Mary Reid

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.