BEING part of so much good news is a wonderful start to 2015.
Visiting Worcestershire Royal Hospital to thank the A & E staff and to see the new facilities – the Oncology Centre and the Birthing Centre, both amazing pieces of modern medicine – I met so many true angels, the nurses and doctors completely committed and devoted to all their patients.
Certain people should stop whingeing and whining about our great NHS and treasure it as it should be.
Then there were the first birthday celebrations of the Premier Inn hotel where you can actually watch a cricket match for free! I was honoured to cut the ribbon at the re-opening of the Lyppard Grange Community Centre on its 21st birthday, looking forward with renewed energy to the future of this much used and loved community facility.
Presenting the awards to the winners of the Worcester Badminton Charity Tournament at Nunnery Wood Sports Centre took me back a good few years to my time as a (not bad) badminton player before I became too heavily involved in politics.
It’s a very civilized way to get some exercise and enjoyment and it’s a game played in true sportsmanship.
Meeting so many fantastic people is one of the privileges of being Mayor.
For, example, Tom Neathway – whom I met at the Cash Converters’ presentation of a £6,000 cheque to The Afghanistan Trust – a soldier who lost limbs fighting for us in Afghanistan, always smiling and talking about his plans for the future. An example to us all.
Meeting such extraordinary staff and volunteers during my visit to Acorns Children’s Hospice who were providing end-of-life care for children left me deeply moved and humbled.
My recent guests for a tour-tea-chat in The Parlour included students from Archway Academy; Deaf Direct; and the Head Boys and Head Girl from Bishop Perowne School – how nice to meet such polite and interested young people – Joseph Long, Tom Maiden, George Fuller, and Jessica Key.
I know they played tennis in The Guildhall centuries ago but I never thought I would watch basketball being played inside the Cathedral when I attended the Official Draw for the European Wheelchair Basketball Championships 2015!
A bit of pure fun when I attended the Kays Theatre Group’s “Babes in the Wood” at The Swan, a good old fashioned British panto when I got squirted with water.
