Mary Reid

These are two very special women, recognised in the Queen's Birthday Honours this year.  On the right, Dame Jane Campbell from Tolworth who was made a Dame for her services to social chair and to disabled people. She is Chair of the Social Care Institute for Excellence. Her husband, Roger Symes, is on the left.

Between them is Ginny Clarke from Berrylands, who was awarded the CBE - she is Chief Highways Engineer at the Highways Agency. I welcomed them both to the Mayor's Parlour for a reception yesterday evening. They then joined the full council for the first part of the meeting and everyone was able to join in the congratulations.

But they were not the only people we entertained.  James Witt (right), who is 14 and lives in Chessington, has recently become the British Karate Champion in his class for the second year running. He too was congratulated by the whole council.

The third picture shows my chaplain, Rev'd Chris Hollingshurst (left), with one of the associate chaplains, Rev'd Dr Dongwhan Kim, whom we also welcomed.

What followed was my first full council meeting since the Annual Council in May when I was installed as Mayor.  It was quite a nerve-wracking occasion, but I soon settled down and enjoyed being able to chair the meeting and control 47 other councillors, all of whom are in their element when they are thinking on their feet.

At the beginning of the meeting I reported on the progress of e2e4e (end to end for earthquake) and managed to get the councillors to up fill two complete sponsor forms during the meeting!

We tried a new procedure this time, modelled on the Queen's Speech. The Leader of the Council, Cllr Derek Osbourne, outline the administration's policy programme for the next year, and for the whole four year period until the next election.  The Leader of the Opposition, Cllr Howard Jones, responded and then others joined in.  It was a good-humoured debate, with some very funny moments, but no-one underplayed the significance of the occasion.

How to raise £2500 for charity in half an hour... ask all the pupils, parents and friends of the school to submit their own works of art for an auction. Then watch as parents bid up to £100 to buy their own children's paintings! 

It was a brilliant concept, developed by Sharon Mehta for St Pauls' Junior School and Alexandra Infants. And it was given a real boost when Quentin Blake and Jacqueline Wilson were identified as friends who had submitted drawings to be auctioned.

The event was in aid of two local cancer charity appeals - Kingston Can and Momentum. We  all know about the first, but Momentum supports children with cancer in Surrey and surrounding areas. They are sponsoring a mosiac by Save the World Club for the paediatric ward at Kingston Hopsital.

The inspiration for this evening was the courage shown by two children who are undergoing treatment for cancer at the moment - one a current pupil and the other a former pupil at the school. I was privileged to meet them. 

I won the bid for this splendid mosaic panel created by Karen Parry, the Save the World Club artist.

Surbiton Boys' Preparatory School occupies a large Victorian house in Avenue Elmers. It is part of the Surbiton High family of independent schools.

Yesterday the Prep School held their prizegiving in Surbiton Assembly Rooms and it was good to see the whole school, with teachers and parents all together in one hall.  Each class sang to us and the Year 6 leavers gave us a well-rehearsed and clearly spoken summary of their time at the school.

More celebrations of achievement today when I gave out certificates to people who had taken courses with 'Learn English at Home'.  This highly successful project gave one-to-one English tuition to over 70 people in their homes last year, and provided classes in gardening, confidence building, baby massage and 'Keep up with your children', amongst others. Most of the learners are women isolated in their homes by lack of English, and the tuition opens up a new world to them.

Yesterday was my first opportunity to represent Kingston at a London wide event. The occasion was a sung evensong at St Paul's Cathedral for all the London Mayors, to mark the beginning of the mayoral year.

The Cathedral is looking magnificent after its lengthy facelift. (The photo is taken from their website)

Entering by the north door we could not miss the new installation by Yoko Ono, Morning Beams. This is a stunning artwork consisting of ropes stretched from the floor to the topmost west-facing window, representing both rays of light and resurrection. Below is a river of pebbles - water to a parched land.

I was escorted by my chaplain, Rev'd Chris Hollingshurst, and we both enjoyed the understated, pure sound of the choir, enhanced by being seated close to them in the choir area. It was good to see Mayors from almost all the London boroughs, plus the Lord Mayors of the Cities of London and Westminster.

