Mary Reid

There's quite a story about this photo, if you've got time for it. 

From the left you can see the British High Commissioner to Jamaica, His Excellency Jeremy Cresswell. In the middle is the Acting Jamaican High Commissioner to the UK, Mrs Sharon Saunders. 

Then on the right are two key people at Kingston Council - Brigitte Pfender, the International Partnerships Co-ordinator, and Grahame Snelling, the Strategic Manager for Youth Support Services.

So what brought about such an illustrious, and Caribbean-orientated, gathering in the  Mayor's Parlour? 

It goes back to last year, when my diplomat cousin told us he had been appointed to Kingston, Jamaica as High Commissioner (which is the equivalent of an Ambassador in Commonwealth countries). His home, when he is not posted around the world, is in our Kingston, so before he left we met up in Frère Jacques and mulled over how we could create links between the two Kingstons.

In January I went to visit him and you can read my accounts of my time in Jamaica here. Whilst over there Jeremy kindly arranged for me to meet the Mayor of Kingston, as well as various civil servants, police officers and people working in the voluntary sector, with the aim of identifying some potential links. A theme emerged around young people, both in education and through youth work.

Two projects have been developed so far. First, nine schools in each Kingston have been linked together. Each pair has different objectives - exploring aspects of the curriculum such as literacy or geography.  The children will be communicating direcly with each other by email and post. There will hopefully be opportunities for teachers and children to exchange visits.

Some of the teachers from the participating schools

The other project aims to help youth workers share their ideas and expertise - again with the chance to travel and meet each other.

As I've been chatting around the borough about these links, other ideas keep being proposed. For example, our local Jewish Community might be interested in contacting the rather special Synagogue in Kingston Jamaica, one of the few with a sand floor. There is also much interest from our arts organisations in linking with groups over there.

So ... we managed to get almost all the people involved in the current Kingston-Kingston links into one place for a reception. I was really delighted that the Acting High Commissioner from Jamaica was also able to join us.

And didn't they chat!

I've just received a letter from Kingston Council telling me about the new rubbish and recycling arrangements from next week. 

I do know that, for many people, the day of the week when their rubbish and recycling is collected won't change. But in some parts of the borough there will be changes to both rubbish and recycling. Putting out the bins and green boxes is one of those things we do as habit so it will take some getting used to.

I live in one of the roads where the collection day will remain the same, so the letter looked a bit odd at first. But then I noticed that although recycling will still be collected fortnightly, it will skip a week as the new schedules settle down.

So do check your personal letter when it arrives.

There is also a leaflet giving the Christmas and New Year collection days.  And good news - Christmas trees will once again be collected for free and composted.  Just don't put out a plastic one...

Later

You can always check the collection dates by going to www.kingston.gov.uk.  Just key in your postcode on the left side.

The Christian Science community in Kingston is based as its beautiful modern church in Penrhyn Road. But yesterday they held a public lecture in the Market Hall and invited me to attend and introduce the speaker. They welcomed me very warmly.

Marta Greenwood grew up in Iran, but came to London to study nursing and midwifery. She is now a renowned Christian Science practitioner and community worker, and she has been involved in interfaith work in London. She speaks widely on healing and related topics and contributes to Christian Science publications.

Marta Greenwood (second from right) and me with members of the First Church of Christ, Scientist, Kingston upon Thames

The South West London Scouts and Guides Gang Show has been entertaining audiences at the Secombe Theatre in Sutton all week. Yesterday's performance was full of energy and smiling faces and I thoroughly enjoyed my evening.

Here are some of the 150 or so cast and crew, drawn from Kingston, Sutton, Merton and Croydon, relaxing after the event.

Back in the days when I worked at Kingston College I must have taught hundreds of young people. But some groups have remained in my memory because they were a delight to teach - not because they were docile, in fact, quite the reverse.

These were the groups that sparked each other off through friendly competitiveness, whilst sharing discoveries and skills. Groups like that just had to be pointed in the right direction and allowed plenty of room to experiment and develop.

One of those students from 20 years ago got back in touch with me, after spotting his own daughter in a picture on my blog!

So here we are with his family in the Parlour, reminiscing and encouraging the next generation to take an interest in local government.

