To receive any announcements from the Mayor.
Minutes:
The Mayor made the following announcements:
“Good evening Councillors and Officers. A special welcome to Alderman Sider who is here this evening. Welcome also to those residents who are watching this meeting on YouTube and also to members of the public gallery who are here this evening. Thank you for your continued interest in the democracy process in Spelthorne.
Myself and my Consort have been out and about in the borough. Our engagements, to mention a few, were:
The Mayor’s Charity Greek Night at Thameside Brewery. Thank you to those who attended and also for your kind generosity. The evening was a great success and for those of you on social media you might see a few pictures and even a video. Indeed, the Leader of the Council showed us some of her dance moves. She managed to lead a whole Congo dance out and back into the venue!
We also attended the fantastic Spelthorne Business Awards. It is staggering the amount of businesses we have in our borough. Thank you to our Team who organise these awards. Just for the record, the Leader was once again leading the dance charge! The organisation was staggering and Tracey Carter and all her Team (including Sheila) really excelled themselves.
We have attended the Irish Embassy in London. It was to celebrate 125 years that London Irish has been operating. A Celebratory Book has been written and the occasion was attended by the Irish Ambassador. He took a particular interest in the Mayor’s chains and I promptly gave him my card and said that we would be very honoured if he came to visit us if he were at Hazelwood in the future!
Spelthorne in Bloom was a fantastic evening - so difficult to choose the winners. There are so many green fingered residents and businesses. Nottcuts Garden Centre in Staines were our Hosts. Nick Wood Dow, Deputy Lord Ltn officiated the evening. I really do wish to thank the Manager at Notcutts - even though his wife was expecting her baby that evening he still came along and so generously provided the evening with refreshments.
I have had the pleasure of hosting groups of young people in the Council. I thought I might label these engagements “How to be a Councillor when I grow up”! Thank you to our officer, Matthew in Committee Services who started this idea. A charming group of Rainbow brownies spent an hour after school, learning how to use the microphone, and asking questions! We also had some older children who were in the Chamber for their Duke of Edinburgh Awards. I cannot read you this report without mentioning the amazing young people we have in this borough. Of course a huge thanks to Nick Charalambous - such an influential hardworking officer. How lucky we are. We are going to design a democracy badge with certificate and we propose to present this to our young people who come to the Chamber and fire questions at me! Should any Councillor wish to join me I will make sure you know dates. Thank you to Cllr Geach who has already made enquiries about her local school attending. This invitation is to all councillors who wish their local school or young people to come for a visit to the Chamber!
We also attended an early morning River boat Business Breakfast. A fantastic opportunity for our businesses to network in the borough. Many new friends were made that day. I really do have to thank Sheila and Tracy for raising £600 for the Mayor’s Charities that morning. Astounding.
We have also been meeting with the other Mayors of the Surrey boroughs. We visited Brooklands Museum - if you want to know what it was like to sit on Concorde (the real Concorde) then it is a fantastic place to visit quite apart from the aircraft they have there. The highlight was a trip to the Chelsea Football Club training ground in Cobham. It was surreal to be sitting having lunch on the same long table as the Manager of Chelsea (could have been awkward as my Consort supports Tottenham Hotspur). Of course those of you who follow football know that the current Chelsea Manager was the Manager at Spurs! I feel sure Alderman Sider will know exactly what I am talking about. Again the Mayorial chains were a talking point. I have to say however that our Spelthorne Chains are quite the best in Surrey!
We have been to visit the Showmans’ Guild in Staines. I would encourage all councillors to google them and it is truly fascinating that we have such a big organisation in our borough. Thank you to the Chief Executive and the deputy leader for accompanying me.
I attended the AGM of the Citizens Advice Bureau together with the Mayor of Runnymede. Not such good news I am afraid. We heard that their referrals and inquiries are increasing at an alarming rate. They neither have the resources nor the funds. I think we as a Council need to do all we can to assist them. It is however recognised that Spelthorne and Runnymede Councils are very generous indeed to the Bureau in any event. I do hope that we can lobby our MP to try and see if they can get more Government Grant. Again these are our volunteers and it is a shame they are quite worried about the future.
On a cheerier note the borough is certainly enjoying plenty of Christmas parties. It has been an absolute honour to attend our Day Centres and celebrate with our residents at this time of year. Fordbridge Day Centre in Ashford is quite one of the best Day Centres I have ever been to. I want to make a plea to every Councillor here this evening. If you are not already doing so, please visit your local Day Centre - such an array of activities and delicious food and kind care! Again, mostly manned by volunteers! Tomorrow we are going to Staines Day Centre. Another fine example of what we offer to our elderly and frail residents.
Just last week we attended Staines Synogogue to celebrate Chanukah. Happy Chanukah by the way to all this evening. My thanks go to Councillor Geach who attended with her lovely family. We were given such a welcome and it was an honour to celebrate one of the biggest celebrations in the Jewish Calendar.
We have also been celebrating with the wonderful residents of Stanwell Moor, Diwali, the Festival of Light. It was an evening like no other. Music, dances, delicious food and such a welcome to the Mayor. Many thanks to the Stanwell Councillors and past Madam Mayor, Cllr Susan Doran for introducing us to the residents and community.
Just last evening I was invited to attend the Shepperton Big Tree Night. A fantastic fine tuned operation with some amazing stalls and carol singing by local school children. Thank you to Cllrs Maureen Attewell and John Boughtflower for welcoming the Mayor. Apparently Maureen funded the real reindeers to entertain the children. Now that is a use of our good causes fund that I think is just fantastic. Please relay my thanks to the volunteers and committee.
Lastly, one of our highlights was to attend Ashford Hospital Community Day last month. The Hospital doors were thrown open to everyone. For those of you who have ever wondered what an operating theatre looks like - well you would have been in for a treat! I have to report that I was taught how to replace a new knee, cut a bone in half and delivered a baby (doll of course)! The Trust are very keen to have these open days every year - both at St Peter’s and Ashford. It’s a great opportunity to meet staff and to see how they work. Great ideas by the Trust”.