Mary Reid

I'm very happy to promote an event in Kingston on 7th June in aid of Afghan Action. To quote from the organisers:

For one night only Central Asia comes to Kingston in the form of a display and sale of unique, traditional, hand-made Afghan carpets, proceeds of which go towards running Afghan Action, a unique charity providing training in carpet weaving skills for young people in war-torn Kabul.   Anyone who lives, works or shops in Kingston will be welcome at the Sale to be held at Kingston United Reformed Church on Thursday 7^th June from 7 -10pm.

So if you want to support a Fair Trade initiative, and fancy a new rug go along.  This is what Chris Beales, the Chief Executive of Afghan Action says:

"All our rugs are made under fair-trade conditions - our trainees and staff enjoy fair wages, a nourishing midday meal, free medical care and safe working conditions.

Our charity is the only one in Afghanistan that trains and employs uneducated and unemployed young people in weaving beautiful, handmade carpets. We also teach them numeracy and literacy skills - the first time many of the young people have had any formal education.  The Charity funds the training and education scheme by selling carpets made by trainees and workers to individuals and organisations in the West."

I took some time out today to visit the Gormley exhibition at the Hayward.

But the major work, called Event Horizon, can be seen by anyone in the South Bank area. Just look up and around, and you can spot 31 figures, all cast from Antony Gormley's body.

Most of them are high up on top of buildings but you can encounter a couple of them at street level, like this one on Waterloo Bridge.

The figures all face one or other of the three sculpture courts at the Gallery, and from these viewpoints the figures appear to be watching you and musing about their place in the world.

I was never quite sure about the Angel of the North - the wings made it look too much like an aircraft. Then one year we took the longer route home from Scotland so we could see it, and I was completely won over. It has a magnificent presence in the landscape, and has, of course, become iconic.

Since then I have captured other Gormleys, my favourite being Quantum Cloud on the river at Greenwich.

This exhibition is named Blind Light after its most spectacular work. A brightly-lit glass-walled room is filled with a cloud that is so dense that you become completely disorientated inside it. In fact, I had to keep one hand on a wall and couldn't make myself stay inside for more than a minute or two, even though everyone talked to the people they encountered.

Two of the figures surveying the Hayward Gallery.

I've been getting to grips with my new rôle as joint Chair of the South of the Borough Neighbourhood. I share this with Cllr Rob Lee, and Cllr Kevin O'Connor is in support as Vice Chair.

In Kingston, Neighbourhoods were always seen as a way of increasing citizen participation, so I have been wholeheartedly behind them from the beginning. In fact, Kingston led the way on this 13 years ago, and we have been intrigued to see the idea copied elsewhere, although in some places they are called Area or Community Committees.

Most of our meetings are well attended by 50 to 100 local people. This was a recent Neighbourhood meeting in the Hook Centre...

Another feature of Neighbourhoods is that they enable decisions about local matters to be taken by the relevant councillors in discussion with local residents.  Our four Neighbourhoods have committees, not forums; in other words they have executive powers and substantial budgets. All the local planning applications (apart from the very large ones) are dealt with here, as are traffic schemes. Neighbourhoods also have some responsibility for housing, parks, libraries and youth services. Anyone can speak at any meeting, on any item (with just some constraints on planning applications). And we consult widely on local schemes as well as strategic issues.

Finally, we invented the concept of local community leadership by expecting Neighbourhoods to act as the hub for discussion and initiatives about all local public services, whether provided by the Council or not. So over the years we have brought agencies together to provide adult education at Chessington Community College, to create a new health centre at Winey Park, to set up a joint youth centre and activity centre for older people at Devon Way, to improve Tolworth Broadway, amongst others. Perhaps our proudest achievement has been the development of the Hook Centre which includes a library, community hall, Council information desk, adult learning, voluntary sector advice sessions, a crèche, a café, and a thriving music and recording studio facility managed by Kingston Music and Arts Service.

Over the years Neighbourhood meetings have got rather bogged down with traffic schemes and sometimes we've missed opportunities to exploit our in-depth knowledge of the community and the potential for solving problems through intelligent networking - in other words, in spite of our achievements,  we could exercise our community leadership better.