Afterwards we were invited back to the Mansion House for a reception. The Lord Mayor of London actually moves in during the mayoral year, and probably does more engagements than any other mayor in the UK. These include many trips abroad to promote the economic heart of our country.

The local branch of Relate serves Kingston, Richmond and Hounslow, with offices in each. Relate is the major couples counselling service in the country and they have built an enviable reputation for high quality counselling and complete confidentiality.

So it was quite a surprise to discover that most of the work is done by volunteers, who even have to subsidise their training. (Kingston does provide grant funding to cover their local premises costs.) It was good to meet and thank a number of these generous people at a summer party on Sunday evening.

End to End for Earthquake - E2E4E - is a bike ride from Lands End to John o'Groats in aid of Pakistan Earthquake relief.

It is the brainchild of Roy Taylor, Director of Community Services at Kingston Council, (second from left) and he is supported by 23 other council officers, local police and friends. Some are travelling the full distance over two weeks, others, such as the Chief Executive of Kingston Council, Bruce McDonald, (standing, third from right) are joining for one or more stages.

They were sent off yesterday with much cheering at the Bike Across Cultures event in Richmond Park. It is not too late to sponsor them and support the British Red Cross and the Fountain House project in Lahore.

Roy is keeping a blog of the ride which includes occasional podcasts.

The pic shows many of the riders, with the Deputy Mayor of Richmond and the Press Officer from the Pakistan High Commission. Crouching to the right is John Azah, Director of Kingston Racial Equality Council who was about to drive the support van down to Cornwall for the start. The oldest rider in Mark Roy, age 81 (standing, third from left).

If you were around in Kingston today you will probably have heard the music from the stage on the green opposite John Lewis.

Global Arts Bazaar gave us arts and crafts, stalls and food as well as entertainment with world music and dance.  I stayed long enough to see delicate Chinese dancing, enthusiastic modern Indian dance, African drumming and hip hop.

It was a delightful and colourful event, blessed with perfect weather - let's have more of them!

Dancers from the Kingston Gujarati School

This was the winning rose in its class in the Summer Flower Show of Surbiton Horticultural Society.

The Society has around 200 members and meets in the United Reformed Church Hall in Tolworth.  During the  winter months they meet regularly and share ideas and knowledge, then enjoy the results at their shows during the summer months.

They have just launched a website.

Here is a glorious hanging basket, also a first prize winner.

The Territorial Army has been in the news in the last couple of years.  A number of part-time volunteers suddenly found themselves posted to Iraq where they carried out the same duties as their full-time counterparts. Apparently they are paid the same salary as they would be receiving at home, and their employers are covered for any additional costs in recruiting temporary replacements.  Their tour of duty is a maximum of 6 months.

The Kingston TA Centre in Portsmoth Road houses two units - C squadron, 256 Field Hospital (Royal Army Medical Corps), and a squadron of the 31st (City of London) Signal Regiment.  It was the latter who invited us to a dinner at their HQ in Southfields last night, along with the Mayors from the other boroughs in the south of England where they are situated. Since I have little understanding of military life it was an enjoyable learning exercise and a very friendly occasion.

The Deputy Mayor is visiting the Kingston base on Tuesday to see the newly refurbished accommodation for the Signals.

A group of drama students at Kingston University have been touring round the local schools with a play aimed at 7 and 8 year olds.  The theme is personal safety and is based on the Red Ridinghood story.

Yesterday they were celebrating the fact that they had given 23 performances, reaching 2000 children.  So they put it on once more, with an audience from St John's School, at the University. 

It was brilliant!  The children responded with great enthusiasm and quickly learned the 'No. Go. Tell' message as well as picking up others important rules, like sticking with friends and not going out in the dark.

Mum asks Red (Ridinghood) and her friend to take things to Gran

The wolf on his knees - and a strong message to kids

A rather busy day yesterday - mainly meetings about my charity and other things.

