Mayor’s blog – May 2025
Posted on: 9 May 2025
My year as Tewkesbury Borough Mayor finishes on 13 May. I have thoroughly enjoyed it, and it has been an honour and privilege to serve the borough in this way. I am very grateful for all the support I have had along the way.
Councillor Pervaiz from Bishops Cleeve will take over the role and I wish him well for a successful year.
Here below is a flavour of the last few events I have attended. I do hope you have enjoyed the blog posts I have done over the last year, which give just a small glimpse of what the Mayor gets up to!
My wife Lynne, the Mayoress, and I had an enjoyable lunch at Alderman Knight School, which was prepared and served by pupils. They were responsible for the whole event, including invitations and hosting on the day, and I have to say the meal was fabulous. We were all looked after amazingly – a sentiment shared by all the other guests. Thank you, Alderman Knight School!
We were invited to the annual general meeting of the Soldiers’ Sailors’ and Airmen’s Families Association, and it was very interesting to hear about the great work this charity does both locally and nationally. We heard case studies which were very emotional to listen to, and highlighted the challenges that some military families face.
The Woodmancote May Day Fair proved to be a very successful event. I had the honour of crowning the 2025 May Queen and also opening the fair. Lynne and I had a walk around the stalls and chatted to lots of participants. while I had to work hard to avoid having a go on the Bucking Bronco, it was a lot safer watching the Morris Dancers. Congratulations to the people who staged a well organised afternoon out and made us feel very welcome.
The Mayor with Carole House, Chair of Bishop’s Cleeve Gardening Club, at Woodmancote May Day Fair
Over the last three years, the borough has administered grants to provide ‘warm spaces’ during the winter, to try to mitigate some of the effects of the rise in the the cost of living. I hosted a group of volunteers who have provided these warm spaces to say thank you for their involvement. It was really interesting to hear the different ways the various venues operate, but what also came across strongly was the value of the social contact these spaces provide to people.
The Mayor with volunteers from Gretton Village Hall warm space, Mark Oliver, Sue Hughes, Kathy and David Tweedie