Rob and I have outlined to officers the way in which we want to take things forward. There will be more topic based meetings which bring together all the professionals and voluntary organisations, as well as interested citizens, around themes such as health provision. We will also hold more problem focussed workshops, like the one last week about Hook Parade. We will try to spread items more evenly across agendas, so that meetings don't drag on until past my bedtime. We will also be looking carefully at the management of small local projects, especially at their processes for consultation and data gathering, so that the Neighbourhood councillors can make decisions confident that they meet with the approval of local people.

I have just received the Annual Report of the Mayor of London. And quite right that he should report to his electorate.  But at what cost?

The report consists of two A4 glossy volumes, totalling 180 pages, printed on high quality paper in full colour - plus a large foldout poster showing how important London is in the world (yes, we do know!). These were presented in a card slipcase, with an accompanying letter, and posted in a jiffy bag.

I would guess it would cost around £10 to produce and post each set. So who has it gone to? Well, there are at least 1700 councillors in London (can anyone give me the exact figure?). Plus senior officers of all 33 Councils. Plus the GLA members and staff. Plus .... who knows...

At a conservative estimate this exercise will have cost Ken (ie us) £40,000. Again, can anyone find out the true figure?

And guess what? It is all available online for free.

Our new Deputy Mayor, Cllr Bart Ricketts, has started a blog. Already he has some good photos of events since he was installed two weeks ago.

The Mayor, Cllr Shiraz Mirza, is planning to start one soon too. It seems that you have to wait until you're Mayor or Deputy Mayor before blogging round here!

Councillors, like MPs, deal with confidential casework on sensitive issues. People ask us to help them with problems of debt and housing, and often we learn about challenging histories which include medical, personal and financial details. 

When the Freedom of Information Act came in we were all worried that some of this might be divulged to the general public through a Freedom of Information disclosure. But I've been reassured that the Data Protection Act takes priority and that information about a living person can only be disclosed to the 'data subject', ie the person it is about.

So why on earth do MPs think they need to be exempt from the Freedom of Information Act? Their correspondence with and about constituents, whether in paper or electronic format, is fully protected by the Data Protection Act

Worse than that, the amendment to the act which got its third reading in the Commons yesterday will give both Houses of Parliament the right to keep all their documents secret. The casework issue is a red herring. There are other things that MPs don't want us to know - and there has been much speculation about what that might be, such as MPs expenses, ie the use of public funds.

This is a truly shameful misuse of Parliament's powers. If Freedom of Information is to have any bite at all it must be applicable to our Parliament in exactly the same way as it applies to local government and public services.

I'm proud of the fact that Liberal Democrat MPs argued strongly against this amendment.

The proposal to install parking meters in the Hook Parade has been a hot topic locally. About three weeks ago I wrote about our response to the petition and how we had agreed to put the scheme on hold.

This evening we held a very productive meeting at the Hook Centre to which we invited all the traders, all the people who live in the flats above the shops, plus a cross-section of the other residents who had responded to the consultation. About two dozen people attended. Cllr Rob Lee, co-Chair of the Neighbourhood with me, welcomed everyone and chaired the meeting.

I began by stating very firmly that there will be no parking meters in Hook Parade. But we wanted to know if there were any traffic issues in the Parade that the Council could help with. In particular, the original proposal included new double yellow lines in several places - were these wanted? Doing nothing was, however, still an option.

Barry Allen, our Neighbourhood Services Manager, gave out maps and asked people to identify and prioritise the problems. After he'd brought together the thinking from the groups, he then asked people to come up with some solutions. A top priority was the enforcement of existing restrictions, such as the disabled parking bay and the double yellow lining at the corner of Clayton Road. Other concerns focused on the safety of pedestrians crossing at the Elm Road/Hook Road junction, speeding in the service road, the timing of the deliveries to Tesco and some on-street car dealing. There was no desire for more yellow lining except perhaps a slightly longer length around the Clayton Road corner.

Barry will be writing a report for the Neighbourhood Committee Meeting in July, outlining what actions can be taken about those problems. Two of the traders at the meeting this evening volunteered to review the draft of that report first.

Thanks to everyone who attended and for clarifying the key issues.

At the end of the meeting we all thanked Simon Smith (of the flower shop) for campaigning against the parking meters. At first that may sound a bit odd coming from me - Rob and I had originally supported parking meters because it looked as though the traders wanted them. But local democracy does depend on local people getting involved, gathering opinion and presenting their views to us. In this case there had been a very muted response to the original consultation. Instead the opposition only surfaced after the decision was made, but early enough for it to be reversed.  