But the Deputy Mayor and I did fit in a photoshoot to publicise Shades Day. 

The idea is to get colleagues to wear sunglasses to work on Friday 30th June and in return to contribute to the Guide Dogs for the Blind Association.

In the office there is a well-preserved photo of a former Mayor with the driver wearing shades and looking ominously like the Kray brothers. I hope we look slightly more respectable!

Cllr Sheila Griffin, is now blogging about her life as Deputy Mayor as well.

I think we may well be the only blogging mayoral pair in the country!

How do you get 1000 very young children all singing in a concert? The logistics of transport and supervision on the day, let alone co-ordinating the rehearsals in 21 schools, are pretty complex.

Part of the solution is to create four concerts, over two days, dividing the schools up between them.  The result was the Infant Music Festival today and tomorrow at the Kings Centre.

All the children from the schools involved took part and all had learned a dozen new songs from around the world, in several different languages. Halfway through, the parents taught the children 'Thank you for the music' in honour of the match against Sweden this evening. 'It's a small world' was another very appropriate choice.

Congratulations to Nicholas Smith and Hannah Kirk who directed proceedings. What an achievement! 

The Mayor is often invited into schools to chat with the children and young people. The younger ones in particular like to see the robes and mace and ask questions like "Why have you got three fish?", "Do you ever go shopping?" and "Do you have to polish the chain?" (though, on second the thoughts, the latter was asked me by a fellow Mayor...).

The danger is that the children are distracted by the pomp and glitter, but don't understand the significance of local democracy.  I'm exploring how we can make these visits more effective, how they can be tied in with the citizenship curriculum, and how we can use them to listen to children.

Yesterday's visit to Coombe Hill Junior was part of their Microsociety project with Year 5. Each class spends some time each week for most of one term growing their own society. They elect MPs and a Prime Minister, and even a Queen in one case (although interestingly the Queen had discovered, to her annoyance, that she had far less power than the Prime Minister).

The children set up businesses, raise taxes and provide services. To give them ideas, they invite in experts to tell them how things function in the real world, so I was asked to chat with them about government. I hope some of them will be able to visit the Guildhall at some point.

St Peter's Church in Norbiton has had a complete facelift.  The former rather dingy interior is now light and welcoming.

The pews have been replaced by comfortable seating, and the choir area has been transformed into an open flexible space. A baptism pool has been installed near the font, which has been moved to a prominent place.

I was very struck by the use of colour, inspired by the splendid Victorian east window. The designer had picked out a purpley blue that is used for painted details along the balcony and balanced it with warm magenta upholstery and carpet.

Today's dedication service was a cheerful celebratory occasion - it's not often that the whole congregation lets off party poppers in a church!

Yesterday evening I represented the Borough at a reception at Headley Court to mark the Queen's 80th birthday.  It included Beating the Retreat by the band of the Army Air Corps.

They played traditional marches, show tunes and jazz band favourites, but the high spot was solos on two hunting horns. Then into Sunset and the National Anthem, with the salute taken by the Lord Lieutenant of Surrey, Mrs Sarah Boad.

Hillcroft College deserves to be better known. It is based in a beautiful house, tucked away behind Surbiton Station, and is one of only four residential further education colleges in the country.

Hillcroft caters exclusively for women, and at the student graduation event this week we heard about its real value in changing the lives of its students.

Each told us what they were now doing and how the College had helped them to reach their goals. Most of them were grasping education the second time around - in the past their education may have been limited through lack of opportunities, caring commitments, health problems or low self esteem; some were rebuilding their lives after trauma; others were exploring a range of options before deciding which direction to take. 

Several past students were now happily settled into degree courses or running their own businesses.

This is a great place, and it does offer non-residential courses as well to the benefit to local women. Child care is, of course, available.

I did take this photo from their website - I hope they don't mind.

Another group that changes lives is the local Breathe Easy Support Group which celebrated its first birthday on Friday. It is an initiative of the British Lung Foundation, and caters for people with lung conditions such as Chronic Obstructive Pulmonary Disease.

