Mary Reid

I do get a buzz out of living within easy reach of the centre of London. This is one of my favourite views.

I took the photo en route to Portcullis House - which is the  MPs' block of offices to the right of Big Ben - where I went for a Hansard Society event this evening.  It was to launch their report Friend or Foe? Lobbying in British Democracy.

There was a good attendance, with getting on for 200 people, including several MPs and, of course, plenty of people from public relations and the media. I was the only councillor there, but I met up with several people I know from the e-democracy world. 

It seems that most MPs get 20 or more approaches each week from interest groups and another 20 or so from charities. Add to that lobbying by businesses, public sector and trade organisations and you can see why they need PAs to manage it all. But most of them value the depth and breadth of knowledge that they can acquire from these sources.

Local councillors are lobbied far less; I get my share of literature from mobile phone companies, developers and local organisations. But perhaps therein lies a problem, because the ones who do make contact have a greater impact than if I received many of them. The trick is to maintain a balance between those who lobby and the interests of the rest who keep quiet.

SACRE is the apt acronym for the Standing Advisory Council on Religious Education. Every local authority responsible for schools must have one, and our one is particularly effective. 

Kingston's SACRE has just published the new locally agreed syllabus for Religious Education, and this was celebrated with songs, dance and images.

You can read the revised syllabus here. By the end of primary school all children will have learnt about the four main faiths (Christianity, Islam, Judaism and Hinduism) and will have esxplored what they can learn from them.

I mentioned the recording studio at the Hook Centre when it was opened recently. I was back there yesterday for the launch of its programme of courses and events.

And it's pretty impressive. On Monday to Wednesdays evenings there are courses on DJ skills, Muisc to Make You Move (for 7-11 year olds), Creative Production and even Adult Jam sessions. Thursday is Youth Rehearsal Night, and on Friday evenings it's available for hire.

During the days schools will be using the studio for rehearsals, recording and music technology courses. No other council music service has anything like it.

Times, charges and contacts are here.

Ethelred came with me today on a visit to St Paul's Primary, Hook.

We were there at the invitation of the School Council, which has two representatives from each class.

I started by asking them to guess Ethelred's name, and they now know a bit more about the seven kings who were crowned in Kingston.

They told me about the kinds of things they have been discussing in the Council, and I in turn explained how Kingston Council works. They did want to know if I had met anyone famous, and I was so pleased that I could talk about Jacqueline Wilson, which they found very exciting.

But the thing they really wanted to ask about was the car, so Harry told them about its registration, RBK1, and then took them outside to see it.

And here they are ....

One of my projects this year has been to explore how the various faith groups in the borough could be more involved in civic life.

Over the last three years the Inter-Faith Forum has matured under the leadership of Rabbi Danny Rich so it seemed a good time to set up a Faith and Civic Life working group. The members were drawn from my chaplains and leaders of the largest places of worship.

One of the outcomes was to agree to hold up to four civic services during the year, hosted by the main faiths active in the area. These would be open to members of all faiths and we agreed to make sure that visitors would feel comfortable and be helped to understand the acts of worship.

So the first of these happened on Saturday at the Kingston Liberal Synagogue. We arrived an hour before the service began so we could meet the children at their religion school. Most groups spent some time studying Hebrew, and followed this with sessions on beliefs and history. A GCSE Religious Studies group was hard at work, so was a class preparing for their Bar or Bat Mitzvah ceremonies.

Some of the visitors being shown around by Robert Markless

Then we all gathered for the service, which incorporated a remembrance for Holocaust Day. The service was led by their trainee rabbi, Charley Baginsky, whilst Danny Rich read and spoke to us.

I was very pleased to see Christians and Muslims joining the Jews, and being warmly welcomed, for this event.

From left, Rabbi Danny Rich, Harry Kempson, myself, Paul Levene (Chairman of Synagogue), trainee rabbi Charley Baginsky

Holocaust Memorial Day was publically recognised on Sunday afternoon when a good sized crowd gathered by the Holocaust Tree in Memorial Gardens. A short service there was followed by a talk and film in the Guildhall on the theme of 'The Dignity of Difference'.