We now have a job to do, which is to analyse and improve consultations so that views are captured at the right time and good data is available on which to base decisions.

"Have you enjoyed your year?" I've been asked that so many times in the last month or so. To which I reply "Of course I have - I get to meet all the good people in the borough."

And it's true. I spent most of my time as Mayor meeting voluntary organisations, public servants, faith leaders, community activists, sportspeople, creative artists and performers who make our community such a vibrant and caring one. I've wriitten about them in my blog, which beats any photo album or cuttings scrapbook as a memory bank of the year.

"Are you going to miss it?"  That's the other question I've been asked a lot recently. Of course I am. How could I not miss all the deference ("Madam Mayor"), being instantly recognised (at least when wearing the chains), being driven around by a chauffeur in a very recognisable car, never having to buy a drink or queue for lunch, being forced to buy a lot of new clothes, being asked to give my 'few words' several times a day? It's not exactly good for the soul.

There is a real sense of loss at the end of the year, so I prepared myself for it. I have jumped straight into my new role as co-Chair of South of the Borough Neighbourhood - I've already had several meetings with officers and colleagues and have given some detailed thought to improving our performance. Then I have a shopping holiday in New York to look forward to - it's officially a tour by Kingston Choral Society but with $2 to the pound it would be wicked not to shop.

You may have seen in the local press that my Deputy Mayor for the past year, Councillor Sheila Griffin, has this week resigned from the Labour Group and become an Independent. Since that leaves just one Labour member, Councillor Steve Mama, it follows that there is no longer a Labour Group as such.

In the Informer Sheila is quoted blaming a clash of personalities for the split, although a recent disagreement about a proposed housing development appears to have been the final trigger.

It's not everyday that I get to meet a relative for the first time.

My cousin Colin emigrated to Australia in the late 60s - we've kept in touch but I have never been over there and he's not been here much since then either. So it was great to get an email from him the other day saying that his daughter Tara was on her post-University travels and had arrived in London.

We met up yesterday and enjoyed a meal out with Stuart at Frère Jacques.

I got it completely wrong. I was sure Tony Blair would be gone by last October.

Well, maybe not completely wrong because what I wrote just a year ago was this:

The Labour Government seems to be in a downward spiral.  Every attempt to correct its course seems to add further turbulence. 

We now have a Minister-for-everything-that-Prescott-used-to-do-but-without-the-houses who cannot bring herself to admit that she does not support the equalities programme. We have DEFRA headed by three ministers who do not have a single farm between them in their constituencies. We have the credible Jack Straw sidelined because he doesn't back Bush on Iran.

The popularity ratings for both Bush and Blair are at their lowest point ever.

Pundits have been giving Blair twelve to fifteen months, but I'd be surprised if he is still PM by October.  There - that's my prediction.

And I was surprised that he managed to hold on beyond October, so in that sense I got it right.

I can only believe that he subjected himself to the calamitous local elections last week because he had built psychological defences that allowed him to deny the reality of his unpopularity. All politicians do it to a certain extent, because it is the only way to maintain emotional equilibrium in the face of opposition. And leaders gather around them people who will reinforce the positive and downplay the negative reactions of the public.

On another point - I must say how good it is to be able to join in political commentary again after a year's enforced neutrality.

That's it - I'm no longer the Mayor. This evening at Annual Council Cllr Shiraz Mirza became the new Mayor of the Royal Borough.

The event works like this. The Deputy Mayor, Cllr Sheila Griffin, and I robed up and met with our Representative Deputy Lieutenant, Col Geoffrey Godbold.

We then made a formal entrance into the Council Chamber where all the councillors were waiting along with a hundred or so guests - family, friends and representatives of many sectors of the community.

The Mayor had already been formally elected at the last Council meeting, so the people nominating and seconding him repeated all the reasons why he had been chosen. I then declared him as the new Mayor and adjourned the meeting to go back to the Parlour and get out of the robes and chains. Shiraz joined us and I gave him a hug and wished him well. He then had the joy of climbing into the robes I had just taken off.

Bart Ricketts, the new Deputy Mayor robed up as well. He is a good foot or more taller than his predecessor, but the robes seem to work for all heights.

I went back to sit with my colleagues and await the arrival of the new Mayor. He then announced his Mayoress and the Deputy. This was followed by some very kind speeches and I said my thank yous.