They were a cheerful crowd, but all said how the group, which meets monthly, has been so valuable to them.  Mutual support and friendship is coupled with information and advice from professionals, including a physiotherapist, a respiratory specialist nurse and doctors. 

Chatting with some of the members of Kingston's Breathe Easy Support Group

On Friday evening I went on one of my rare official trips outside the borough. This was at the invitation of Bishop Tom Butler, the Anglican Bishop of Southwark. Every year he invites all the new Mayors from the diocese to his house for an informal supper, along with his team of bishops, archdeacons and executive staff.

As well as being a relaxing and very enjoyable occasion it provided a valuable opportunity to share experiences and ideas with other mayors, and to explore areas of co-operation between the church and civic life.

I'm catching up a bit this week, because I still haven't mentioned the Royal Kingston District Scouts.  Their AGM was remarkably well attended despite of the rival attraction of the World Cup. The word 'fun' kept cropping up - Scouting develops self esteem, confidence and community spirit in their members through laughter and enjoyable activities. 

The meeting reflected on another year of service by many leaders who dedicate themselves to over 1500 children and young people of the borough.  They are now planning the major international events next year to celebrate the centenary of Scouting.

The Coombe Girls Summer Show actually coincided with England v Trinidad & Tobago so a TV was discretely installed in a corner of the hall. But remarkably few people were distracted from the stunning display of student work in Art, Photography, Media and Design & Technology.

After handing out some prizes I was introduced to a number of the students who told me enthusiastically about their work and their ambitions. I do believe that you can tell a great deal about a school from the quality of the artwork -  students whose exploratory ideas are valued, and who are free to express themselves, produce work that is challenging and exciting. At Coombe students displayed remarkable confidence in pushing the boundaries of the media they chose to use.

Vicar in ... 

We'll have to get used to calling him Priest-in-charge, and eventually Rector, but I expect many will still be referring to him as the Vicar of Kingston.

On Tuesday, in a service which was both warm and dignified, Rev'd Jonathan Wilkes was formally welcomed to his new role, which gives him oversight of All Saints and St John the Evangelist. 

All Saints (Kingston Parish Church) holds a very special place in the life of Kingston - kings were crowned here and many great civic occasions have been marked here.

My task in the service was to welcome him as Mayor, alongside representatives of other churches and, in an innovative move, other faiths. We all look forward to working together in the future.

Kids Out ...

Kids Out saw 400 children from Kingston enjoying themselves at Thorpe Park, hosted by the three local Rotary clubs (Kingston, New Malden and Surbiton)  I have been bumping into Rotarians at many events around the borough - their determination to put something back into the community is well-known and we seemed to be blessed with a particularly active and imaginative lot.

It was the Kingston branch which dreamt up Kids Out many years ago, and the idea has been taken up nationally, so on Wednesday some 14,000 disadvantaged children were being entertained across the country.

I had a great time chatting with the children. I'm afraid I didn't venture on anything more exciting than the Teacup Ride...

Anne Marie Alufuwa (in black) and some of the MeWe members with Eva Schloss (in blue), Shami Chakrabati (in green), MPs and others

MeWe is a Kingston youth theatre group, and yesterday I watched their powerful performance of 'And then they came for me - remembering the world of Anne Frank'.

The location could not have been more prestigious - Portcullis House, where most MPs have their offices and hang out. The occasion was an event organised by the Blue Sky Club, which is a human rights network of influential people from politics, the law, entertainment and other fields.

The production is a play, produced and sposored by Nic Careem, built around the videoed memories of two of Anne Frank's friends, both of whom survived the Holocaust. We watched Eva Schloss on the screen remembering the two years she spent in hiding, and then the horrors of Auschwitz. In front of her image, the actors worked through her story in emotionally painful detail.

Then came the revelation that the woman herself was sitting in front of me.  After the play ended she explained, in an interview with June Sarpong, that it took about twenty years for her to purge the bitterness, but that she knew it was essential to do so for her own emotional sanity.

She has accompanied several performances of the play but this was the first time that it had been performed by a racially mixed cast. This added extra layers to the theme of the dynamics of hatred and its consequences.