I have now been made an honorary member of two Rotary clubs - last month it was New Malden, and today Kingston. It is a real privilege, as I have a huge amount of admiration for Rotarians, who between them do so much for local charities and to support community initiatives.

Kingston Rotary meet at Hotel Antoinette, and after lunch I was asked to speak about my career, interests and work as Mayor - try that in 15 minutes!

It was only a couple of days ago since I had last met most of them at the unveiling of the Rotary Centenary clock in Castle Street.  Back in the summer it was the Dragon Boat races. And next week I will catch up with them again at the Kingston Fireworks at Kingsmeadow.

I discovered that Kingston Rotary calls its Christmas float the Carol Wagon - they were sorting out the rota for the rather cold task of collecting for charities in the run-up to Christmas.

And, as I mentioned on Monday, Kids Out began in Kingston and is now a national annual activity supported by Rotary clubs all over the UK.

Footnote

When I was over in Jamaica in January I met the Press Officer at the British High Commission, Mark Waller. You can see him in this photo, in the back row, third from the left.

To my surprise I discovered that he came from the Royal Borough. And it is his father Keith who is the current President of Kingston Rotary!

An online flower shop has been trying to post comments on my blog for some while.  This is a subtle form of spamming and I don't use my site for promoting commercial operations that I know nothing about.

For the record - I welcome comments but I would ask three things:

1. Please do not post anonymously.

2. Please do not use my web space to place negative personal comments about anyone else. Discuss issues, by all means, but don't be offensive about people who hold views that differ from yours.

3. Do not use my blog to promote e-commerce businesses.

All comments are moderated so any that violate these requests will not be published.

It's not often that I get to sample food from Nigeria, Eritrea, Korea, Ivory Coast and Russia all in one place.

The young people in the YOYO Group put together a 'Food From Around the World' food tasting as part of Black History Month. It really was a chance to try out some completely unfamiliar dishes and to discuss the recipes with the cooks.

And here they all are, with a really good Russian salad. Well done to all of them!

Our Borough Commander, Chief Superintendant Angela List, is retiring at the end of the month. So I held a lunch reception in the Parlour to bid her farewell and to present her with an engraved plaque to remind her of her times at Kingston.

In the 1980s she was posted to Kings Cross where she dealt with a high level of vice-related crime. For some reason or other the Met seemed to think that this prepared her for the next stage in her career, in the Royalty Protection team.

But she returned to normal duties in London 13 years ago and was eventually promoted to the highest Police rank in Kingston - another 'Royal' posting, it seems.

Angela has been totally committed to community policing and has had a real impact on the success of our Safer Neighbourhood teams, for which we thank her.

We wish her well in her retirement.

Castle Street has been transformed into a tree-lined, car-free area with pavement cafés alongside the specialist small shops.

Today Cllr Chrissie Hitchcock, Chair of Kingston Town Neighbourhood, re-opened the street. Already far more people seem to be using it, either on their way from the station into the main shopping area or as a destination in its own right.

Then Lady Grantchester, who lives in the borough and has strong links with the local arts scene, unveiled a handsome new clock.  She is seen here with Keith Waller, President of Kingston Rotary, who sponsored the clock.

Lady Grantchester has herself been awarded the Paul Harris Fellowship, the highest award that Rotary can confer on anyone, for her work in pioneering the Kids Out scheme with the Kingston branch, then rolling it out across the country.

Surbiton Arts Group has a lively membership but is always ready to welcome new members.  They meet every two weeks for talks and workshops.

The highlight of the year is the annual show which you can see at the Surbiton Library Hall all this week. This is good source of affordable art.

Ann Neill with some of her delightfully detailed paintings.

Surbiton Arts Group Secretary, Pamela Prothero. Two of her paintings have been selected to be used as Christmas cards this year. You can buy them at Kingston Museum.

Deputy Chairman Mr Eccleshall with some of his oils.

The winner of 'I'm a councillor, get me out of here' is the Deputy Mayor, Councillor Sheila Griffin.

Congratulations! 