Rabbi David Mason and Cllr Yogan Yoganathan watching the presentation at the Guildhall

Whilst we should never forget the horror of the Holocaust, and its particular impact on the Jewish community, the focus of these events was on genocide wherever it may happen.

This prayer was found beside the body of a girl who died in Ravensbruck, and was quoted at the memorial service:

God, remember not only the men and women of good will, but also those of ill will.


Do not remember all the sufferings they have inflicted upon us; remember the fruits we bear, thanks to this suffering - our comradeship, our loyalty, our humanity, courage and generosity, the greatness of heart which has grown out of all this.


And when they come to judgement, let all the fruits that we have borne be their forgiveness.

At half time my team was in the lead. Named the Chain Gang, it included two mayors, one deputy mayor and two past mayors, so we should have been invincible.

But the curry from Monty's at the interval was good, and we lost focus. To our chagrin it was the Deputy Mayor's team who won in the end. I put a brave face on it and rewarded the eight members with their prize bottles of wine.

And we raised £1000 for my charity appeal - not bad, eh?

Deputy Mayor, Cllr Sheila Griffin, and her team

Losing a parent or close friend is tough, but I can't imagine what it must be like for a child. And yet people have all kinds of misconceptions about how children deal with bereavement, from "It's better to let them forget" to "Children don't suffer from depression".

Jacqueline Wilson has explored some of these issues in two of her books: The Cat Mummy and Vicky Angel, so it was great to hear her talk about the subject yesterday. She understands that children do need to find ways to express their grief, anger and bewilderment, and that sometimes they have to revisit it as they pass through different levels of maturity.

Jackie was the guest at Kingston Bereavement Service's launch of their counselling service for bereaved children. This will be a very welcome and much needed specialist addition to the range of counselling and support services offered to children and yong people.

From left: Mo Houlden (Manager of KBS), Jacquline Wilson, me, Joan Bulmer (Chair of KBS) and Lesley Mungar (Saying Goodbye Project Co-ordinator).  Photo by the Council's Press Office.

Our MP Edward Davey himself lost both parents in childhood, and he sent a moving message of support to the gathering as he was unable to attend.

Eighteeen months ago I wrote this about Jackie:

Kingston resident, Jacqueline Wilson, has been made the new Children's Laureate.

Jackie is a bit of a local hero. She is always ready to take part in events around here; anything that encourages children and adults to read.

Did you know that the girls' magazine 'Jackie' was named after her? She started working as a teenager for D C Thomson in Dundee, and they named their new magazine after their youngest employee.

I should have mentioned her trademark silver rings. She can never go out without them now.

When she came into the Parlour she immediately spotted Ethelred. I'm taking him to school next week and will let you know how he gets on.

First they came for the Communists, and I didn't speak up,

because I wasn't a Communist.

Then they came for the Jews, and I didn't speak up,

because I wasn't a Jew.

Then they came for the Catholics, and I didn't speak up,

because I wasn't a Catholic.

And then they came for me, and by that time there was no one left

to speak up for me.

There are many variations on this poem by Martin Niemoller, a survivor of Dachau, but they all say the same thing: in order to defeat hatred we all have a duty to speak up.

"And then they came for me...." is also the title of a play that explores this theme through the lives of teenagers who knew each other in wartime Amsterdam. Anne Frank is. of course, well known, but two of her friends survived the Holocaust, and their stories are told alongside Anne's. One of them is Eva Schloss whom I was privileged to meet a couple of weeks ago.

I first saw the play in Portcullis House before an audience of parliamentarians on Anne Frank's birthday last June. I was invited because it was performed by MeWe, a Kingston based youth theatre group. I was so moved by it that I was determined to have it seen in Kingston.

The sponsor of the play is Nic Careem of the Blue Sky Club. He shared my enthusiasm for getting it seen locally and yesterday my wish came true. In the afternoon it was performed to an audience of school pupils and in the evening to a packed audience of Kingston residents, including many who are deeply interested in interfaith and equality issues.

The play is powerful and challenging, but oddly enough I do not think 'harrowing' is the right word, because it does speak of hope and the survival of human values.

