Agenda item

a)         Mayor

The Mayor invited the Reverend Paul Lawlor, her chaplain for her year in office to speak.

Former Mayor Dot Dudley

The Mayor formally advised the Council of the death of the former Mayor Dot Dudley and Members observed a minute’s silence as a mark of respect.  Members were then invited to say a few words in memory of her. 

The Leader commented that former Mayor Dot Dudley, who had 2 daughters and 2 sons, had been a councillor for 11 years and had represented Batchley, where she had lived all her life.  She had not courted publicity but had worked tirelessly for her community.  A letter of condolence had been sent to the family.

The Leader of the Opposition passed on condolences to former Mayor Dot Dudley’s family, friends and Labour colleagues.

Councillors Fry, Gandy and Shurmer also paid tribute to the work the former Mayor had done for her community and Redditch as a whole.

The Mayor gave a summary of some of the events she had attended since the previous meeting:

·         The Alexandra Hospital on Christmas Day

·         Wychavon District Council Civic Service

·         Headless Cross Golden Age Club

·         ROWL – AGM

·         Holocaust Memorial Event – this had been well attended and a very interesting and moving service.

·         Redditch Special Olympic Awards

·         Touchstones Charity Talk – this was a counselling service for bereaved children.

The Mayor’s forthcoming engagements included:

·         Mayoral Charity Indian Banquet Evening

·         RBC Play Rehearsal re Debt

·         Wyre Forest Winter Supper Evening

·         Stourport Council Talent Show

·         Worcester City Civic Service

·         Worcestershire County Civic Dinner

·         Mayoral Charity Skittle Evening

·         Kidderminster Council Charity Ball

The Mayor also thanked Councillor Pattie Hill for standing in for her on those occasions when she had been unable to attend an event.

b)         Leader’s Announcements

The Leader paid tribute to Ken Banks, the husband of former Mayor Kath Banks and confirmed a letter of condolence had been sent by the Leader and Mayor.  

The Leader of the Opposition acknowledged the tribute and passed on the former Mayor’s thanks for the kind thoughts.

Since the last meeting the Leader had attended the following events:

·         Various Christmas community events

·         The pantomime, Cinderella at the Palace Theatre

·         Pride of Redditch Awards organised for the second year by Councillor Rebecca Blake and Ian Dipple from the Redditch Standard.  It was noted that local businesses had attended for the first time.

·         Polish School Nativity Play

·         Redditch Guru Nanak Gudwara, a Sikh temple held at Ridgeway School.

·         Holocaust Memorial Day Event – this was the 70^th anniversary year and the Council had been awarded one of the 70 candles which was lit by the 91 year old holocaust survivor, Iby Knill.  The event had included a talk by Iby, together with a performance from the Polish Saturday School, the Kerela Cultural Association and Astwood Bank First School.

The Leader had also written to both the local mosque (a letter of thanks had been received) and Pakistan High Commissioner in light of the recent events in Pakistan.  He also thanked Tanweer Dean for arranging a gathering outside St Stephen’s Church in order for residents to pay respects if they so wished.

The Leader welcomed Laura Marries, Zoe Gardner and Fiona Davidson to the meeting and explained that Laura, with the support of her manager,, Zoe, had arranged various fund raising events, including having her head shaved, for a Cancer charity, raising in total £3,100.  Laura had raised the funds on behalf of Fiona and she was invited to say a few words of thanks.

Paul Mitchell was also welcomed and the Leader explained that Paul was an Aerospace Engineer who had won a regional apprentice award for advanced apprenticeship Graduate of the Year Award, which had taken place at a ceremony in Coventry.  The Leader congratulated Paul and said that the Council were keen to promote and support apprenticeships in the town.  Paul was invited to say a few words.

Bella Williams, who was 6 years old, was welcomed to the meeting and the Leader explained that she had, of her own instigation, spent the Christmas school holidays collecting litter in her local road.   The Leader and Mayor thanked her for her hard work and presented her with a goody bag and encouraged her to keep up the good work.

Finally, the Leader presented Councillor Wanda King with a number of gifts from the Redditch Special Olympic Awards, which he and the Deputy Mayor had collected on her behalf at the recent Awards evening.  He explained that Councillor King’s chosen charity had been the Special Olympics when she had been Mayor the previous year and they had been most grateful for the funds they had received.