The International Centre of Excellence for Local e-Democracy (ICELE) was officially launched this week. In a speech in Shanghai, Angela Smith MP, a Minister at the Department of Communities and Local Government, said:

The two councillors who are head to head in the final of 'I'm a councillor, get me out of here' are the only two other councillors in Kingston with active blogs. Perhaps there's a lesson there for all the other members ...

They are Sheila Griffin and Paul Johnston.The winner should be announced by the weekend.

Yesterday was our first big fundraiser for my Mayor's Charity. And given that I have never played golf in my life, it gave me plenty of opportunities to display my incompetence and ignorance.

Malden Golf Club had very generously offered us a full day, allowing 20 teams to compete under Stableford rules - there, I did learn something! 

The first two teams tee'd off at 9am, one from the first hole and the other from the tenth. I said hello to each team as it got to the first hole where we took team photos.

Fortunately for everyone, I didn't actually have to play - I just had to hit the first ball, which sort of dribbled along the ground.

We had teams from, amongst others, the local police, the Korean Emabassy, Kingston College, DC Leisure, RJ Dance, Oceana, Olympic South, the Korean Chamber of Commerce and local golf clubs, plus teams of councillors, council employees and friends.

Everyone seeemd to enjoy the golf - it stayed fine, if cloudy, all day - followed by a good lunch and then a raffle and prizegiving. 

The winning team, for the second year running, was from the You Me Korean restaurant in Burlington Road. Congratulations to them!

The winning team, captained by Mrs O Kyung Hur

I did comment that the teams captained by councillors filled the bottom three places, which was obviously because they were too busy caring for the citizens of the borough to find time to play golf. 

But the teams made up of RBK employees did suspiciously well....

We raised getting on for £3000, so it was worth a little ritual humiliation.

The second person evicted from 'I'm a councillor, get me out of here' is Cllr Frances Moseley, leaving Cllrs Paul Johnston and Sheila Griffin to battle it out head to head.

Who will win? It's your choice - well, it is if you have already been registered to vote through one of our schools. If not, then you will have to just watch on the Big Vote site.

Log in as a guest - it tells you how to do this on the home page - then select the Royal Borough of Kingston upon Thames from the drop down list at the top of the page.

The Deputy Mayor and I entertained some delightful guests to tea in the Mayor's Parlour yesterday.  They had bid for the experience at a Chinese Evening back in June in aid of Kingston Can.  Unfortunately it clashed with a Full Council meeting, so we had both been unable to attend the event.

Our tea party was filmed for a Chinese satellite TV channel that is beamed over Europe. We provided a traditional cream tea with cakes - then explained that we don't actually eat it every day!

From left, Dr Annie Hui Chen, Lijun Bi, Cllr Sheila Griffin, Xiao Feng Lui (of Phoenix Chinese News and Entertainment) and Peter Liu

The first person to be evicted from 'I'm a councillor, get me out of here' was ........ [very long pause]........ Councillor Patricia Bamford. 

Paul Johnston, Frances Moseley and Sheila Griffin stay on and want your vote - but only if you have registered through your school, otherwise all you can do is watch the action.

To follow the dramatic events this week go to the Big Vote site. Log in as a guest - it tells you how to do this on the home page - then select the Royal Borough of Kingston upon Thames from the drop down list at the top of the page.

Yesterday I called in on The Hollyfield School to meet the form captains for Years 7 and 8 who were getting to grips with the game. They were then going back to their forms and getting them to agree who to vote for, as each class only has two votes. They all seemed to think it was fun and a great idea.

It appears I have an official stalker....

You don't often see this...

The mayors of the London boroughs gathered for one of the highlights of the year - their Annual Service at Westminster Abbey. It was the preacher, Lord Griffiths (better known as Revd Leslie Griffiths, the Minister of Wesley's Chapel) who called us a menagerie - judge for yourself whether it is an appropriate collective noun.

We robed in the famous Jerusalem Chamber. It was here that Henry IVth was brought when he was taken ill in the Abbey. He had always wanted to make a pilgrimage to the Holy Land, and when he regained consciousness he asked where he was, and was told, truthfully, 'in Jerusalem'.  He died there, but not before his son, who became Heny Vth, had taken the crown and tried it on - a story well-known to Shakespeare.