The picture (courtesy of the Comet) shows Anne Frank (on the left) at her first meeting with Eva Schloss as 13 year olds.

At the end of the play, Eva was brought forward by Grace Willis who played her. Eva then talked about her life since the war and how she dealt with the anger. This was followed at both performances by a distinguished panel who reflected on the messages.

People left at the end stunned by what they had experienced - the quality of the acting and the writing, the challenges to complacency, and the sheer power of this play.

Nic Careem has another dream - this time to get 2000 schools in the UK all putting on a production of the play themselves in 2008. After this event I'm sure that schools in Kingston will be eager to be part of such an undertaking.

There aren't many concert brass bands around these parts, but I've been attending performances of the Cobham Band for many years. In spite of its name it does have quite a number of players from the Royal Borough.

So I was really pleased when they offered to put on a concert in aid of my Mayor's Charity. It will be on Saturday 3rd February, at 7.30pm in the Arthur Cotterell Theatre at Kingston College.

You can buy tickets online or by phoning 020 8547 5030. 

This picture was taken last summer when they did a spot on the Canbury Bandstand.

Yesterday I had the chance to look round BedZED. I'm afraid nothing I write will really do justice to this ground-breaking housing and business development in the next-door borough of Sutton.

The Beddington Zero Energy Development is a prototype of sustainable development, and like all prototypes much has been learnt from it, including how not to repeat some mistakes. But the benefits are extraordinary.

One third of the properties are social housing, one third are shared equity schemes for key workers and one third are owner occupied. The value of the latter has risen quite sharply since they were built, because not only are they highly attractive properties but they are also very cheap to run.

All the properties are light and airy, yet have excellent heat and noise insulation. Those colourful cowls on the roof are wind driven ventilation systems that still manage to use the outgoing heat to warm the incoming fresh air. Rainwater is used to flush the loos along with recycled grey water (that is, waste water from baths and sinks).

The original design included a combined heat and power system that used wood chippings recovered from tree surgery as fuel. This provided both heat for the whole estate and also generated electricity. Sadly the company that provided this has gone out of business, so they now have to buy in electricity to supplement the energy captured from the solar panels.

In spite of the high density, all the properties have conservatories and roof gardens, and the green roof planted with sebumsover the top helps manage the rainfall.

At a social level a green approach to travel is encouraged through a car club - members share the use of a bank of cars - as well as estate based employment.

This is the Half Mile Tree.

It is a fine chestnut situated midway between Teddington Lock and Kingston, by the river on Lower Ham Road.

A magnificent elm stood there, apparently for nearly 500 years, until it had to be felled in 1951. The replacement tree is only 50 years old but is still an important landmark.

We stood by the tree to inaugurate a project that is part of the Thames Landscape Strategy. 

The overgrown planting by the river has been cleared so there are good views in both directions; new natural-looking paths have been laid; a seat has been provided; signage has been tidied up; and an interpretation panel installed.

In fact, this is the first of a number of projects along the Kingston and Surbiton river frontage designed to make the Thames an even stronger focal point for the borough.

One pleasant surprise for me has been the number of invitations I have received to parties for senior citizens over the Christmas period. A large number of community-spirited people in the Borough find the time and energy to organise these events, which have all been thoroughly enjoyed by those who attend.

Yesterday was the turn of St Raphael's Church in Surbiton, who invited around 100 people to enjoy a generous tea and entertainment at St Joseph's School. I had the time-honoured privilege of drawing the raffle tickets.

The Greek Orthodox Church in Borough Road kindly invited Ian and me to a Dinner Dance on Saturday evening. Earlier in the month I had attended their service for the Blessing of the Waters, which was also followed by a good lunch.

As before, the dinner was a highly enjoyable event, with good food and conversation. And, of course, I couldn't resist the dancing.

If you've got young children then you will probably know this charming book by E B White. And the film, starring the voices of Julia Roberts, Oprah Winfrey, John Cleese and Kathy Bates is expected to be a huge success.

The exciting thing is that the Odeon in Kingston will be putting on a special preview of Charlotte's Web in aid of the Mayor's Charity Fund. The children get to enjoy a disco beforehand in Oceana, followed by icecream before seeing the film itself.

