Agenda item - Mayor's Communications.

6.1.           The Mayor stated that he was very happy that his partner, Geraldine had agreed to be his Mayoress during his mayoral year and invited her to come forward to be presented with her badge of office.

6.2.           The Mayor stated that he was a keen cyclist and where possible and with respect to the dignity of the office he would attend some mayoral events by cycle.  As he had mentioned in his speech his theme was an ‘active life’ and he wished to reiterate this departure from tradition up-front and centre as he knew some people may find it unusual.  However, he believed in leading by example and he wanted to be open and honest from the outset about his aspirations.

6.3.           The Mayor stated that he was pleased to say that Reverend Anthea Ballam had agreed to be his Chaplain for the forthcoming year.  He had known Anthea for a number of years and very much appreciated receiving her support for his role.  As an interfaith minister Anthea sought an inclusive approach with all faiths and would be inviting members of different faith views to offer prayers at Council meetings throughout the year.  The Mayor noted that they had already been discussing a number of aspects of her role in supporting the mayoralty and in a change to previous ways of working were keen to try something different for the Mayor’s Civic Service.  Traditionally this service had taken place on a Sunday soon after the Annual Council, but in recent years it appeared to have lost some of its cachet.  So with the blessing of both his Chaplain and the Unitarian Church they would be looking to devise a service to take place later in the year that would have more appeal and would raise some funds for much needed repairs to the church.

6.4.           Finally, the Mayor stated that he was delighted and slightly overawed, that his Mayoral diary was already very busy and pleased to inform council that his first two engagements were due to take place this Saturday.  He was very pleased to have been able to accept invitations from the ‘Woodstore’ - a local recycling project celebrating its 18^th year of operation and the ‘Actually Gay Men’s Choir’ who would be performing ‘It’s Bound To be Alright On the Night’ which was a phrase that rang particularly true for him today.