A trio of local mayors - from left, Sutton, Kingston and Richmond - in the Jerusalem Chamber

Then the procession lined up, macebearers in front of each of the 31 mayors present. We were quite a sight as we lined up to enter the Abbey, and one tour bus load of tourists looked suitably impressed.

Thanks to the Mayoress of Sutton for this photo

It was such a privilege to sit right next to the choir. The music was by Herbert Howells (a great English composer who deserves to be heard much more outside liturgical contexts) and they also sang one of my favourite anthems: Parry's 'I was glad'.

This photo of us processing out is a rare illustration of one of the very special privileges that Kingston enjoys.  Of the four Royal Boroughs - Kensington & Chelsea, Windsor & Maidenhead, Caernarvon, Kingston upon Thames - Kingston is the senior.

This means that, on the occasions when protocol matters, we take precedence over all the London boroughs but after the two Cities of London and Westminster. 

So here I am leading the London mayors behind the Lord Mayor of Westminster, who is also the Patron of the Abbey.

We walked around the cloisters and ended up in the Great Hall of Westminster School for a reception. You can see the early arrivals in the first photo.

It was only today that it struck me how many of this year's mayors in London are female. So I went back to the handbook, and indeed 16 out of the 33 mayors are women.

You may recognise Gay Search from the BBC2 series 'Front Gardens'.  She has recently written a book with Delia Smith called 'Delia's Kitchen Garden' which explains how to grow and then cook garden produce.

This picture was taken yesteday evening after she had given an inspiring talk to the Kingston Horticultural Association. Her theme was 'The Healing Garden' and she reflected on the powers of plants to stimulate all the senses, to change mood and to provide therapeutic remedies. The pictures were an absolute delight.

Once again I had to admit that I am not a gardener, but that doesn't prevent me from loving gardens.

Kingston Horticultural Association has over 500 members and has a varied programme of talks and outings, put together by an enthusiastic committee. They open their garden shop at the end of Park Road every Sunday morning.

Sadly I was away and missed their Annual Show, but you can see some photos here, including one of a very strange potato.

Four of Kingston's worthy councillors are isolated in a virtual jungle waiting to see who is going to be evicted by young people next week.  Taking part are Councillors Frances Moseley, Patricia Bamford, Sheila Griffin and Paul Johnston.

They have each provided a manifesto for young people and are now busy answering questions posed to them. 

To watch what is happening go to the Big Vote site. Log in as a guest - it tells you how to do this on the home page - then select the Royal Borough of Kingston upon Thames from the drop down list at the top of the page.

You can't vote unless you are a young person who has registered through your school.  The rest of you will have to wait until 2010.

After the meeting at CAB on Wednesday evening I drove down to Brighton. I was due to speak at a conference the following morning so a room had been booked for me at the conference hotel, the Hilton Metropole.

I arrived at 11pm, rather tired but still needing some time to look through my presentation. So it was a bit of a shock to be told at Reception that the hotel had overbooked and I was to stay at the Thistle, several hundred yards away.  Next morning it turned out that the conference organisers had specifically requested that speakers should be accommodated on site, but late at night I just had to accept that a mistake had happened.

Next I discovered that there were no parking spaces left at the Thistle, so I ended up with my car at the Metropole and my room and belongings at the Thistle. The Metropole did send me off to the Thistle by taxi. I finally settled into my room, looked at my papers then read Private Eye to relax.

Luckily, yesterday was a beautiful day and it was a real pleasure to walk along beside the sea between the two hotels. After my morning at the conference I went back to the Thistle where I had left my overnight bag. I handed in my numbered ticket - but no bag was to be found!

Just then someone walked in from the street with my bag - it had been loaded into a taxi by mistake.

I then walked back again to the Metropole to pick up my car.  At least that was still where it had been left. And they didn't charge me for parking.

Drove back, and inevitably got stuck in traffic....

The Kingston Citizens Advice Bureau does a spendid and much needed job, providing free advice to anyone who needs it.  It holds advice sessions at its main suite of offices in Eden Street, and also in New Malden, Chessington and Kingston University.  (See here for times and venues)

You can also phone on 0870 126 4019 (24 hours) or read through the national online AdviceGuide.

