Mary Reid

Now these haven't been worn for many years...

In 1936 Surbiton was given its charter as a borough, within the county of Surrey, and installed its first Mayor. At the same time, Malden & Coombe also took borough status.

But in 1965 the three boroughs of Kingston, Surbiton and Malden & Coombe were combined to form a new London borough. From then on, the older insignia of Kingston became the official regalia for the expanded Royal Borough.

The chains of office of the Mayors and Deputy Mayors of Surbiton and Malden & Coombe, and their maces, have been hardly used since then, although they used to be on display in the Mayor's Parlour.

When Ian was Mayor in 1996 he decided to mark the Diamond Jubilee of the 1936 charters by wearing the chains on occasions for functions in Surbiton and New Malden. 

Soon after they were transferred over to Kingston Museum so they could be admired by everyone.

I thought it would be good to wear these chains from time to time myself. I was hoping to wear the Surbiton chains for the Surbiton Festival, but when we collected them fom the Museum we discovered that some minor repairs were needed. But today Santa switched on the lights in Surbiton so I got my chance to wear them.

And very handsome they are too, in currently fashionable 1930s Art Deco style, which of course is a predominent influence in the Guildhall building itself.

So we met Santa in style and enjoyed the carols and entertainment by the station.

Mince pie watch

Mince pies offered to date: 2
Mince pies consumed to date: 0

So what do you do if you come out of a nightclub in Kingston in the early hours and there's a very long queue for the black taxis? Now you can go to one of the three mini-cab kiosks, each situated near one of the clubs.

The local MP and others have been campaigning for years to have a system in Kingston where people can safely book mini-cabs, which you can't, of course, hail in the street like black cabs.

And now Kingston is pioneering a new approach in which the mini-cab companies have worked with Transport for London, Kingston Council, the three nightclubs and the police to create a safe and easy system.  The black cab drivers recognise that they can't meet all the demand so have agreed to this as well.

Here I am opening the kiosk in St James Road, opposite The Works.

Each month I have the pleasure of welcoming people as they formally become British Citizens. Before they do so they usually attend classes to prepare them for the tests on language and British culture.

These are the members of two of the current classes. I showed them round the Guildhall, answered their questions about local government, then entertained them to tea in the Parlour.

How curious! The leader of UKIP has just emailed me and asked me if I'd like to jump ship and join his party.

Hasn't he read my blog?

One of the problems with chairing a long full Council meeting, like the one yesterday evening, is that I don't get any comfort breaks. Other councillors can slip out to use the loo or to get coffee, making sure they are back in their seats for important votes.

Someone does supply me with tea and biscuits at my table, so when Councillor Ian McDonald rose to speak I grasped the chance to start eating a shortbread. He is a fluent speaker and normally takes the full four minutes allowed. But last night he only said a couple of sentences, leaving me spluttering, to everyone's amusement, when he sat down and I had to call the next speaker.

Actually some quite serious decisions were taken at the meeting.  The Council agreed a policy of not granting casino premises licences in the Borough. It re-instated the recycling trial in Berrylands, to commence in February.

And it decided to delete the Grants and Awards Panel as part of a restructuring of the system for handling grants to the voluntary sector. This decision resulted in some members walking out of the meeting, which was a shame as they missed an interesting debate about the role of the Audit Committee (if you find such things interesting, that is).

At the beginning of the month I met with the School Council at Lovelace Primary School, and I asked them to send me their ideas for improving the area.  This is what they wrote to me in an email:

Dear Madam Mayor,

Thank you for visiting our school. In our school council meetings with our classes, we discussed what we could change about Chessington. Here are a few of our ideas:

• More dog litter bins because there is too much dog mess about.

• Local playgrounds have had equipment removed and not been replaced.

• Information map of Chessington by Hook Parade shops or outside the new library.

• There is glass smashed and chewing gum on the pavements. Could we have more street cleaning?

• A graffiti park where you could graffiti instead of doing it on peoples fences.

• There is not much room at our roundabout, it gets very busy and we need more yellow lines.

• There are mini motorbikes being driven on the road. Could we have a park where you are allowed to ride them?

• More bins to be put around because there is too much litter on the floor.