The date: THURSDAY 1ST FEBRUARY

The time: 5pm - Disco, 6.30pm - Charlotte's Web

Tickets: £7 children, £8 adults

To book: You can book on the Odeon website, or by phoning 0871 22 44 007, or by calling in at the Odeon in the Rotunda (opposite Kingston Station)

There's a great website about the film, aimed at children.

Somehow or other Kingston Day Nursery managed to keep on functioning whilst their interesting home (a former chapel) was completely redecorated and partly remodelled. That says something for the professionalism of the staff and the high quality management.

I was invited along yesterday to an open day for parents and children, to relaunch the nursery. They can take around 70 children from babies to pre-school. The environment is bright, friendly and intelligently designed.

If you live in the Hook or Chessington area you really must call in to the new Hook Centre. Our new flagship community building is far better than I had ever envisaged - and I had nurtured a vision for it for many years.

It has a wonderful sense of space, flooded with natural light. The Library has double the previous number of books, plus lots of IT and other study facilities, including some comfy chairs.

The Hook Centre is open to the public at 9am from Monday to Saturday and closes at 5.30pm most days, except Tuesdays and Fridays when it stays open til 8pm.  But some of the rooms can be hired or will be used for classes during the evenings.

Advice will be available from the Council Helpdesk (moved from the Neighbourhood Office in Elm Road), from the Council Housing team who will have an office in the building, from Chessington and Hook Care who are moving in, and from CAB and other voluntary bodies.

The Library is not open on Mondays, but the café will be in business every day from next month. And, of course, the  loos will be accessible whenever the building is open.

So call in, if only to inspect the plumbing.

The opening ceremony

The street entertainers invited passers-by into the new building - where they met this character in the Children's Corner.

The recording studio will be a magnet for young musicians

The distinctive blue and gold exterior

I have experienced an Andy Warhol 15 seconds of fame on the 24 hour Korean news channel, YTN.

Follow this link - you don't have to download the Korean language pack though it looks better if you do. Then it is fairly obvious that you need to run the video clip with Kingston on the screen. You have to take in an advert first, but then Margaret Matthews (the Head of Malden Manor Primary) and I get a chance to say how much we appreciate our Korean community.

Surbiton Festival, 2006  (c) Peter Marshall

There's a fascinating photographic exhibition on at the Museum at the moment.

Called Another London it features photos of suburbia, including many taken in the Royal Borough, by Paul Baldesare, Peter Marshall and Mike Seabourne.

I'm here discussing Peter's work with him, and above you can see what we were talking about.

You can check through the exhibits on the Another London website, but you really do need to see them in real life to catch the vibrancy and full colour of the photos.

Around 20 trees in the Borough came down yesterday, and Richmond Park was closed. I have nothing but praise for the Council officers and our parks contractor who cleared the roads very quickly.

Now I have a challenge this morning - to get to Birmingham by 11am. I booked my train ticket some days ago but National Rail is reporting delays and cancellations this morning. I think I'm just going to have to turn up at Euston and see what's going on. If I can get to Euston, that is.....

Kingston has the only full-blown Park and Ride scheme in the whole of London! 

It runs for ten weeks during the Christmas and New Year period with free parking at Chessington World of Adventures and a frequent bus service into the centre of town. This year over 62,000 journeys were made! Most users come from the Epsom and Leatherhaed area, but a surprising number come from as far afield as the West Country to enjoy a hassle free journey to our shopping heaven.

Yesterday I hosted a reception for the key partners in the Parlour to celebrate another successful season. And here are some of them...

Rotarians are such good company. They have two main aims - to bring a smile to people's faces through their charitable activities, and to extend friendship through the Rotary movement.

So I was really pleased to be invited by the Surbiton branch to a social evening last night at the Berrylands Hotel. And even more pleased when I won a box of jelly babies in the quiz.

This is actually the smallest of the three branches in the Borough, but you would not believe it from the activities they have been involved in. It is this branch that organises the Surbiton Festival. And this year they set up a new venture down here in Hook, the Family Fun Day on King Edward Recreation Ground, which I'm delighted to say they are hoping to repeat this year.

