The Mayors Blog

It is a great honour to be chosen as Mayor for the London Borough of Redbridge and, during my time in office I would like to meet as many people as possible from different walks of life.
It was an evening worth waiting 30 years for. It was good to see my family together for the first time , along with so many friends and colleagues . I was over whelmed by the comments from my colleagues and am looking forward to the year ahead.
The role of Mayor is a way of keeping in touch with the community and it is so important to get out and about and see the selfless hard work people do for others. By doing this I want to give a message to everyone and ask them to think about giving time to others. Whether this is one hour a day, one hour a week, one hour a month, it all counts.”
I shall be supported during the year by my Mayoress ‘Ms Shamin Ali’ and my Deputy Mayor, ‘Councillor Elaine Norman‘, whose Deputy Mayoress is Miss Hannah Norman.

Cllr Javed, Mayoress Ms Shamin Ali, Deputy Mayor Councillor Elaine Norman and her Deputy Mayoress Miss Hannah Norman

The Mayor’s Appeal Committee will be working to raise funds for:
• Redbridge Carers Support Service
• Redbridge MENCAP.
I look forward to working closely with them to support these two very worthy causes.

On Monday afternoon the Mayoress and I attended the Redbridge Voluntary Care Annual Commissioning Service and AGM at SS Peter and Paul Church, Ilford.

We were greeted by my colleague Cllr Mrs Sue Nolan.

Redbridge Voluntary Care received the Queen’s Award for Voluntary Service, the MBE for Volunteer Groups last year. I had the pleasure of attended their celebration ceremony on 13^th September 2011.

They have given outstanding service over the years and this is a well deserved award.

On Sunday afternoon we participated in the Mayor’s Car Treasure Hunt organised by Harvey Sharpe from one of my charities Newbridge School.

Starting at the Hawkey Hall, Woodford, we drove out into the Essex countryside looking for clues. Prior to the event we had torrential rain and saw the River Roding had burst it’s banks and flooded the flood plains. We visited Kelvedon Hatch, Ongar, Stanford Rivers and Abridge and finished at the Marjorie Collins Centre for tea.

The Mayoress and I finished 2^nd overall, with former Mayor Loraine Sladden as the winner. We thoroughly enjoyed ourselves.

This concert was by the Royal Artillery Band with the aim of raising funds for SSAFA, which helps service personnel and ex service personnel.

We tend to think that military bands are just marching band but his evening we heard a variety of music which was not marching music. The first half of the programme was the band playing various pieces from Wagner to Phil Collins and finished with Sir William Walton’s Crown Imperial written for the 1937 Coronation.  All of which was most popular.

The second half was performed by the dance band,  Military bands play music at all types of occasions from Royal Garden Parties to dances so we were treated to Glenn Miller and Count Bassie.  All very lively and great fun.

If you every get the chance to go to a concert by the Royal Artillery make and effort and you will be rewarded by excellent music and it will definitely make you smile.

Last Saturday the Mayor and I went to the Town Hall to a VAANI evening.  We did not know what to expect other than it was an organisation for Asian women to give them a voice and learn how to write.

We were both pleasantly surprised by the programme.  In started off with young girls dancing and I was intrigued and the beautiful colours of the outfits.  They did a delightful traditional dance.

We had youngsters reading their own poems about the Queen and the Olympics, and then modern dancing and singing and reminding us all to smile more.  After this we had readings by two remarkable women.  One, Hema Macherla,  who came to this country and could only say a few words in English and has since written a book,  Another, an academic at Oxford, Sunetra Gupta read from her book.

We were then treated to more dancing which we all loved with some very exciting moves by one young lad,

The group have published a book of their writings, 9.69 Seconds which is well worth reading.  This was all part of the Redbridge Book and Media Festival.

The Mayor handed out certificates to all the participants and we finished with a vegetarian meal.

A most enjoyable evening by some of Redbridge Asian community.

On Friday morning the Mayoress and I hosted the Woodford Historical Society for a visit to the Mayor’s Parlour, Council Chamber and a look at the Borough Regalia and display of former mayors of Redbridge and Wanstead and Woodford.