• More community police men around to help with parking issues outside Budgens, talking to cyclists who don't stop at traffic lights, checking shops don't sell alcohol to people under age.

Thank you for reading our e-mail, we hope you can do something about our issues.  

From

I thought this was a very sensible and useful list of suggestions, so I thanked them and forwarded their requests to several people. 

The Neighbourhood Service Manager, Barry Allen, replied immediately and positively to the children. He is going to meet the School Council soon to discuss some of the issues, especially the type of replacement play equipment that they would like. He has also told them whom to contact to report street cleaning problems. And he has asked the dog warden to check the area near the school.

The Neighbourhood Traffic Manager is looking again at the yellow lining in the turning circle ('roundabout') by the school entrance.

Then Sgt James Ellis of the Safer Neighbourhoods team has also responded to the children, explaining about their local policing and offering to come and meet the School Council.

As I keep on saying - children are citizens now, not just future citizens. They experience the environment in different ways to adults and their concerns should be listened to carefully.

I'm really pleased with the way that the professionals have responded to the children, have taken them seriously and are doing something about the matters they raised.

I've invited the children to visit the Guildhall next term, when they can see where Kingston's Council meets and can give me some feedback on their campaigns.

I've met a number of School Councils this term, and am only to happy to meet others across the Borough, to answer their questions and to get them thinking about how they can improve things in their locality.

Just over a week ago I spoke at the e-Democracy 06 conference.  In fact, I was all prepared to give a presentation on the National Project and ICELE at a workshop, and then I was asked at a couple of days' notice to also speak at a plenary session.

So I talked about participation in Kingston - our devolution to Neighbourhoods, the way we encourage citizens to speak at meetings, our widespread use of consultation - none of which is as common as you might think in other councils.

David Wilcox has given a good summary of all this and also posted a video interview with me.

Christopher Herrick is one of the world's leading organists.  He was at Westminster Abbey for ten years, and since then has made a very successful solo career, playing and recording around the world.

And Kingston can claim him as their own, because he lives in the Royal Borough and practices on the famous Frobenius Organ in Kingston Parish Church. So it was a great delight to hear him on that very organ last night, and to meet him during the interval of the concert promoted by Thames Concerts Society.

Here he is on the right with Simon Toyne, who was directing the London Mozart Players for two organ concertos. The first was Handel's 4th Organ Concerto, with its recently rediscovered choral fourth movement, ably sung by the Kingston Parish Church Choir.

Then in the second half we had a sumptuous treat - Poulenc's Concerto for Organ, Strings and Timpani. I heard this piece for the first time earlier this year, on the same organ, and said then that I really wanted to hear this masterpiece again.

It was good to see the church packed for this concert. There is a huge market for orchestral music in the area, especially when it is played with such cheerfulness and lightness of touch by the London Mozart Players - a favourite of mine. 

Thames Concerts Society should be congratulated on its imaginative programming.

So what was I opening?

Not the usual mayoral duty - but one I was so pleased to do. 

With me is Howard Greenoff, the Bereavement Service Manager. He is in charge of Kingston and Surbiton Cemetaries. If you have been to Kingston Cemetary recently you will have noted many improvements to the grounds.

Now the reception and offices near the gate have been refurbished, as well as the waiting room at the chapel. This allows for much more sensitive relations with the bereaved, and space for them to grieve. Hence the plaque and opening ceremony yesterday.

Young and Disabled and Positively Artistic - the name says it all. The show at the United Reformed Church in Eden Street showcased the work of children and young people from across the Borough, giving them both the opportunity to display their work and also a chance to get their voices heard.

Chloe Parsons wrote this about her treatment for cancer:

And here she is receiving her prize from Fran O'Brien, the Project Co-ordinator:

Here is another prizewinner, Louise Verity Burrell, with her subtle painting, picking out a tracery of winter branches against a dense background.

This great initiative was the work of Fran, with excellent leadership, as always, from Anne MacFarlane, who has been a strong voice for  disabled people in the borough for many years.

Near to Christmas the Mayor is offered not a few mince pies, so I thought I would add a mince pie count, Bridget Jones style, to the blog.

