(a). To elect the Mayor of the Borough for the Municipal Year 2018-2019.
(b). The Mayor to make the Declaration of Acceptance of Office.
Minutes:
The retiring Mayor, Councillor Vivienne Leighton, welcomed all members and guests to the Annual Meeting of the Council.She thanked the officers of the Council and the Mayor’s secretary, Mrs Sheila Kimpton, for their hard work and support during her Mayoral year.
Councillor Vivienne Leighton reported on her year as Mayor and the many enjoyable and entertaining events she had attended which had raised over £30,000 for her chosen charities. Reflecting upon her year in office, she spoke of opportunities taken to showcase the borough; including consent for the Queen’s row barge ‘Gloriana’ to lead her River Day, and thanked the Staines Business Improvement District for securing funding for the use of the Royal row barge ‘Gloriana’at the next Staines-upon-Thames day.
Councillor Leighton also spoke of events she had attended to support local community organisations and of how proud and encouraged she was by the rich support given by volunteers in Spelthorne who selflessly gave their time to make life better for others. Councillor Leighton particularly wanted to acknowledge children who are the carers in their family and had held a special award ceremony for them in the Council Chamber which she hoped would be continued.
Councillor Leighton gave special thanks to her husband for his endless support and wished the new Mayor and Mayor’s Consort happiness and success in the coming year.
It was moved by Councillor A.E. Friday and seconded by Councillor J. Boughtflower and
Resolved that Councillor Jean Marion Pinkerton be appointed Mayor for the Municipal Year 2018-2019.
A short adjournment took place to hand over the robes and badge of Office to the new Mayor during which a performance of ‘One’ by Marvin Hamlisch was provided by singers from Staines Musical Theatre Group.
Councillor Jean Marion Pinkerton made the Declaration of Acceptance of Office as Mayor of the Borough of Spelthorne and took the Chair. She thanked her proposer and seconder and the Council for supporting her in her election as Mayor. She presented Councillor Vivienne Leighton with the past Mayor’s badge and a scrapbook commemorating her time in office.
The outgoing Mayor’s Consort, Mr Chris Leighton presented the Mayor’s Consort badge to the new Mayor’s Consort, Mrs Linda Burton, and she in turn presented Mr Chris Leighton with a past Mayor’s Consort badge.
During her term as Mayor, Councillor Pinkerton announced that she will be supporting the following charities:
· The Penrose Club which supports adults with special needs
· Shopmobility which not only supports residents but also visitors to the borough
· Rentstart - a charity to assist with housing needs and a link to the Mayor’s former Housing portfolio
· East to West – an organisation which assists students with a variety of problems on a 1 to 1 basis. All Spelthorne Secondary schools have a service level agreement with this charity and rate their support highly.
The Mayor announced her theme for the year, “Spelthorne is Special”, to raise awareness of all the very positive aspects of the borough and the many talents within it. She was organising a young people’s project called “What is special about Spelthorne?” for the summer holidays and hoped families would get involved and discover just how special our borough is.
The Mayor said she was looking forward to working with Linda, her Consort, Mary and Andrew as Deputy Mayor and Consort and Sheila as Mayor’s secretary to form “Mayoral team Spelthorne”. She promised to do her best to carry out the role with integrity and be a good ambassador for the borough.
The Mayor announced that she had appointed a Chaplain for her Mayoral Year, the Reverend Michael Burley, Rector of St. Peter’s Church, Staines. The Mayor presented Reverend Burley with the Chaplain’s badge.