Mary Reid

Julie Reay (who is, incidently, an Honorary Alderman of the Royal Borough) has been chairperson of Kingston Arts Council for the last four years. She has decided to stand down this year although she will continue as a member of the executive committee.

Kingston Arts Council is the umbrella body that unites over 100 arts societies in the borough.

I was delighted to be chairing the AGM on Monday evening, because it gave me an opportunity to pay tribute to the highly professional way in which Julie has led the organisation. There has been real progress under her leadership, with new festivals and events, and a general reinvigoration of the arts scene.

The picture shows John Bate, Vice President, thanking Julie.

Simon Toyne gave an inspirational talk about the significance of the arts, and particularly their role in helping us to retain or rediscover the childlike delight that is so often suppressed by the demands of study and careers.

Simon is the Head of the Performing Arts College at Tiffin, which works with a dozen local schools on arts projects.  He also is responsible for two borough wide organisations, the Thames Youth Orchestra (I wrote about them in September) and the Children's Opera Chorus which is currently performing at the Royal Opera House.

And somehow he manages to find time to be the choirmaster at Kingston Parish Church (where one of my sons greatly benefited from his musical guidance) and to be the Musical Director of Riverside Opera.

Completely unrelated, but you might enjoy this surreal entry in his blog...