Like all the local branches they are actively involved in Kids Out. Earlier I enjoyed a wonderful 70th Birthday celebration in the company of Rupert Bear.

Stud Farm doesn't really live up to its name - more vegetables than livestock. But there are many more surprising things to discover about it.

For a start, it is located within Hampton Court's Home Park, and it used to supply produce to the Palace. It had been standing derelict for some years, when a chance conversation resulted in it being offered to Kingston Council for a rather special horticultural project.

The Causeway Centre in New Malden provides care and challenging activities for adults with learning disabilities. For the past year Stud Farm has provided horticultural experiences to many of their clients. It also houses the woodwork shop which produces some very attractive bird boxes, bird tables and garden planters. Of greater interest is their commission to provide bat boxes for the Royal Palace.

In this picture herb frames which were made in the woodwork shop are being installed and filled with topsoil. There is a demand for fresh herbs from local restaurants which the project hopes to meet. They will also be planting lavender that can be used for pot pourri and lavender pillows.

Back in the summer the Deputy Mayor attended the official opening of the project. I was unable to attend so asked if I could visit some time to see round the place. Fortunately we chose a beautiful winter's day and were able to appreciate its full potential.

Before Christmas I wrote that I would love to hear again a new Christmas choral piece 'Rejoice, rejoice, with heart and voice' by David Nield. And my wish was granted yesterday evening at the Epiphany Carol Srvice at Kingston Parish Church. This time the church choir sang this demanding work, and with great aplomb.

It was just one element in a beautiful, and at times theatrical, celebration of the journey of the Wise Men.  I was asked to symbolically present one of the three gifts, alongside our MP Edward Davey, and John Azah of the Kingston Racial Equality Council.

Christmas really is over now, but it is still surprising to find that bluebells are already starting to grow in the garden alongside last year's roses. And I saw a bumble bee on the still flowering hebe yesterday.

Older people living in Chessington and Hook were treated to a late Christmas Party yesterday at St Catherine's Church. The Society of St Vincent de Paul organises it every year, and all the party-goers were grateful to the many volunteers who made it such a successful event.

This time they provided entertainment in the form of a group of Irish dancers. I hadn't realised that we had a thriving local school of Irish dancing, who have benefitted from the interest generated by the Lord of the Dance phenomenon.

Back in September I blogged about the newly emerging Thames Youth Orchestra. It seems all the players read it, and will be looking at this, so no pressure there then ...

Actually I always feel in awe of young people with musical skills and talent. Having had no formal training myself I still find the process of creating and performing instrumental music rather magical and mysterious, even though several of the younger generation of my family are accomplished performers.

The Thames Youth Orchestra waiting for the conductor

Last night's concert tested the wonderful acoustic of Kingston Parish Church to the full. It also gave these young players a chance to really show what they could do. I can't remember hearing Dvorak's 8th Symphony before, but it had so many echoes of his other works - simple folk song balanced against complex passionate passages - and they relished it. The first movement was marked 'con brio', which was how they did it, with great enthusiasm.

In the first half we heard Tchaikovsky's Nutcracker Suite. This was the version that was performed as a kind of taster before the full-length ballet was developed. It is almost impossible to hear it today without picturing the dancers - and it is all too easy to dismiss it as a bit of confection (which, of course, is what it is).

But without the visual cues we were able to discover this charming, light and, at times, very amusing music. It requires precision and control, and the players gave a confident perfomance, with some intimidatingly exposed solos from the celesta and harp. The final Valse des Fleurs was pure over-the-top gorgeousness, with dark depths, and it made me think, appropriately, of chocolate rather than flowers.

You can read more about the Thames Youth Orchestra here.

This is the very fine mace and ceremonial sword of the Lord Mayor of London. They are displayed on a wall of the Egyptian Room in the Mansion House. I took the photo when I was up there last week for the Fancy Dress party.

On Thursday I was there again, along with over 300 people, including many London mayors, for the Local Government Dinner. This was hosted by the Lord Mayor of London and addressed by Ken Livingstone, the Mayor of London.

Many people are confused by all these mayors!

