Cllr Mrs Judy Butt, Mayor of Poole 2006/07

The Mayor of Poole, Cllr Mrs Judy Butt, accompanied by her husband and Consort Mr David Butt, attended a presentation of ‘The Army For Today' at the Royal Bath Hotel, Bournemouth.

The Army Presentation Team tours the United Kingdom throughout the year, talking to a wide cross-section of opinion formers from within the community about the role played by the British Army in defending the United Kingdom's interests world-wide. The fast moving 45-minute multimedia presentation outlines UK Defence policy and the considerable contribution being made to tri-service and multi-national operations by an efficient, flexible, modern Army.  As well as being informative, the occasion includes a question and answer period after the presentation, and there is also ample opportunity for people to talk to members of the team during the reception at the start of the evening and the complimentary light buffet at the end of the evening. 

The Mayor and her husband were greeted by Brigadier Jolyon Jackson and Colonel Charlie Knaggs OBE in full dress uniform! The guest speaker for the evening was Mrs Valerie Pitt Rivers Lord Lieutenant of Dorset who attended with her husband Anthony.

Cllr Mrs Judy Butt, Mayor of Poole, said "It was a superb event. We were treated to an excellent presentation by Brigadier Jolyon Jackson' s personnel from Corporal to Colonel, who in turn took to the stage and gave verbal commentary to a first class pictorial film illustration of the modern army at work, its past, its present and most importantly of all its future. I was very assured to hear that the Army are very mindful of all the vagaries of general government policy and how they have to be extremely flexible to be able to react to these variations at any given time. The evening's presentations were rounded off by an excellent address by the Lord Lieutenant of Dorset Mrs Valerie Pitt Rivers, whose gentle but amusing informal style hit the right note amongst all present. As usual it was like being a three year old in a sweet shop, surrounded by all those uniforms! What's a girl supposed to do?"

The Mayor of Poole, Cllr Mrs Judy Butt, with by her husband Mr David Butt, Lord Lieutenant of Dorset Mrs Valerie Pitt Rivers, Colonel Charlie Knaggs OBE (left) and Brigadier Jolyon Jackson at the Army presentation.

The Mayor of Poole, Cllr Mrs Judy Butt, met Mr Richard McLester and his colleague Mr Mathis Palter in her Parlour to discuss providing piano entertainment at the forthcoming Poole Civic Awards evening.

Richard is a university student, studying German at Bristol University. He is, however, a talented professional musician playing a variety of instruments including drums, piano and his first love, guitar, as well as singing classical tenor. He runs his own recording studio in Parkstone, and is front man for his band ‘Oposium', performing, producing and writing a variety of modern music.

Cllr Mrs Judy Butt, Mayor of Poole, said "Richard is an extremely talented young man and I am sure we shall see him one day performing at Carnegie Hall to name but one, I very much look forward to him playing at my Civic Awards Ceremony on Friday."

The Mayor of Poole, Cllr Mrs Judy Butt, and her secretary Mrs Jo Clements with pianist Mr Richard McLester (left) and his colleague Mr Mathis Palter in her Parlour.

The Mayor of Poole, Cllr Mrs Judy Butt gave an interview on Hospital Radio Bedside based at Bournemouth Hospital. HRB broadcasts to The Royal Bournemouth, Poole, Poole Maternity, Christchurch and Wimborne hospitals. Founded in 1971, HRB is a self-funding charity, raising money through donations, sponsorship and two charity shops in Boscombe and Parkstone. All the work of running the station is carried by volunteer members, from presenting the shows to organisation and technical work, and of course manning the charity shops.

Having previously met members from HRB at an event during the summer, the Mayor was invited to give a radio interview about ‘The Life and Duties of a Mayor', which she was delighted to accept. Greeted by HRB Vice-President and presenter Jimmy Ross, the Mayor was shown around the station and learned a great deal about how local radio works. She was then interviewed in some depth about her experiences as Mayor of Poole (we plan to make a sound track available on the Mayor's personal diary soon). Asked to choose three songs for the radio show, she selected tracks with particular poignancy and relevance; ‘Wind Beneath My Wings' to acknowledge the unstinting support she has received from her husband and family, friends and colleagues, community leaders and residents during her year in office; ‘Consider Yourself' to illustrate her feelings towards all her supporters; and ‘My Way' to mark her efforts to change Poole into an exemplar of modern Mayoralty.

