Cllr Mrs Judy Butt, Mayor of Poole 2006/07

The Mayor of Poole, Cllr Mrs Judy Butt, opened a Flower Festival at St Peter's Church in Parkstone.

Themed to celebrate the coming of summer and to emphasise the ‘living' nature of the church within the community, each of the many floral decorations had been contributed by an individual or organisation with links to the church. Ranging from simple bouquets to huge floral sculptures, the decorations made the church into a blaze of colour which the Mayor and all the members of congregation toured in admiration. The Mayor addressed the congregation and asked them to join her in a unique prayer written specially for florists, she then regaled them with her usual wit and joined them in song in the delightful church service. She was presented with a huge bouquet of white tea roses, the scent was beautiful and the Mayor was almost moved to tears by the lovely gesture.

Cllr Mrs. Judy Butt, Mayor of Poole, said "The exhibits were stunning, depicting concepts, stories, seasons and much much more. The colours were from delicate pastels so pale in hue as to be almost transparent to striking brilliant oranges and the deepest of blue black purples, every flower known to man must have been there, a huge feat for the Church and I hope something they will consider doing on a bi annual basis. All the flowers at the end of the festival were taken to retirement homes, day centres and other churches in Poole, nothing was wasted. The talents of our local community is boundless, I wouldn't know how to begin to ‘build' the huge structures but the ladies and gents who did, deserve the accolades of congratulations that they received in droves from the delighted spectators visiting on the day."

The Mayor of Poole, Cllr Mrs Judy Butt, with coordinator Victoria Carter at the Flower Festival at St Peter's Church.

The Mayor of Poole, Cllr Mrs Judy Butt, admires one of the stunning floral sculptures at the Flower Festival at St Peter's Church.

The Mayor of Poole, Cllr Mrs Judy Butt, cannot resist touching her favourite flowers at the Flower Festival at St Peter's Church.

The Mayor of Poole, Cllr Mrs Judy Butt, with another superb floral sculpture at the Flower Festival at St Peter's Church.

The Mayor of Poole, Cllr Mrs Judy Butt, congratulated Mrs Dolly Blatchford on her centenary at Holly Court in Parkstone.

Having been born in Lambeth and lived most of her life in Watford, Dolly moved to Poole three years ago. She has remained very active and as recently as a year ago was still enjoying looking after her garden and going out to play bingo. She is the proud matriarch of a huge family of three children, eight grandchildren, 15 great-grandchildren and five great-great-grandchildren, most of whom travelled from various parts of the country to celebrate her centenary.

The Mayor was delighted to find Dolly in fine fettle and bright as a button, presenting her with a huge bouquet of flowers and sharing a glass of champagne to toast Dolly and her family.

Cllr Mrs. Judy Butt, Mayor of Poole, said "We are certainly blessed with our centenarians in Poole, this lady was stunning, we shared several glasses of bubbly and nattered and giggled the afternoon away. There were 5 generations there with one tiny great great grandchild!  Dolly is a true Bow Bells Londoner and moved to Poole on her retirement, she told me stories of how hard it was during WW2 and how they had to tolerate whale meat, she told me that she could never face fish after that and frankly I don't blame her! We all sang Happy Birthday to her and ate a delicious buffet prepared by the Wardens who care for her at the supported accommodation unit. "

The Mayor of Poole, Cllr Mrs Judy Butt, shares a joke with Mrs Dolly Blatchford on her centenary at Holly Court.

The Mayor of Poole, Cllr Mrs Judy Butt, made an informal visit to the Streetwise Safety Centre in Bournemouth.

The Streetwise Safety Centre is an indoor, life-sized, interactive safety education centre in Wallisdown, Bournemouth, where people of all ages can discover how to keep safe and what to do in an emergency in an exciting, memorable and confidence-building way. The charity works in close partnership with like-minded agencies, businesses and organisations to deliver preventative education, helping to reduce the tragedy and cost of avoidable accidents. Crime prevention, good citizenship and responsible behaviour messages are an integral part of the education process.

Whilst catering primarily for 5-12 year olds in school or youth organisation groups, Safety Tours are also available for pre-school children, teenagers and senior citizens. Families are also particularly encouraged to attend and learn together during school holidays and during early evening tours in term time.

Since Streetwise opened to the public in January 1999 over 45,000 young people have benefited from its unique form of interactive safety education, generally from within a sixty-mile radius of Bournemouth. The centre has received fact-finding visits from all over the country and from as far away as Japan and Texas.

Met by manager Alison Curtis, the Mayor took great delight in touring the highly realistic scenarios built into the centre, ranging from a domestic house, through a street scene, railway station complete with train, a building site and even a farmyard, each with a catalogue of accidents waiting to happen. In the course of her visit, the Mayor met and chatted with pupils from Branksome Heath Middle School, also on a educational tour.

Cllr Mrs. Judy Butt, Mayor of Poole, said "They even got the smells right! An amazing place you really could be there. Some terrifying examples of what we must avoid and how to protect against them. I met many schools who were visiting that day and they were thoroughly enjoying themselves, it's a great practical way to instil the simple message of street wise knowledge, easy to understand and easy to remember."

The Mayor of Poole, Cllr Mrs Judy Butt, meets children from Branksome Heath Middle School while visiting the Streetwise Safety Centre.

The Mayor of Poole, Cllr Mrs Judy Butt, admires the goldfish in the pond - shame about the dumped car and burned out bin in the background at the Streetwise Safety Centre.

The Mayor of Poole, Cllr Mrs Judy Butt, illustrates the effectiveness of a safety helmet by dropping an egg on to concrete at the Streetwise Safety Centre.

The Mayor of Poole, Cllr Mrs Judy Butt, made an informal to the Cooking Bus while at Manorside School.

The Food Standards Agency Cooking Bus has been developed in partnership with the Focus on Food Campaign to get across healthy eating and food safety messages to school children in an engaging way. For 42 weeks a year it sets out to different destinations around the country where its two teachers work with school staff to inspire children and highlight the importance of food education, while supporting the national curriculum, teachers' own work objectives, and Government health messages.

Over three years the state-of-the-art mobile kitchen will involve more than 18,000 pupils and 2,400 teachers in its interactive cooking sessions, plus those taking part in projects during the school holidays. All Cooking Bus workshops are hands-on events, making finished dishes to eat there and then, or take home for tea.

The Mayor was delighted to meet the children, emphasising the need for proper hygiene and watching with fascination as the teachers explained the preparation stages for cooking, and in her welcome speech encouraged the children to acquire this essential life skill for both boys and girls. Unfortunately, lack of time prevented her from joining in cooking the salmon dinner, one of her favourite meals.

Cllr Mrs. Judy Butt, Mayor of Poole, said "The bus provides a really hands on opportunity for the students to experience cooking from prep to finished product. The youngsters were very attentive and obviously longing to roll their sleeves up and start cooking!"

The Mayor of Poole, Cllr Mrs Judy Butt, was delighted to find full disabled access to the Cooking Bus visiting Manorside School.

The Mayor of Poole, Cllr Mrs Judy Butt, with pupils learning about food preparation on board the Cooking Bus visiting Manorside School.