Mince pies offered to date: 1
Mince pies consumed to date: 0

Congratulations to Kingston Museum on being awarded Accreditation Status by the Museums, Libraries and Archives Council. Here Liz Denton from MLA is handing over the certificate to Anne McCormack (right), the Head of Service, backed by her staff.

The occasion was also a celebration of the re-opening of the Art Gallery since its enforced closure back in the summer when part of the ceiling fell down. The gallery looks splendid and the colours are a perfect foil to the paintings displayed there.

I also opened the current exhibition, which is a travelling collections of works by the Victorian artist Richard Dadd. He was trained at the Royal Academy but developed psychosis, murdered his father and was committed to the Bethlem Hospital. Whilst there, and later as one of the first inmates of Broadmoor, he continued painting and drawing. His works are now held by the Bethlem Royal Hospital Archives and Museum. They are both fascinating in themselves but also for the insight they give us into his troubled mind.

This is the very best fun you can have in (mayoral) chains! - riding with Santa in his sleigh.

As we made our way down New Malden High Street yesterday evening, Santa waved his hand at each lamp-post as we passed and it magically lit up, to the delight of lots of families who had turned up for the event.

All the secondary schools in the borough, including the independent schools, have been invited to send representative students to a new body that currently calls itself the Road Safety and Travel Awareness School Council. That is a bit of a mouthful, so they are looking for a snappier title that still captures the idea that they are young people who want to improve safety on the roads.

Children and young people are citizens (not just learning-to-be-citizens), but their experience of the environment is rather different from that of most adults, so it is essential that Council officials hear their issues. They are also the best people to communicate important messages to their peers.

I was very impressed by this enthusiastic and perceptive group. They elected Mary Quigley from Holy Cross as their Chair and she conducted a fairly formal meeting in the Council Chamber very competently. Here are all the members around Mary who is sitting in the Mayor's Chair.

Did you know that we had national and world class trampolining stars in Kingston?

Emma Britton is the British Under 13 champion and has come first in all nine competitions that she has entered this year - someone to watch for 2012, I think.

Even more astonishing, 17 year old twins, Michael and Andrew Freeman are World Champions for synchronised trampolining.

At the British National Finals recently, Andrew Freeman and Micheal Freeman were joined by Michael Wood to take 1st, 2nd and 3rd places respectively in the Under 19 British championships.

It was only a few weeks ago that I discovered the outstanding achievements of Kingston Trampolining Academy and I very much wanted to see them in action. I went along to an normal training session today and met some of these talented people.

But what I also saw was a club that encouraged everyone from beginners to champions to work together and support each other. So I was delighted to achnowledge the club's achievementof the GymMark, which is accredited by British Gymnastics, and recognises that the Academy provides a safe, effective and child friendly club.

The fantastic photos above of club members were taken by Rob Baker

Everyone who was in for the training session joined the photo to celebrate the GymMark

St Joseph's Primary School has a town centre location alongside the Fairfield. So I was not surprised when the School Council asked me questions about air pollution, litter bins and the need for more grassy areas.

They were a bright bunch, and had thought through a number of good questions to ask me about Kingston Council. I've asked them to discuss what they think could be done to improve the areas where they live and to email me some suggestions.

After that I gave out the Mayor's Awards for Attendance to three children in assembly.  That was some compensation to me for missing the main ceremony last week.

St Joseph's School Council

When did you last see a polling station heaving like this one?

This is the election for Kingston's Member of the Youth Parliament. Almost all the secondary school students in the Borough are voting.  I was lucky enough to catch them today at Chessington Community College, but other schools will be running the election over the next couple of weeks.

At each school students have been trained to act as polling station administrators, and others will be counting agents at the count. This will take place on Monday 4th December under the supervision of the Council's Returning Officer, who has also provided ballot boxes and polling booths. We are expecting a very high turnout, and with ten candidates the competition is pretty fierce.

Every day 10 people are killed on the roads in the UK.  Imagine the outcry if 10 people were killed each day on trains or aircraft; and yet we seem to accept this appalling carnage on the roads.

Yesterday RoadPeace held a service in St James Piccadilly in memory of people who had died in road crashes.  Names were written on oakleaves and then read out, followed by prayers and meditations.

