the Guildhall. The Club has its origins in Worcester’s engineering companies and competes at various trials and rallies. I am especially looking out for one of those escorts my mum and dad had, which probably brought me on my first trip to Worcester back in the 70s.

Most areas of Worcester have two tiers of local government; the City Council and the County Council, which provide the services most of us use daily.

However, in St. Peter the Great and Warndon Villages we are also represented by parish councils. In addition to my role as a City Councillor I also serve on Warndon Parish Council, which provides enhanced services to that particular area of Worcester. On Monday I attended our monthly Parish Council meeting at the Lyppard Hub, where we welcomed our new clerk Tanya Talbott who took over from Susan Howell this week.

On Wednesday I joined a Zoom call with the Worcester Twinning Association. Worcester now has five twin towns, with Gouzeaucourt in northern France joining our other twins of Kleve in Germany; Le Vesinet, west of Paris; Worcester, Massachusetts in the USA and Ukmerge in Lithuania.

Due to Covid restrictions most communication with our twin towns is currently undertaken through Zoom, but hopefully as the vaccine programme gets rolled out the day when we can once again meet in person gets closer.

Hopefully in early December visitors from our Twins will be able to attend Worcester’s Victorian Christmas Fayre so once again we can buy their local produce from stalls. When my wife Lucy was Mayor back in 2008/9, we were lucky enough to visit Kleve and hopefully we will travel to Gouzeaucourt later in my mayoral year.

Today I will be in Cathedral Square supporting the RAF Benevolent Fund Static Dambuster Ride. To have public events at long last in our city centre is such a morale raiser, after months of lockdown.