MeWe are to be congratulated on handling such explosive material with great sensitivity and truthfulness. I met up with Anne Marie Alufuwa, their director, and Joy Iruo of Kingston Connexions who sponsor MeWe. (Thanks to Joy for the photo)

In the discussion that followed, Shami Chakrabati, the Director of Liberty, commented on the danger posed by the British National Party and also by the way the term 'refugee' has become a slur rather than a mark of honour. She reminded us that the demonisation of groups of people is served as much by those who do nothing to oppose it as by those who actively encourage it.

Max Feldman is a remarkable man.  He was Mayor of Stoke Newington back in the 1960s, and later Mayor of Hackney after the Metropolitan boroughs were created.

He settled in Kingston after retiring, and twelve years ago set up the Kingston Pensioners Forum, which has been an effective campaigning voice for older people in the borough.  At the AGM yesterday he finally stood down as Chair, citing age (he's 91) as the reason.

I was pleased to be able to join the tributes to him and wish him many more years of health and activity.

During this year I am still actively involved in e-democracy.  Last week's edition of Local Government Chronicle carried an article of mine, which I'm repeating here.

Citizens now expect to be able to google their elected representatives. Website management systems such as councillor.info, blogging platforms like ReadMyDay, even community online toolkits like Voice offer councillors easy routes to an online presence.  

 

Whichever method they choose, at some point councillors all come up against the Code of Conduct for Members. According to the Code, a member must not use council resources for political purposes.

 

Our democratic system is fundamentally adversarial. Government is all the better where the details are scrutinised and the principles are debated by a strong opposition.

 

So it seems very odd that the Code of Conduct appears to treat political debate as though it were an aberration rather than the lifeblood of the system.  However, the words that follow are often forgotten: “unless that use could reasonably be regarded as likely to facilitate, or be conducive to, the discharge of the functions of the authority or of the office to which the member has been elected or appointed”.

 

Councillors all use council resources whenever they speak at council meetings. I have yet to hear of a councillor who has been reported to the Standards Board for having made a political statement in a council meeting – that would be absurd.

 

In some councils, political discussions can be viewed on webcasts placed on council websites. Again, the use of this medium has never been challenged.

 

Yet many councils are extremely cautious about allowing councillors to use  council-supported web facilities ‘for political purposes’, even though we could argue that they are ‘likely to facilitate the discharge of the functions of the authority’.

 

The Local e-Democracy National Project has developed some very helpful guidance on the legal issues surrounding councillor’s websites. You can download it from www.edemocracy.gov.uk/knowledgepool/  (It is listed under C for Councillors’ Websites Legal Guidance)

 

In my view, councils are still erring too much on the side of caution. I would like to see real progress made on this issue in the next couple of years.  We need a clear recognition of the political role of councillors and a willing, not reluctant, acceptance of the political content of their websites.

 

Ironically, this is now my Mayoral year, so I have adopted a non-political stance in my blog, but I do see this as the exception. All councillors should be free to be  what they were elected to do – represent their residents and promote the policies that they presented in their manifestos.  

Two very different, but equally stunning, theatrical experiences today.

First, to Kingston College for the official opening of the Arthur Cotterell Theatre, which has the happy acronym ACT.  Years ago, when I worked at the College, this space was a sports hall.  They wisely brought in a theatre designer to turn it into an excellent studio theatre.

It has been heavily used by a number of performance courses, from First Diploma through to degrees, for the last couple of years, but today was the day that the former principal, students and staff finally celebrated it.

We watched a highly disciplined and engaging production of the winning entry in the One-Act Playwriting competition, written with astonishing maturity by Horatio Joyce when he was still at school.

This evening's drama was in a league of its own. 'West Side Story' performed by 18 adults with learning disabilities at the CornerHouse. ROYAD (Reach Out Youth and Adult Disabilities) had been working on the project for two whole years, and raised £12,000 to make it happen.

It was an absolute triumph - we were entertained to singing, dancing and acting by people who in many cases cannot read, and in all cases have never before received the acclaim they had tonight.

