During September there have been slightly fewer events but some have taken up several hours since they were out of the Borough. We have hosted a number of groups in the Mayor’s Parlour for tea, an evening reception or dinner. Included amongst these groups were a number of centenarians whom the Mayor had invited to his 100th day in office. They came along with their carers and were a very lively group; indeed one lady of 104 years danced a ‘natty’ two step with the Mayor. They all enjoyed their time with us and we hope the event can be repeated in future years.
I invited a group of ladies for tea from the Town Centre Churches. A rather more sedate group than the centenarians but very engaged by the history of the building, its uses and the memorabilia in the Mayor’s Parlour. We also invited groups of Guides and Scout leaders. It was interesting to find that the Guides leaders were all female but the Scouts leaders were both male and female. A group of Swiss students from a local language school visited with their town Mayor and their class teacher. The Swiss Mayor occupied me with questions about the political organisation of the Borough Council and Mayoralty which he found a little tricky to understand as he is both Mayor and Chief Executive in his town.
The visits out of the Borough were to Salisbury twice, to Winchester, to Southampton and to Blandford St Mary. The first visit to Salisbury was to attend the celebration of the 40th year of the U.K. in the EU which was held in the garden of the Military Museum. As the past prime-minister, Edward Heath’s residence, Arundells, is just next door, we were able to visit his home which was a very interesting peep into his life. We attended Evensong in the Cathedral before the reception in the museum garden. Our second visit to Salisbury was in response to an invitation from the Mayor of Salisbury to the Summer Ball and Beating the Retreat at the Officers’ Mess, Larkhill.
In Winchester we attended the Freemason’s Thanksgiving Service in the Cathedral after a reception in the Priors Hall Suite. At Blandford St Mary we attended a Community Awards Ceremony which is an annual event. These awards are generously given by Hall & Woodhouse Ltd. to small local charities within Dorset and are presented by the Lord Lieutenant. Several of the Dorset Mayors were in attendance and we were pleased that five of the awards were received by Bournemouth charities. The trip to Southampton was to a dinner party aboard The Waverley Steamer which visits the area for a few days each year. The Mayors of Portsmouth and Southampton were also present. The purpose of the invite was to raise awareness of the problems the vessel experiences in cost of maintenance and, with regard to Bournemouth, docking beside the pier due to the build up of sand on the sea bed making it too shallow for the vessel.
We were invited to six Civic Visits in September but were only able to attend four due to other commitments. It is always interesting to see the new developments and learn the history of the local towns, all of which are much older than Bournemouth. It is particularly interesting when our visit coincides with an event, as it did at Bridport. We were delighted to become involved in the Hat Festival which is held there each year and is clearly very popular as the town was ‘buzzing’ with activity. Many of the ladies in our Mayoral group bought hats.
We made a visit to Smith’s Coffee Company at Hemel Hampstead for a photo-shoot in the warehouse and the coffee roasting plant in order to advertise the new coffee blend which they have developed for the Mayor. This is an idea that was developed with two Bournemouth Rotarians and the Mayor to produce a coffee called the Mayor’s Deluxe coffee and under the heading of “Bournemouth Welcome”. Part of the proceeds from sales will be shared by the Rotarians and the Mayor’s Charities. The coffee which is a Kenya blend, is packed in a gold and blue bag, was launched this month and will be available at the Tourist Information Centre and other outlets.
It is always a pleasure for the Mayor and I to attend school events and we had a most enjoyable afternoon at the opening of the new extension of St Michael’s Primary School. We were entertained by all the children who, class by class, took us through the important events of each decade since the school’s beginning. The performances were excellent and the children played their roles beautifully. We also attended the Summer Reading Challenge at the Central Library to present medals to the children who had taken part. The children, who were quite excited by the Mayor’s presence, were all good and attentive until the biscuits appeared; I’ve never seen so many biscuits disappear so fast!
The Bournemouth School’s Annual Speech Day was a much more sober event but nonetheless enjoyable. The guest speaker seemed very young and had left the school only eleven years previously but already has an MBE for his charitable work. We were entertained at intervals by the school brass group which was excellent.
Another project we attended was at the Hotel Royale where they have taken on a group of students from Linwood School who will be given a year’s training in all aspects of hotel work to prepare them for their future life. The students served us at the event and had obviously already learned much.
We have visited Bournemouth University on two of occasions. One was the opening of a conference on Mental Healthcare which focussed on considering a new model for the treatment of recovery. The principal speaker considered that the treatment should not be based on ‘cure’ but on accommodating the condition by finding the sufferers a supportive and purposeful environment. The other visit was for the presentation of awards to the winners of a National Visual Effects Competition. We were shown the DVDs which they had produced and which were very imaginative, clever and skilful. Bournemouth University is a leader in the field of media studies.
As well as the visits to Salisbury and Winchester Cathedrals, locally we attended the re-dedication service of the Sacred Heart Church which was a lovely musical service. In contrast, our visit to the 5th Anniversary of the Agape International Church service in St Clements Church Hall, though equally musical, was much noisier. The worship by the African community is much more overtly joyful.
We have also opened the newly branded banks of TSB and Lloyds, the lottery-funded hexagonal swings at The Rookery in Southbourne, a charity art exhibition and auction at the Norfolk Hotel which raised £3000 for Amnesty International, attended another Bowls Tournament to present trophies, a charity concert at Compton Acres, visited the College and Clinic of Chiropractic, plus others.
I was particularly delighted that we were invited to attend the launch party of the development at Terrace Mount. This planning application had come before the Planning Board when I was a councillor and the Board had granted the application, this was in 2008. I was beginning to think it would never happen due to the economic downturn, so I am particularly pleased to see it come to fruition. On completion of the project we shall have a very iconic building and a Five Star Hilton Hotel back in Bournemouth.
That seems to be all for now.
God Bless
Elaine Cooper
Mayor of Bournemouth 