It has indeed been a memorable year. And I have this blog as a great reminder of the events I have attended.

Tomorrow the new year begins and I'm looking forward to my next role as co-Chair of the South of the Borough Neighbourhood Committee.

Two of the outright winners in the Youth Achievement Awards could not make it to the ceremony last month. So today I welcomed them to the Parlour and gave them their cups, certificates and prizes.

Jennifer Withnall (on the left) was the winner in the Educational Achievement category, out of over 50 nominations. Emily Bowles won the trophy in the Caring category. Congratulations to them both.

So it was my last major function as Mayor, we'd had wonderful weather for two months, and what did it do? - rain, of course. The May Merrie is always a terrific day out in Kingston, and most of the events did happen, even if they were rescheduled several times.

We enjoyed ...

... Morris dancing

... bands playing

... children performing

... boats sailing

... bell ringing (to start the May Merrie Challenge Race)

... Napoleanic War fighting

... Roman chariot racing

... all supported by those wonderful volunteers in the St John's Ambulance Brigade.

The Kingston Muslim Women's Welfare and Cultural Association is a supportive network which runs weekly classes in Urdu for children. It also holds seminars and discussions on cultural and religious themes.

I was invited today to one of their seminars, on the topic of Islamic Awareness. They presented a number of interesting talks on misconceptions about Islam, the role of women, and on the significance of forgiveness and kindness in the prophet's life. At the end I was invited to speak so mentioned my 'Faith in Civic' life initiative. The group expressed an interest in contacting women in other faith communities, and I'll see what I can do to put them in touch with others.

I've just snapped this parakeet in my garden.

There is a colony of about 3000 of them at Esher Rugby Club, and they can often be heard screeching around the gardens in Claygate and Chessington.

But there is one little problem; they are green, so difficult to spot and to photograph against the summer foliage.

The Leader of the Liberal Democrats, Sir Menzies Campbell, was in Tolworth last night, celebrating Edward Davey's 10th Anniversary as Member of Parliament for Kingston and Surbiton.

Here they both are with five former Kingston councillors.

In this photo three people who work at Kingston Hospital with Ian were welcomed today as new British citizens.

This was the last citizenship ceremony that I will perform, and like previous mayors I hold them amongst my best memories of the year.

Some of the Youth Achievement Award winners could not make the celebration last week so I'm gradually catching up with them. This is Arash Falahati from The Hollyfield School who was the runner-up in the Caring category.

Thames Ditton Junior School is outside the borough but the children in Year 4 have been studying Kingston. So they invited me along to tell them about the history of the Royal Borough and about my job as Mayor. I tokk Ethelred with me and invited them to guess his name - they got it pretty quickly!

The children had particularly asked to see the mace, so Harry Kempson told them about its extraordinary history.

Congratulations to Douglas and Doris Reynolds on their 60th Wedding Anniversary! Douggie was Deputy Mayor and later Mayor of the Royal Borough and both of them have actively supported civic events for as long as I can remember.

Yesterday saw the launch of Young Kingston, with this logo, and a website.

This is the charitable fund that I have been setting up throughout this year - and I'm tremendously excited that we have got to this point. It is a concrete expression of my theme of empowering young people.

Young Kingston will give grants to young people between the ages of 5 and 19 who live or study in the Royal Borough. It will support projects that the children and young people want to run that will benefit the community.

Now some youngsters may have good ideas but not know how to put them into practice, others may be put off by the need to make an application, others again may like some help with developing and then reporting on their project. So a key aspect will be access to Young Kingston Advisers who will act as friendly supporters and enable any child or group to find out what it feels like to take a project through to fruition. The YK Advisers will be drawn from Kingston University Students' Union Volunteers.

Young Kingston was launched with party for sponsors and community leaders in the splendid context of Warren House, who had very kindly offered us a free letting.

Guests joining in a boomwhacker experience by World of Rhythm

I do have to thank Kingston University, the Rotary Club of New Malden and LiveGroup for also sponsoring the event and our literature. We were very fortunate that Upward Curve, a local PR company, made us their Charity of the Year, and managed the event.

So where were all the young people? Well, some were excellent hosts on the night, but we will be promoting the fund to them in general with an exciting event at Chessington World of Adventures after the summer break, when we will start inviting applications for grants.

In the meantime, I love this photo taken by John Haynes in the RBK Press Office.