Greater London is divided into 33 London boroughs, each with its own borough mayor. Except that two of the boroughs are cities in their own right and each has a Lord Mayor as a consequence. The two cities are Westminster and (this is where it starts getting confusing) the City of London, which is often simply referred to as the City.

The Mayor of London (not the Lord Mayor) is the elected chief of the Greater London Authority which covers all 33 boroughs, including Westminster and the City. The GLA is rather like a county although the London boroughs have many of the responsibilties that rural counties have, such as education and social services.

In contrast, the City of London covers the famous square mile with St Paul's Cathedral at its heart. It is, of course, the financial hub not just for London but for the whole of the country. The Lord Mayor of London is the first citizen of this tiny, but very powerful, territory.

The City has a tiny resident population of 7000, many living in the Barbican. But it has a huge working population, and unlike any other London borough the businesses have voting rights.

At the dinner I found myself sitting with one of the Common Councilmen - so-called even though female. She explained that each of the 25 wards in the City elects one alderman and also two or three Councilmen, who serve on the Court of Common Council.

I asked her whether, having served on the Council for 30 years, she had ambitions to be an Alderman. She told me that she could not afford it. Unlike the other London boroughs, none of the elected representatives in the City receives an allowance or expenses.

The cost of acting as Alderman amounts to tens of thousands of pounds each year. I had heard before that Lord Mayors need to find at least £250,000 from their own pockets during their year of office.

The Lord Mayor is selected from the Alderman, and the prospective Lord Mayor usually serves a term as Sheriff first. So I was pleased to find that sitting next to me on the other side was Sheriff Alderman David Lewis, and I wished him well.

Thursday was a busy day. It started with the usual emails and enquiries at my desk.

My first mayoral engagement was an interview for YTN, the Korean 24 hours TV news channel. They wanted to know what it is that makes Kingston such a desirable place to live. I talked about our schools and shopping and plans for the future. I mentioned that the borough's high educational achievements are always boosted by the local Korean community.

Next over to KREC in their new offices in Eden Street (I blogged about it here), before doing another session on citizenship at one of our schools.

Then I called in at the Malden Centre to open the refurbished gym. Don't be misled by the picture - although I did belong to the gym some years ago I'm afraid I haven't been for some time.  

The new gym is twice as big as I remember and is a much more welcoming environment. D C Leisure, who manage the Centre, have replaced all the old equipment with the lastest machines. 

I did pick up a membership pack so maybe after the mayoral year ends ...

Finally a quick dash back home to change into evening wear for a dinner at the Mansion House. More of that in a later posting.

Where do you go for advice if you are the victim of a racist incident?

One obvious answer is that you should report it to your local Safer Neighbourhood Police Team, as they do take racial incidents seriously. But sometimes they can only deal with the public safety aspects of the problem and need to refer you to other agencies for other kinds of support.

Kingston Racial Equality Council has now teamed up with the Police, the Council, the Citizens' Advice Bureau and Kingston Victim Support to offer a drop-in service. This will provide specialist help to people who have suffered racial harassment, racial abuse or racially motivated damage to their property.

The confidential advice service is on Thursdays, from 10.30am to 12.30pm, at Neville House in Eden Street.

I was very happy to launch this new and sensitive service at KREC's offices today. Heer I am with the key people involved in the project. Immediately behind me are John Azah, Director of KREC, and Superintendant Duncan McPherson.

Eva Schloss lived near Anne Frank in Amsterdam, and like her went into hiding from the Nazis. She was also captured and transported to Auschwitz, but amazingly survived. After the war her mother married Otto Frank, Anne's father.

Eva took many years to work through her bitterness, but she has spent the last twenty years telling her story and inspiring thousands to take a stand against intolerance and bigotry.

Back in June I was invited to a production of a play about her life 'And Then They Came For Me', performed by MeWe, a local youth theatre group. It made a strong impression on me and I was determined that it should be shown in Kingston, especially to young audiences.

I'm delighted that we will have a chance to see it on Thursday 25th January in the Arthur Cotterell Theatre at Kingston College. (You can order tickets from the Council website). Eva Schloss will attend and will talk about her life. This will be followed by a panel discussion on some of the issues raised.