RoadPeace offers support to the victims and families of road crashes, and also has a strong campaigning role.

South West London was represented by the mayors of Kingston, Richmond, Hounslow, Merton (in foreground) and Wandsworth (facing in background).

Photo by Simon Denton

I've been aware of the Kingston Bahai Community for several years, but have never really met them or had a chance to ask about their beliefs.  So I was only too happy to accept an invitation yesterday to the celebration of the birthday of the founder of their faith, Bahá'u'lláh.

We enjoyed an excellent meal of mainly Persian dishes (spicy, but aromatic rather than hot) and good conversation.

Simon and Mirta Birch telling me about their faith

Although the group here is quite small, across the world the Bahai faith has the fourth largest number of followers.

It is a monotheistic religion. The members believe that all religion is one and that God has sent a number of messengers, each to speak to his own age, the last one being their founder. 

Bahá'u'lláh lived in Persia in the mid 19th century and many of the current followers are Persian exiles, although it is very difficult to practice the faith in present-day Iran.

After the meal we enjoyed some devotional and entertaining music, including some songs by the very talented Shirin.

So we came to the end of a multi-faith day, covering Judaism, Christianity and the Bahai faith. As I mentioned in my last 'few words' they all seemed to have something in common - a love of food and eating together!

Now I normally do go to the Winter Fair that supports my own church, St Paul's Hook, so it was a bit odd to be turning up in RBK1 to a formal welcome.  I said that I was probably more nervous about speaking to them that to anyone else, because they've known me for very many years and I can't pull the wool over their eyes.

But I duly declared the fair open, and later that afternoon learned that I had won more than one prize in the raffle.  At least it wasn't me pulling the tickets this time!

Angela Yule, one of the stalwarts of the Committee, with various goodies in the background

I managed to visit Kingston, Surbiton and District Synagogue twice in one week! Last Sunday was a very special occasion, but yesterday was the Annual Remembrance Day Service, which I have attended several times in the past.

Visitors are always very warmly welcomed at the synagogue, with members nearby to help us find our way through the service.  I arrived for the last half of the service, just as they had finished the reading from the Torah. The service concluded with the Kiddush - the blessing over the wine - which we then all shared with cake.

I was delighted to be presented with a book by Jonathan Sacks, personally signed by the Chief Rabbi himself.

Custom dictates that no photos can be taken on the Sabbath, so I have taken their Jubilee logo from their website - hope that is OK.

I'm still catching up! But I'm afraid I have no photos of Kingston Grammar School's Prizegiving. It was held in Kingston Parish Church (which is now cosily warm after all the problems of last winter).

The Head, Duncan Baxter, spoke about the frustrations of the National Curriculum and other government initiatives. Some of his thoughts were neatly counterbalanced by Prof David Miles, Pro-Vice Chancellor at Kingston University who argued for the need for a much more highly educated population.

The school then honoured those who had achieved at the highest standards in academic studies and in sports in the usual way, and we were treated to an outstandingly good performance of one of Bach's Brandenburg Concertos by the Chamber Orchestra.

OK, so it was lovely weather earlier in the day yesterday, but by 5pm we were all being blown away by the wind and heavy rain. Which made it the perfect timing for carol singing around a large tree in Chessington North Parade!

I was amazed to see so many children from Moor Lane Juniors had ventured out to add some festive warmth to the ceremony. We did a cheerful countdown, pressed the switch and the tree was covered in lights.

Photos were impossible, I'm afraid, so you'll have to go along to see it.

Then on to Age Concern's AGM, ably chaired by Wendy Woods.

The guest speaker was Doug Reynolds (standing). I was so pleased that I got a chance to say a few words before he spoke, because he is one of those energetic people who seem to find time to get actively involved in several organisations in the Borough.  He was Mayor nearly 30 years ago and I commented that I would be amazed if I was as active as him 30 years from now.

So it was apt that his title was 'Aging Actively'.

Age Concern, of course, is one of those invaluable bodies that we simply could not manage without.  It now has a five year partnership contract with the borough to provide a number of services, from day centres to advice and advocacy. I was particularly interested to hear about the Intergenerational Project which places retired people in schools as mentors.