Sue Frett is described in the programme as Theatre Company Facilitator and Fundraiser. A miracle-worker would be a better description, except that would underplay the sheer level of work she has done to make ROYAD such a successful venture over many years.

The Jets

Jeremy Thorn, Chair of ROYAD, thanking everyone at the end

Happy Birthday to one of the cast, led by Sue Frett (in black)

It's not often that the Mayor gets invited to a concert that she was planning to perform in!

Kingston Choral Society sent an invitation to the Mayor before knowing who it would be this year. So after chatting with the Chair, Marigold Haworth, we decided I could combine both functions.

I arrived officially at the beginning to be greeted by the President, Joan Child, and then sat in the audience for the first half.  Robin Page, our Musical Director (left), began with a smooth performance of Faure's much-loved Pavanne, but this was the less known choral version that the composer wrote, adding in the  human voices as an extra layer of orchestral colour.

Then a chance to hear Poulenc's exciting Organ Concerto, which was new to me, but something I definitely want to hear again.  It covers an extraordinary range of texture and style, and Mark Uglow really showed us what the superb organ in Kingston Parish Church can produce when played well.

After the interval I joined the choir to sing Brahms' German Requiem. I have adored this work ever since I learnt 'Wie lieblich' when I was at school.  It is a wonderful sing, but it is demanding because the choir sings throughout the hour-long performance, and we sopranos have a lot of high sustained notes, often at full voice.

I can't comment on how it sounded, only on how it feels to be part of an interpretation of a great piece like this - exhilarating, uplifting and quite emotional. The melodies will all go round in my head for days.

Marigold Haworth (Chair) on left and Joan Child (President) on right

Waiting to go on to sing

Now the question is, should I be flying the flag of St George on RBK1?

Thames Valley Arts Club - a network of artists who work in a range of media - is 100 years old this year.  Do go along to their exhibition in Kingston Museum Art Gallery. I opened it this evening, and it was a real treat to see the works and meet the artists.

There are plenty of original paintings to buy at very reasonable prices - I know because I bought a subtle water colour by Ann Emery and some glorious hand painted silk scarves by Diana Geoffrey.

The facilities at Princess Alice Hospice in Esher are available to anyone living within 10 miles, which includes the whole of Kingston. Today I was invited to the first official tour of their new building, along with the mayors of the other boroughs that it serves.

The new build means that they can now offer 100 hospice day care places, centred on this light and airy day room. Day care has been a growth area and complements the work done by the community team who support patients in their own homes.

They have also increased their beds to 28 and can offer higher occupancy rates than before. All the bedrooms open out onto a garden or balcony.

Overall, the design has some excellent features which bring light into all the rooms and creates an air of calm.

Astonishingly, hospices are all managed as charities and are heavily dependent on donations and legacies for their day-to-day running costs.

Palliative care for those nearing the end of their lives has been pioneered through these specialist, and very special, places. Many of us have, or will have, good reason to be grateful for their expertise and sensitivity.

I hadn't expected Surbiton Club for the Blind, which has an average age of 86, to be quite so jolly - which just shows that you should never have preconceptions about either disability or age.

I turned up for their AGM and commented that the Secretary's report seemed to be all about food!  The club meets every two weeks throughout the year, and this always includes a good tea. They have monthly outings during the summer plus a group holiday.

Then it was more fun down by the river again - but this time all the rowing was on dry land. 

The Dry Rowing Challenge Cup is being awarded by Guy Salmon at the Kingston Amateur Regatta next month, and this was a warm-up event, with young people from local schools.

And who better to motivate them than Keiron West, the Olympic Gold medallist in the Sydney games? He is a member of Kingston Rowing Club, which he joined when he was 10.

He was only too pleased to encourage new people to take up the sport. He claimed that rowers are the fittest of all athletes. Not only do they exercise all the muscle groups, but they do it in glorious surroundings, and get a tan as well.

Wow! Me with an Olympic champion..