The first picture shows Eva with the actress who portrays her in the play.

Eva was in Kingston today. She met a number of us in the Parlour and then presented the Royal Borough with a copy of the Anne Frank Declaration of 1998 that was signed by Tony Blair and other UK political leaders, and also by Nelson Mandela. 

Nic Careem (below) is the organiser of the Anne Frank Declaration, which established 12th June as Anne Frank Day. On that day in 1998 a tree was planted  in Kingston in the Memorial Gardens in memory of her and of all children who have been killed in conflicts.

From left: Nic Careem (Founder of the Blue Sky Club and producer of the play), myself with the Anne Frank Declaration, Ellie Northway (who read the declaration to us), and Eva Schloss, who presented Ellie with a copy of her book.

After the presentation we then walked over to Borders where she signed copies of her books.  The latest one, 'The Promise'  tells the story of her childhood to young people.

Yesterday evening I chaired a meeting of Full Council, and it must have been one of the shortest ever - it lasted just over an hour. The next one on Feb 28th will be much longer because we will be setting the Budget and Council Tax.

Yesterday I met Kingston's new Member of the UK Youth Parliament at a reception in the Mayor's Parlour before the meeting. I covered Paul Kenny's election last month. I also invited the members of the Kingston Youth Council, who take on new members each calendar year, so it was an opportunity to meet some new faces.

After the reception the young people came and sat in the public gallery for the beginning of the Council meeting. I formally introduced Paul, who then told the councillors something about himself and his ambitions for the young people of the Royal Borough.

I've been doing some work in schools this week around how the Council makes decisions, but I'll write about it later.

The Greek Orthodox church of St George the Martyr in Borough Road attracts hundreds of worshippers each week, and also runs a Greek school for young people.

Yesterday was the Feast of the Baptism of Jesus by St John in the River Jordan, which occurs very close to Epiphany, so the two commemorations are often combined. Greek Orthodox churches traditionally celebrate this with a service of the Blessing of the Waters. In Greece this is usually done on the shore, but here in Kingston they very appropriately blessed the River Thames.

I joined them for this colourful and moving ceremony in Canbury Gardens. Bishop Theodoritos led the service which was in Greek and English. A cross of flowers was thrown onto the water and then retrieved.

Then we all went back to the church hall for a good lunch.

Imagine inviting over 500 children to a fancy dress party!

That is what the Lord Mayor of London does each year - and, with all that experience behind him, the whole event runs immaculately.

The London Borough Mayors are each asked to bring two children from their borough.

I remembered Ellie and Lottie who had written to me back in the summer. They had invited me, the Queen, the MP and Ant and Dec to a cream tea in their garden in aid of the Lunchbowl charity. Sadly I couldn't go but the Deputy Mayor did join them and she blogged about the event.

I thought it would be good to reward their initiative by inviting to the party.

So, dressed as Juliet and a princess, Ellie and Lottie travelled with me in RBK1 to the Mansion House, via Buckingham Place and Trafalgar Square.

There they met the Lord Mayor and Lady Mayoress and had a 'brilliant' time.

The party ended with a giant conga that took them all through the house including the kitchens, followed by the only piece of chaos - the balloon drop.

Here are some photos from the event.

Meeting the Lord Mayor

560 excited kids in the Egyptian Room at Mansion House

Some of the first new citizens of 2007.....

Don't forget to leave your Christmas tree out with your rubbish or recycling this week. It will be collected for free by Kingston Council.

But only if it is a real one....

This quiet period after Christmas has given me a chance to catch up on a number of non-Council projects.

I've taken a break from writing this year but I have still offered to review chapters written by other authors for my publisher, Heinemann.  So it has been good to get down to some serious reading and analysis again this week.

Over the last eight years or so I have written or contributed to 23 books. They are all on ICT and most are aimed at the 16+ market. 

In spite of that, the book I'm most proud of was a GCSE book, which I structured so that it would be easy for a teacher to develop a scheme of work. Although the wordage is quite low, I had to count every one so that they fitted neatly onto topic-based double page spreads.

I do like the cover design, which I had no control over apart from saying that I wanted a picture of someone