It was a most enjoyable morning and followed on from our visit to the society’s 80^th birthday celebration on 19^th March.

In the evening we attend the Mayor of Royal Kingston’s Charity Ball. Held on Raven’s Ait, an island on the Thames near Surbiton, we travelled by boat across the river to the banqueting suite. On arriving we met the Mayor’s chaplin who was most appropriately dressed in frock coat and gaiters, as though he had just stepped out of a novel by Anthony Trollope.

It was a most enjoyable evening highlighted by an excellent dinner and dancing. It was good to catch up with Mayoral colleagues from other boroughs.

On Tuesday, The Mayoress and I visited Cranbrook Park Bowling Club for their Centenary Anniversary celebrations.

Given the amount of rain there had been, we were fortunate that the weather was fine for the afternoon.

A Centenary match was played between the club and an Invitation team made up of players from other clubs. This was followed by an excellent buffet and raffle and we were honoured with the presence of the President of Bowls England Mr Stuart Lake and his wife.

A thoroughly enjoyable afternoon and Congratulation Cranbrook Park Bowling Club on your centenary.

In the evening, along with Cllr John Housden from Ardleigh Parish Council, near Colchester, we visited the Tower of London for a dinner held by the Mayor of Wandsworth, Cllr Jane Cooper at the headquarters of the Royal Regiment of Fusiliers. Before dinner we saw a display of the Regimental history and after a very enjoyable meal we witnessed the Ceremony of the Keys.

The ceremony dates from 1303. It takes place every night at the Tower of London. At 9.53pm the Chief Yeoman Warder, dressed in Tudor Watchcoat, meets the military  escort, made up of members of the Tower of London Guard, one who carries a candle lantern to light the way. Together, the Chief Yeoman Warder and the Yeoman Warder Watchman secure the main gates of the Tower. Upon their return down Water Lane, the party is halted by the sentry and challenged to identify themselves:

Sentry;  Halt ! Who comes there ?

Chief Warder: The Keys

Sentry: Whose Keys ?

Chief Warder: Queen Elizabeth’s Keys  (Identifying the keys of the current reigning monarch)

Sentry: Pass Queen Elizabeth’s Keys. All’s well.

The party then makes it’s way through the archway of the Bloody Tower into the fortress, where the halt at the bottom of the Broadwalk Steps. On top of the Stairs, under the command of their officer, the Tower Guard present arms and the Chief Warder raises his hat proclaiming;

Chief Warder: God Preserve Queen Elizabeth

Guard and Escort: Amen !

At 10pm the ceremony ends with the bugler sounding the Last Post. The Chief Warder, carrying the lantern, then takes the keys to the Queen’s House for safekeeping.

The only time in 700 years that the ceremony has been interrupted was during an air raid during the Second World War. The escort and Chief Warder were knocked over, but they stood up, dusted themselves down and carried on. The Tower holds a letter from the Officer of the Guard apologising to King George VI that the ceremony was late, along with a reply from the King that the officer is not to be punished as the delay was due to enemy action.

On Monday morning the Mayoress and I visited the Jack Carter Pavilion for the Redbridge Police Borough Commander’s Commendation Ceremony.

The awards were for both police officers and members of the public. The citations read were very impressive. In addition to solving and preventing crime, the Police Officers had been instrumental in saving lives and had dealt with difficult situations that could have put their lives at risk. The members of the public had shown great citizenship in helping the police in carrying out their duties.

A most impressive event.

From there we visited the Cockney Grub House in Goodmayes for Pie and Mash organised by Appeal Committee member Peggy Casale for St George’s Day. Besides Peggy, The Pearly Queen, Peggy Oliver and the Deputy Mayor Cllr Felicity Banks and her consort Pat Illett were there.

The proprietor was delighted to see us.

In the afternoon we attended St Mary’s Church, South Woodford for the Epping Forest South District Scouts St George’s Day Parade.

Scouts, Cubs, Beavers and Sea Scouts took part in the ceremony presenting banners at the beginning of the service. Flags and awards were presented and promises and commitment to the Scouts renewed.

Presided over by the Rev Ian Tarrant, it was an impressive service and celebrated the ethos of service which underlines the scouting movement. We then retired for refreshments.