Kingston University is committed to...

maintaining a positive and inclusive atmosphere, based on respect for people's differences whilst challenging and preventing all forms of discrimination.

Amen to that... but to give it some wellie, the University set up a Diversity and Equality Unit some time ago. I have been aware if its valuable work through a number of events and meetings. 

So I was really pleased to be asked to open their new offices yesterday in Portland Road.  And here we are...

Who would believe that it is the middle of November?

I have been pretty busy in the last couple of days, so I'm afraid this entry is going to appear too late to be effective. But on Thursday after the Christmas lights I was entranced by an art exhibition in the United Reformed Church in Eden Street.

Last year Fran O'Brien got 18 local artists together to put on an exhibition to raise money for local charities, and called themselves Arts4Cause. This year the show is better than ever, and I was very much taken with the exceptionally high quality of the work and the very wide range of media and styles.

Sadly the show has to be dismantled this evening, but there is a permanent exhibition of paintings in the foyer.

This picture shows Fran with the sculptor, Seamus Cuddihy.  Ian and I particularly liked his worked and treated ourselves to a slate resin cast of an old hand gently holding a younger one. We also bought a pot that exactly matched the colours in an abstract oil that we have at home.

So apologies to those of you who might have visited it, but you can always contact Fran directly through the website.

Thursday ... the evening of the switch-on.

Here I am with some of the children from Moor Lane and The Mount Schools who took part in the Primary Schools' Reading and Performing Arts Festival last week.  I couldn't go, but the Deputy Mayor did.

But The Mount staged some of the performances again so that other children and guests could see them, and I was invited along.

It was very impressive to see children as young as five taking to the stage and clearly reciting poetry to an audience. There were several choral speaking teams, who had all been trained to work together extremely well. And not a single person forgot their lines. 

I asked them if they had been nervous - yes - then explained that I get nervous before events too. But, like them, I had learned that nerves help you to concentrate and focus your thoughts.

Over 500 young people from Kingston have taken part in the Duke of Edinburgh Awards this year.  Here are some of those who received their bronze or silver awards yesterday. 

With them are with Halima Moin, the Member of the Youth Parliament for Kingston, and Chris Fullbrook of Kingston Youth Council, who both spoke at the ceremony.

The Duke of Edinburgh Awards celebrate their 50th Anniversary this year and still have a great appeal to young people. The participants clearly have a lot of fun whilst undertaking some quite challenging projects. They develop self-confidence and leadership skills through expeditions and community service. And they probably don't realise what an asset they then become to society at large.

I was very happy to shake many hands as the certificates were given out.

Mr Hyo-Kyeum Kim is the Mayor of Gwanak District in Seoul, Korea.  He is leading a party of distinguished visitors from his town to Kingston upon Thames for a few days this week.

The highlight of the visit will be the signing of a declaration of intent, followed by detailed discussions about areas for co-operation.

Gwanak-gu is an ideal partner, with many similarities to the Royal Borough. Although larger, with a population of half a million people, the Council has much the same range of responsibilities - traffic and roads, local ecomony, education, leisure, social services, environment etc. The Mayor was elected this May for a 4 year term, on the same model as the elected mayors in a couple of London boroughs.

Gwanak-gu is a thriving centre for business and tourism - the latter dominated by the beautiful Mount Gwanak Lake Park. It is also the home of Seoul National University, one of the best in the country.

The presence in the Royal Borough of the largest Korean community outside the country is itself reason enough for developing closer links.

Kingston University is hosting the delegation this afternoon, and I will be meeting them for dinner at the University's Dorich House later in the week.

So far I have not missed a single mayoral engagement.  But it was deeply ironic that the first one I could not attend was ..... the Mayor's Award for Attendance.

I had been suffering from severe toothache all weekend, in spite of taking antibiotics, so was relieved when I managed to get an emergency appointment at 4pm.  But I was still in the dentist's chair at 6pm with no hope of being coherent enough in time for the event at 6.30pm.

Ian covered for me at the ceremony, which I was so sorry to miss. In fact, I had been closely involved in the first one last year, as Executive Member for Children and Young People's Services. 