After the fun of the dragon boat races on Sunday I went back to the Guildhall to prepare for the Civic Service that marks the beginning of the Mayoral Year.

This event requires full robes for the Mayor and Deputy Mayor, two maces and a procession through the Ancient Market, escorted by the Police.

Each year representatives of voluntary organisations are invited. This year the members of the InterFaith Forum also joined us, and its chair, Rabbi Danny Rich, gave the address.

The Rev'd Sandy Cragg and I had worked on an order of service that would carry meaning across the faiths as well as remain true to the Christian tradition.

The choir was in good voice and we finished with that great Welsh hymn "Guide me, O thou great Redeemer".

On Monday I had my first chance to meet with the Surrey chain-gang - that is the collective noun for mayors. The occasion was a civic lunch at Surrey County Hall, which, of course, lies inside the Royal Borough.

At lunch I chatted with three very different people, who lead fascinating lives.  The Surrey Coroner thankfully promised not to tell me in detail about his work; Lady Baden Powell chatted about voluntary youth organisations in Surrey (I was delighted to meet such an eminent former Chief Guide); the High Sheriff of Surrey, Adrian White, turned out to be the owner of Denbies Wine Estate and we enjoyed some of their excellent wines with our meal.

Then on to Fulham FC's training ground at Motspur Park.  Fulham have pioneered community work, and this was to launch their scheme in conjunction with the Down's Syndrome Association, as part of Down's Awareness Week.

Fifteen or so youngsters, kitted out by the club, showed off the ball skills they had already learnt, then released balloons to celebrate.

The club has been encouraging other league clubs to set up teams for young people with Down's Syndrome so they can play each other in a league.

What better way is there to spend a Sunday afternoon in June? We were under the trees by the river, watching fit young people showing off their prowess.

The Dragon Boat Challenge is another brainwave of Kingston Rotary. 21 teams entered this year, all contributing to the chosen charity of the Rainbow Trust.

Some were experienced paddlers from dragon boat clubs, but most were charity teams who only venture into the boats once a year.

One of the three teams supporting 'Born Too Soon'

The fastest non-club team was, I'm delighted to say, a Kingston team: the Dickerage Dragons.  Here they are celebrating their win.

I have been looking forward to my first Citizenship Ceremony at the Guildhall.  Yesterday 49 new citizens, including several children, took the oath of allegiance and were welcomed as British Citizens.

Each was presented with a certificate and a pin showing the Union Flag alongside the Royal Kingston logo.

Some of Kingston's new citizens waiting to take the oath.

Then a quick change out of the robes and on the the 1st Old Malden Scout Group Fair on Plough Green. I managed to win a football and two tickets to the dogs.

The band was in excellent form, as usual.  Here they are wishing happy birthday to one of their members.

Events like these take a lot of organising but raise considerable sums to sustain the work with children and young people.

Ian and I then spent a happy evening with friends talking about holidays and anything but mayoral things. I'm not sure that we're going to get many chances to do that over the next year.

The question I've been asked most in the last couple of weeks is: What do we call you?

My very first engagement as Mayor was at Dysart School and the children there, who have severe learning difficulties, decided to call me Mayor Mary.

That was fine, but here are some things NOT to call me: Your Honour (judges), The Honourable (High Court judges, children of some peers or US mayors), Your Worship (used to be used for magistrates and mayors in the UK), Your Excellency (ambassadors), Your Worshipfulness, Your Honourableness ...

I'm not Mayoress - that is the female escort of a mayor - although I was ten years ago when my husband Ian was mayor.

And I'm not a Lady Mayor, either. Lord or Lady Mayors are the mayors of cities, and Kingston has not (yet) acquired that status.

And finally, I'm certainly not a Madame...

The simple answer is that when I'm on official duties I am referred to as Madam Mayor.  It used to be Mr Mayor, even for females, but Betty Boothroyd changed all that by establishing herself as Madam Speaker. 

When the macebearer does a formal announcement it becomes "The Worshipful the Mayor of the Royal Borough of Kingston upon Thames".

But my friends still call me Mary, thank goodness.