The Mayors Blog

At the end of December Maire and I went to see a production of “The Tinderbox” by the London Bubble Theatre Company. It was excellent. We always have this company in Redbridge in the summer months. They perform in Valentines Park and are one of our summer highlights.

The London Bubble Company perform extensively in local communities in parks throughout London, bringing theatre to the heart of where people actually are, as well as other venues and of course doing lots of work on education and other projects. They were formed over 30 years ago and do really good work.
I regret that ARTS COUNCIL, LONDON are proposing to withdraw their grant funding.

January the 1st took Maire, Olive and me to The New Years Day Parade along with all the young people that were part of our entry. As I said previously we had dhal drummers, dancers, Loxford Steel Band, scouts, cadets and a martial arts group. The young people were enthusiastic and committed and I was grateful for their participation. I hope that they enjoyed their day, certainly the thousands and thousands of people watching the parade were really loving it all.

It is estimated that 500,000 people were on the route and millions watched it as it was beamed across the world. It is amazing that we in London give this wonderful spectacle less publicity than other countries, and it is happening here, in our capital city!!

On Tuesday the 2nd Olive and I attended the Redbridge Indian Welfare Association’s Christmas/New Year Celebrations.
This group works so hard to provide information and advice to elderly members. They meet weekly and have a varied programme. We were made very welcome and enjoyed sharing their celebrations.

In the evening all three of us went to the Sir James Hawkey Hall to watch WOAD’s performance of “Sleeping Beauty”. This was excellent. There was great audience participation and it was all such fun. A real traditional pantomime that the packed audience thoroughly enjoyed. The cast were terrific, full of energy, enthusiasm and all very talented. We, along with everyone else, had a lovely time.

On the evening of the 3rd we all went to Westminster Cathedral for a Gala Concert. This was the grand finale of The London International Chorale Festival. This consisted of a massed choir, comprising singers from some of the finest schools and college choirs in the USA. The choirs were accompanied by the Young Musicians Symphony Orchestra..
It was a lovely concert in a beautiful venue. Prior to the concert we attended a reception hosted by the Lord Mayor of Westminster.

Friday the 4th was the 33rd birthday party of the KMT. I am really proud to be on the board of such a wonderful theatre. We watched the pantomime, which this year is Jack and the Beanstalk. It was superb, as always. The costumes, sets, lighting and of course the actors were all outstanding. It was a really fantastic evening and so nice to “mix and mingle” with the cast after the performance concluded..

On Saturday the 5th Maire took her two godchildren to a Children’s Fancy Dress Party hosted by the Lady Mayoress of London at the Mansion House. The children, along with about two hundred others, had a wonderful time. Lots of activities and things to do and see I believe.

In the evening Olive and I went to St Barnabas’s Special Dinner.
This was in the parish hall and was in aid of their new church hall appeal. It was a really nice evening. The parishioners had worked so hard to make the hall look lovely and the food and company were excellent.

Sunday the 6th gave me an opportunity to catch up on some paper work and e-mails!

On Monday the 7th I opened the British Sari Story sketchbook exhibition in the Central Library. This was a national competition and what we have in the Central Library are examples of some of the work entered. The main exhibition is in Brent Museum but I hope that it might eventually come to Redbridge. If you are able to do so please go into the Central Library and look at the work on display.

The next evening I had a meeting of my Appeal Committee to plan our future fund raising events. Please look at my events page and see if there is something that you would like to support.

On Wednesday the 9th Maire and I went to a meeting of the Rotary Club of Barkingside. We were made really welcome and had a very pleasant evening learning about the charitable work that the Rotarians are involved in. I was asked to speak to them about my interests and my role as Mayor. It is such a wonderful role and so varied in where I go and things that I do.

Thursday the 10th took me to the Mansion House.

What a stunningly beautiful building it is! I was a guest at the London Government Dinner. It was an evening to remember as you can imagine! The table settings, decorations and silver looked really lovely and the food delicious, as you can imagine.

It was all so smoothly done and a real privilege to be there in such a lovely setting. The chief guest and speaker was Ken Livingstone and he was very interesting and amusing.

On Friday morning I went to Fairlop Primary School to watch some of the pupils taking part in a Skip 2B Fit programme.
This involved individual timed skipping. The programme is all part of introducing and promoting healthy living to young people. I really enjoyed being with the children and was very impressed with their determination to do well and improve their times. As you know I like being in Schools.