I have turned to the local CAB for advice myself in the past and have referred many people to it when they have asked me for advice that goes beyond my own knowledge.

So it was a privilege to be asked to serve as their President for the year and to address their AGM on Wednesday. It gave me a chance to thank the employees and many volunteers for the value they give to the citizens of Kingston.  In fact, about half of all advice is provided by well-trained volunteers.

It was also good to hear from Simon Bottery from the national Head Office about the future challenges that CABs will face as needs change.

From left, me, Peter Gray (Chair), Pippa Mackie (Chief Executive), Simon Bottery (Director of Communications, Citizens Advice)

Congratulations to Kingston's trampolining team who gained gold in the London Youth Games! The team does include two world champions, but it is still a terrific achievement to be the best of the 32 London boroughs.

The trampolining team, including their managers, with their medals and trophy

But they were not the only successful athletes in the London Youth Games. In fact, Kingston came away with 7 gold medals, 12 silver and 21 bronze - quite an achievement given that we are the smallest of the London boroughs.

The medal winners all came to the Mayor's Parlour today to be awarded certificates. They then joined the Full Council meeting where they were warmly applauded by the members.

Given the choice between cleaning my oven or pulling up some weeds, the oven would win any day. I'm not a gardener, I'm afraid.

I do understand the pleasure that a lot of people get from being out in the fresh air among the plants, but it has never really captured me.

So composting was always a mystery to me; a highly technical process that produced good brown stuff that helped tomatoes grow large and red.

Recently I've been converted. None of our food or garden waste now goes anywhere near our rubbish bins, and as a result we've halved the refuse collected from our house. And we no longer have smelly bins.

In fact, we have two biodegradable treatment systems in the garden, and at first we were a bit confused about what each could do for us.

One is a magical Green Cone which eats all our kitchen waste, including bones and meat. It doesn't make compost but the materials simply reduce right down and the nutrients seep out into the surrounding soil.

The other is a traditional black compost bin and this takes garden waste, dead flowers, cardboard, tissues and some food items. Eventually we will get some compost out of it which we can then offer back to the shrubs and trees.

I have been learning about the tough targets that local councils will be given for reducing the amount of biodegradable materials (food and garden waste) that go into landfill. Councils will have to collect and treat these materials so they can be recycled back into the environment and not be simply buried in the ground. The collection and treatment could be costly.

So it makes a lot of sense for those of us who have gardens to recycle all our biodegradable waste ourselves. That way it doesn't even get into the waste stream, it saves money and is good for the environment.  It's easy to do, and you don't have to be a gardener, as I've proved....

We've just noticed a package lying behind a planter by the front door.  Not a suspect device, but the parcel containing the five author's copies of my latest book sent from my publisher! 

I'm a bit miffed that the delivery company left it outside like that - what if it had rained before I noticed it?

I decided to take a break from writing during this year, and the final draft had been submitted well before I became Mayor. But I always forget how much work still has to be done after the deadline is past, so I have been pretty busy for the last few months.

The copyeditors sent in queries, then the first proofs had to be checked very carefully; more queries, then the second proofs; final illustrations had to be agreed.  At some point the introduction and index had to be written, though thankfully someone else did the index this time.

This book is a collaborative venture and although I only wrote about half of it myself I was the overall editor.

There is also a Teacher's Resource File to go with the student book - this has photocopiable worksheets and a CD-ROM of presentations, so I've been doing those as well.

And on top of that I have been the series editor for a couple of A Level books that were published in the last couple of months.

I have to admit that I can never bring myself to read my own books after they are published. I think I'm scared of spotting errors!  I expect I'll finally get round to opening this one in about a year's time.

One year ago today, the Pakistan Earthquake struck. This afternoon a number of Kingston people who had been involved in raising funds for the international effort met to remember the victims.

The e2e4e Lands End to John o'Groats cycle ride, led by Kingston's Director of Community Services, Roy Taylor, raised over £21,000. In this picture some of the riders are presenting a cheque for £10,000 to British Red Cross, in the presence of Mr Zahid Nasrullah (fourth from right in photo) from the Pakistan High Commission, London.