As far as we know, Kingston is the only council to have reinstated Awards for 100% attendance - they used to be common many years ago.  They are an excellent way of showing how much we value education.

This year an amazing 502 children and young people in the Borough qualified for the award.

I didn't.

Momentum originally hoped to find £5000 to enhance the lives of children with cancer at Kingston Hospital. Two years later it has raised £150,000 and had a royal visit.

And last night I began to see how Bianca Effemy and her team had managed that. We attended their fundraising opera evening at the Landmark Arts Centre in Teddington.  I don't think I have ever been to a local charity event of this quality - the singers were soloists and chorus members from the English National Opera, including Rosa Mannion. Louise Winter, Julian Gavin and Neal Davies - all superb.

Some wonderful solos and duets from Verdi, Mozart and other standards in the first half were balanced by West Side Story, stage and folk songs in the second.

The final revelation was the courage of Downside School in encouraging students to learn the bagpipes. Its amazing how loud - and musical - just six pipes can be indoors!

I was privileged to be allowed to take this photo of the Torah scrolls in the Kingston, Surbiton and District Synagogue yesterday afternoon.

The scroll with the large crown is very special indeed and I was there for a service that celebrated its history and re-dedicated it for use in Kingston.

The scroll, containing exquisite Hebrew script, originated in Ostrava in the Czech Republic. Before WW2 there were some 10,000 Jews living in the area, but between 1939 and 1942 they were almost all deported or sent to death camps. There are now only 100 Jews left.

The beautiful synagogue (as seen in a surviving photo) was razed to the ground, but amazingly its Torah scrolls were hidden along with those from many other synagogues from the regions of Bohemia and Moravia.

Eventually they found their way to the Prague Jewish Museum, and thence to the Westminster Synagogue where they were restored by the Czech Memorial Scrolls Trust.  Kingston, Surbiton and District Synagogue has received one of these scrolls, ensuring that it will continue to be used, as originally intended, in worship and not simply left in a museum.

The service was very moving, enhanced by the presence of survivors from Ostrava and the Czech Ambassador.

Members have carried out some detailed research into the history of the scroll and the community that first owned it, and I do hope that their archives can be made available to a wider audience.

Today was a full civic occasion with robes and maces.

We began at the War Memorial in New Malden where I laid a wreath on behalf of the citizens of the Borough.

Then on to Kingston for more wreathlaying and the 11am Act of Remembrance at the War Memorial. After that Kingston Parish Church was packed for the service.

Then over to the dais set up outside the Guildhall where we honoured the marchpast of representatives of the services and local uniformed organisations.

This was followed by a reception in the Guildhall at which I thanked the many people who had ensured that all the ceremonies took place smoothly and with dignity.

Thanks to Mary Gillett for the photo of the New Malden memorial.

I observed the two minutes silence today at the War Memorial in New Malden and will be laying a wreath there tomorrow at 9.45am.

Tomorrow you are all welcome to join the Acts of Remembrance held around the Borough.

I will be attending the one at the Kingston War Memorial (in Memorial Gardens) at 10.45am and the Service of Remembrance in Kingston Parish Church at 11.30am. These will be followed by a march past outside the Guildhall at 12 noon.

The Deputy Mayor will be attending the Surbiton Remembrance events tomorrow at the War Memorial outside the Library at 10.45am.

I was inspired by the Kingston Camera Club show to upload a photo that I took today at City Hall.

I do feel rather diffident about taking photographs of expert photographers.

This is Bob Brewer, the President of Kingston Camera Club, with two of his photos on the theme of Trees in Winter.

You can see these and dozens of other superb works at the exhibition now on in the Art Gallery at Kingston Museum.

I opened the show and gave out the awards, then allowed myself to be captivated by the quality and imagination of the exhibits.

Do go along and see the exhibition.

This morning I represented Kingston at the first of several Remembrance Events.

This was held in the stunning surroundings the Council Chamber at London's City Hall. After the ceremony I sneaked back in to get this shot of the wreaths laid before the book of remembrance.

The views from London's Living Room on the ninth floor, where we had coffee, are quite spectacular.