Minutes:
The Mayor made the following announcements:
She began by saying that October had again been one of the busiest months for the Mayoral team and that she would like to thank the officers, her consort, the deputy mayor, her consort for their support and for the people of Enfield for their invitations.
1. Past Engagements – these included:
· A Visit of Young People from Gladbeck (Enfield’s twin town in Germany) and Norway who had been looked after by Claire Whetstone and the Enfield Children and Young People’s Service. The Mayor had attended a ceremony at an Enfield Town Football Match where during half time she had awarded them medals. She said that it had been a pleasure to receive the children into the borough. She had also been given an Enfield Football Club scarf, which had meant a lot to her as her brother had been an ardent supporter.
· Visit to Haven House Hospice (Woodford Green) – a heart wrenching visit which had bought to the Mayor’s attention the number of Enfield children that used their services. The work of the hospice was invaluable and the people that work there were truly magnificent. The Mayor thanked them for their hard work and support and said that she would also be inviting them to meet key councillors so that the Council could provide more support to their valued work.
· Looked After Children Event – accompanied by Councillor Glynis Vince with Councillor Orhan also in attendance.
· Park View House Residential Care Home Silver Sunday Tea Dance – an event involving live music and dancing which was tremendously helpful to elderly and isolated residents.
· Mayor for Peace Meeting – an event to signify world peace - in times of great hardship and war across the world - with survivors from Hiroshima and Nagasaki who gave witness statements on their experiences. Councillor Brett also attended.
· Launch of National Hate Crime Awareness Week at St Paul’s Cathedral – accompanied by Councillor Brett.
· Black History Month the many celebrations beginning with the opening ceremony at Enfield Town Library and the closing ceremony at the Dugdale Centre.
· Celebrations for One Hundred Hours of Volunteering – the Mayor said that it had been an honour to attend and be able to thank all those who had given up their valued time to support worthy causes and make a difference to so many people in need.
· London Mayor’s Association Annual Civic Service in Westminster Abbey which had been attended by many dignitaries and other London mayors. The Mayor said that it had been nice to see the pageant of so many London mayors, under one roof.
· Thanksgiving Civic Mass (Saturday 22 October 2016) The Mayor said that this to her was one of the most important events of her Mayoral Year. She thanked all those who had attended, including all the clergy and the Mayors of Waltham Forest, Hackney, Haringey, Barnet and the former Mayor of Newham and for making this special occasion extremely memorable and especially poignant. This had been the church where she had been baptised and it had held many good memories for her and her family.
· Mayor’s Tea at the Autumn Show – The Mayor thanked Kathy and Paul Worrall for arranging the tea which went splendidly and for Ruth Winston House for their funding of it.
· Ruth Winston House AGM – The Mayor thanked Ruth Winston House for inviting her and making her feel very welcome as well as thanking all those supported the event which had meant a lot to all the Ruth Winston members at the AGM.
· Armed Forces Event – The Mayor’s Office worked closely with Councillor Brett and her team at the recent Armed Forces Event, which proved very successful. The veterans were happy to be honoured, whilst remembering all those who lost their lives to protect the nation. The Mayor was delighted to offer the hospitality of the Mayor’s Parlour and share in the civic pride of the armed forces.
2. Enfield Sounds Great
The charity was continuing to work hard and had recently benefited from the following fundraising events
· “A Night of West End Musicals” organised at the Prince Albert Pub in Hertford Road, Freezywater. In excess of £400 was raised.
· St Georges Primary School Harvest Festival Assembly – raising £156.
· Three Showings of Sing a Long a Frozen at the Dugdale Centre – on one of the occasions - while making her speech - the Mayor’s two nieces in the audience had called out “We love you Aunty Bernie”.
· International Lunch organised by Enfield Legal Team –– which had raised £152.
· Mayor’s Thanksgiving Mass where the raffle raised £156.
As the Enfield Sounds Great Charity was about promoting music in Enfield and recognising great local performers and others outside of Enfield, the Mayor paid tribute to Bob Dylan, recently been awarded the Nobel Prize for Literature. She shared the following words from one of his songs:
May God bless and keep you always,
May your wishes all come true,
May you always do for others,
And let others do for you.
May you build a ladder to the stars,
And climb on every rung
May you stay forever young.
3. Congratulations
The Mayor offered her congratulations to Tony Theodoulou for his success in becoming the new Director of Schools and Children’s Services.
4. Future Engagements
· A Visit to the Parker Dementia Centre – in December where they use music to stimulate dementia sufferers with amazing results. The Mayor had already made a visit to this centre where she had watched a band of ukulele players made up of local residents entertaining other residents which had been hugely enjoyable.
· Remembrance Day Events – several events were happening across the borough during the weekend following the meeting. The Mayor’s Office would be sending details to all councillors.
The Mayor reminded members that the meeting had a timed agenda and said that she would inform the chamber 10 minutes before the end of the time allocated for each section of the meeting to allow them to sum up.
The Mayor also reminded members to be aware of their conduct during meeting. She expected them to behave courteously and respectfully both to each other and herself as Mayor and asked them to be mindful of her requests to ensure the smooth running of the meeting. If there was behaviour which she considered disruptive to the business of the meeting, she would have no recourse but to ask the member to leave the meeting.
A comfort break would be announced at a suitable time in the proceedings, around 8.30pm.