The remainder of the money raised by the cycle ride will be delivered directly to the Fountain Rehabilitation Centre in Lahore, by Sara Butterfield (centre with long hair), one of the end-to-enders, and Cllr Shiraz Mirza (left).

At the event I also met journalist Aamir Ghauri and photographer Sohail Anjum who have just published a book of photographs taken soon after the earthquake called 'A divine destruction'. It includes images that are moving, shocking but ultimately hopeful.

Sohail Anjum (left) and Aamir Ghauri (right) signed a copy of their book for me.

I visited the Shooting Star Children's Hospice a couple of weeks ago. There are many active fundraisers for this in the Kingston area, and none more so than my local Chessington and Hook Group, who have raised £24,000 in three years.

Yesterday evening they put on a show- 'Sing Along a Shooting Star' - with some excellent contributions from local entertainers, including Mink (below).

Yesterday, HRH Princess Alexandra opened the Momentum Garden for Children at Kingston Hospital. Here she is being welcomed by Col Geoffrey Godbold, our Representative Deputy Lieutenant, complete with sword and spurs.

Momentum is a homegrown charity that was started by Bianca Effemey, who works on Dolphin Ward at the hospital. It provides support to children with cancer and their families.

The two other Founder Members were Jacqueline Coppolotti and Alison Twigg, both of whose children were diagnosed with cancer.

Back in June I attended an auction to raise funds for Momentum at St Paul's Junior School, but now we could see the results.

The garden is a brightly decorated courtyard with a soft surface covered with animal designs. The play equipment and planting have been designed to stimulate the imagination but also to give a sense of peace.

There is one very special enclosed, private space where sick children can sit outside and talk with their friends.

Here are some more photos of the day.

The Princess meets the founders of Momentum - Bianca Effemey is on the right.

Going....

Going....

Gone

Another brilliant community mosaic devised by Save the World Club is revealed to the world. 

And where can you see this one - and its sister mosaic not far away?  Well, in the middle of a roundabout above the A3! Take any of the paths across the Tolworth Underpass and you will see these William Morris inspired murals adorning the passageways on the Tolworth Station side.

I have written about previous community mosaics and the environmental and social philosophy that inspires them. In this case 1500 young people and adults helped to create these pieces, supported by the Council and local businesses.

I'm very proud to have my name on a plaque above this wonderful work.

This is one of the families that took the oath of allegiance and became British Citizens today at a ceremony at the Guildhall.  I really enjoy these occasions and find them quite moving.

I attended two functions today, but without my camera - apologies.

First, I chaired the AGM for Kingston Centre for Independent Living - a truly invaluable organisation who empower people with disabilities to live as independently as possible. They achieve this through information, advice and support.

But most importantly they administer the Direct Payments system on behalf of the Council.  Kingston pioneered this approach some years ago, which puts funding directly in the hands of disabled people or their carers, so they can decide how they want to spend it.

This is a vibrant organisation, with good volunteer support. It is striking in one obvious regard - most of the people who run it, both as employees and as trustees, are themselves disabled. It would, of course, also be good to see more disabled people employed by the Council and active within the full range of voluntary sector organisations within the borough.

KCIL are currently redeveloping their website, and I have promised to give a link to it when the new site is launched.

Then I spent a delightful, relaxing evening with the Surbiton Recorded Music Society. Their Chair, Hugh Mayall, had constructed a programme around the theme 'The food of love' which included modern settings of Shakespeare songs and music by composers from Byrd to Massenet.

He began the evening with the Champagne Polka, a reference to the glass we drank in honour of Queen Anne a short while ago.

After my rather public visit to the Toilet earlier in the year, I returned to the Gallery again this week.

Louise Colbourne has an exhibition called "Dot-Dash" - a reference to the Morse codes built into some of her works.

In the photo you can see Louise standing next to an installation showing a projected video of her moving in and out of a tube of blue cloth, creating rather beautiful sculptural shapes.

You can view the show over the next couple of weeks.  You can find the Toilet Gallery in an alleyway opposite Oceana in Clarence Street.

Nearly three years ago we were all stunned by the news of the dreadful fire at Tiffin Girls.

Fortunately it broke out during the evening when there was no-one in the building, but the firefighters had to deal with one of the largest blazes anyone can remember i