Cllr Mrs Judy Butt, Mayor of Poole, said "At the end of last year when I was so very ill in hospital I tuned into the HRB hospital radio service, it gave me great comfort and very much helped to pass the tedious hours of lying in bed doing absolutely nothing waiting for your body to heal so you can get back to what you really should be doing i.e., my family and Mayoral duties. I asked for a request something by Cliff Richard, being a bit of a fan and they played ‘Living Doll'; no explanation as to why but it certainly cheered me up as has the service to hundreds of thousands over the years!!"

The Mayor of Poole, Cllr Mrs Judy Butt and presenter Jimmy Ross choose tracks from the huge CD library during her visit to Hospital Bedside Radio.

The Mayor of Poole, Cllr Mrs Judy Butt, being interviewed by presenter Jimmy Ross in Studio 2 during her visit to Hospital Bedside Radio

The Mayor of Poole, Cllr Mrs Judy Butt met Mr Melih Savasci, a senior Director from the Bank of New York, in her Parlour to discuss their forthcoming opening of a new office in Poole, and to present a cheque on their behalf to the Poole Hospital Wish List.

The new office, which will be located in the former Merck building in Poole, will be used for corporate trust business recently acquired from J. P. Morgan Chase, and will provide a centre of excellence with global impact. Corporate trust providers are appointed by corporations, municipal governments and other loan issuing organisations to service and maintain their corporate loans. Due to open in February, the Bank expect to employ some 200 staff initially, majority of them recruited locally, growing to 350 over the next two years. The Bank is especially keen to play a role in the local communities in Poole, raising its profile by means of charity work and contributions, and the Mayor was able to offer some important suggestions to assist them.

Cllr Mrs Judy Butt, Mayor of Poole, said "I was delighted to be asked to meet with Melih and on his request to advise him regarding our own vibrant town and borough.  He was most keen to learn about the area and to understand our challenges and our attributes.  It is exciting to know that yet another fantastic opportunity is being made available especially for our own young people in Poole regarding a career path with excellent training opportunities and ongoing professional development. With the regeneration of Poole well on the way regarding new housing stock amongst many other initiatives the solid prospect of further employment in Poole must be a great assurance to all our communities".

The Mayor of Poole, Cllr Mrs Judy Butt with Mr Melih Savasci and Ms Emma Wright of the Bank of New York in her Parlour

The Mayor of Poole, Cllr Mrs Judy Butt, attended a champagne breakfast reception to mark the launch of a new breakfast radio show at Radio 2CR FM in Bournemouth. Greeted by the station's PR officer Matt Knott, the Mayor enjoyed an educational whistle-stop tour of the broadcasting studios before joining other VIP guests for the formal launch.

2CR FM broadcasts to Bournemouth, Poole, Christchurch, Dorchester, Weymouth, Swanage and the surrounding area on 102.3 FM, on-line at http://www.2crfm.co.uk/ and on the Bournemouth DAB Digital Radio multiplex, broadcasting around the clock with local programming during the day and early evening. The new show, hosted by Richie and Caroline, broadcasts every weekday morning and does everything possible to wake up its listeners, including a brains test, gossip from the celebrity world from Caroline, Richie showing off his sporting prowess, and ending at 8 am with a competition to improve on the headlines of the day's Echo stories.

Cllr Mrs Judy Butt, Mayor of Poole, said, "2CR go from strength to strength, just when you think they have extended their skills as far as they can, they come up with a bigger and better idea.  It was fascinating to see how the broadcasts are made and delivered and to sit in the presenter's chair.   I will never think of 2CR in the same light again as I can now literally see what is happening as I listen to what must be one of Poole's favorite radio stations".

The Mayor of Poole, Cllr Mrs Judy Butt, tries a presenter's chair for size during her visit to Radio 2CR FM

The Mayor of Poole, Cllr Mrs Judy Butt, chats with ‘Mr Kyps' of the live music venue of the same name in Parkstone, during her visit to Radio 2CR FM

The Mayor of Poole, Cllr Mrs Judy Butt, with Christchurch MP Christopher Chope during her visit to Radio 2CR FM

The Mayor of Poole, Cllr Mrs Judy Butt, with Richie, co-host of the new breakfast radio show, during her visit to Radio 2CR FM

The Mayor of Poole, Cllr Mrs Judy Butt, was presented with a ‘goodie bag' by the station's PR officer Matt Kott, during her visit to Radio 2CR FM