Agenda item

(a)       The Mayor’s communications and announcements were as follows:

i)          Former Councillor Tom Wareing

It was with great sadness that the Mayor formally advised the Council of the death in mid-September of former Councillor Tom Wareing. The Mayor paid tribute to former Councillor Wareing and welcomed his widow, Beryl and one of his four sons, Paul, to the meeting.

Members of the Council were invited to offer up words they might wish to offer in memory of former Councillor Wareing and of his services to the Borough.

The Leader of the Opposition commenced the tributes to former Councillor Wareing, commenting on the active part he played in the life of the Borough, being a regular writer of letters to the local newspapers and providing advice to her and her colleagues up until recent times. The high regard in which Councillor Wareing had been held was attested by the numbers who had been present at the commemorative service to celebrate his life.

The Leader of the Council then led other Members in expressing their thoughts on the character and achievements of former Councillor Wareing. The consistency of Councillor Wareing’s views and his faith were commented on by a number of Members. The meeting was advised that the decision had been taken on this occasion to fly the flag at half-mast over the Town Hall given the significant role former Councillor Wareing had played on the Council.

Members observed a minute’s silence as a mark of respect and it was subsequently

RESOLVED that

the Council formally place on record its gratitude to former Councillor Tom Wareing for his service to the Council and to the community.

ii)         Mayoral Functions

The Mayor advised that since the last meeting of the Council she and the Deputy Mayor had attended a number of engagements, including her own Civic Service in September, Education Awards at NEW College, an Apple Day at Headless Cross Community Orchard, welcoming some Palestinian visitors to Woodrow First School, the County Harvest Service in Worcester, a Shrievalty Service at Worcester Cathedral, the Friends of Gruchet Quiz Night, Reading Challenge Awards at Redditch Library, an event with the Severn Freewheelers Emergency Voluntary Service at the Alexandra Hospital and Pershore Civic Service the previous day.

iii)        Forthcoming Events

The Mayor advised that forthcoming events included the Mayor of Evesham’s Indian buffet, a Business Breakfast with the local MP, her own Skittles Evening on Friday, the opening of a new business unit, the opening of a new bridge at Redditch Golf Club, the Remembrance Day Service and the Council’s Bonfire Night Display.

iv)        Births

The Mayor congratulated Councillor Simon Chalk on the recent birth of his baby son and Town Centre Manager, Lindsey Berry on the recent birth of her first child.

(b)       The Leader’s announcements were as follows:

i)          Special Olympics Redditch

The Leader led the Council in congratulating the Special Olympics Redditch Team which had competed at the recent Special Olympics at Bath and had come away with a haul of 20 Medals. The Council was honoured to have six of the athletes and a number of the organisers of the Team in attendance at the meeting. Sarah Duffin, Chair of Special Olympics Redditch, spoke about the organisation, commenting that it was a charitable body which had been formed 25 years previously by Elaine Daykin as a provider of sports provision for people with intellectual disabilities. Special Olympics Redditch competed at both a national and international level and was privileged to be one of the current Mayor’s charities.

ii)         Mental Health and Well-Being Week

The Leader commended Councillor Rebecca Blake and Harriet Ernstsons from the Redditch Standard for organising a recent series of events to publicise the issue of Mental Health awareness.

iii)        MacMillan Coffee Morning

The Leader thanked Councillor Pattie Hill and others for running a very successful MacMillan Cancer Support Coffee Morning at the Town Hall in late September.

iv)        Alzheimer’s Society

The Leader informed the Council that there was a newly established Alzheimer’s Society branch in the Redditch area and added that a number of Customer Services staff were to avail themselves of the opportunity to undertake training in dealing with customers with Alzheimer’s and other forms of dementia.

v)         Redditch Keralan Society

The Leader advised that he and other Members had enjoyed a very enjoyable social event organised by the local Keralan Society recently.

vi)        Bandstand Festival

The Leader reported that he had attended the final weekend of the Bandstand Festival and reflected on an excellent series of events throughout the summer.

vii)       Redditch Magistrates’ Court Open Day

The Leader advised that he and many other local people had attended a very interesting open day at Redditch Magistrates’ Court.

viii)      Alexandra Hospital

The Leader reported that Members had been instrumental in gaining responses to the CCG engagement process on the Alexandra Hospital and that 300 had been returned thus far.

ix)        New Town Celebrations

The Leader reported that he had attended a recent event at the Palace Theatre celebrating 50 Years of Redditch New Town, noting that additional events had been organised to reflect the interest locally in the anniversary.