Minutes:
The Mayor began by wishing councillors and members of the public “good evening”, “a happy new year”, “health and success for the coming year” and by thanking Father Limbert for his blessing.
1. Past Engagements
November and December had been very busy months for the mayoral team and the Mayor thanked the officers, the deputy mayor, her consort, the deputy mayor’s consort for their support and the people of Enfield for their invitations.
The Mayor had attended the following:
· Remembrance Events - the armistice services at Broomfield Park, followed by a service of remembrance at City Hall with Sadiq Khan, Mayor of London, and the Remembrance Day parades at Southgate, Enfield and Edmonton.
· Long Service Awards - attended with the Chief Executive and Leader of the Council, which she said were always a pleasure where she was able to thank the staff for their continued hard work.
· Fund raisers including the Masquerade Ball and the Syrian Quiz Night.
· Commemoration of a golf trophy named in the honour of the late Neil Isaac with his family and close friends present.
· An afternoon tea, hosted by the Mayor, for a 90 year old resident in the parlour – the resident had had her picture taken in one of the Mayoral chairs – a happy memory for her friends and family, who were also present.
· The Arctic Commemoration on the 20th January 2017 which the Mayor said had allowed us to think once again about our valued soldiers and what they had and continued to do for us.
· The Mayor and her family had been honoured to attend the Christmas Day Lunch following mass for the Homeless and Elderly at Our Lady of Mount Carmel & St George Catholic Church. When they had arrived home eventually, they had reflected on the dignity of those people and their gratitude which was very humble given their daily circumstances.
2. Mayor’s Charity, Enfield Sounds Great, Fundraising Events
The following events had raised money for the Mayor’s charity:
· A successful Taste of Italy evening with Councillor Glynis Vince which raised £414.50.
· Various Christmas concerts including the Christmas Parade of Lights, Forty Hall Christmas Concert, the Enfield Choral Society Christmas Concert and Christmas carol services and performances at many schools.
· An International Music Evening hosted on the 21st January 2017, where various musicians had performed some beautiful pieces. The evening was well attended and much fun was had by all. It raised £777.00 on the night and the breadth and the standard of the music from all parts of the world was astonishing.
The Mayor also said a big thank you to the many local businesses, churches and parishes which had provided great support over the Christmas period to her charity. These included Our Lady of Mount Carmel & St George, St Mary Magdalene Church and the Chickenshed Theatre.
3. Afternoon Tea for Olympians
The Mayor had been excited to host an event for Enfield Olympians and honour their success. She said that Desiree Henry had been a delight, together with a fellow Paralympian, Vanessa Daobry. Some young people from the Crystal Palace Youth Games had also attended and had been very excited to meet Desiree and Vanessa, and to have their pictures taken with them. Local MP’s were also present, including Kate Osamor and David Burrowes.
4. New Year’s Day Parade
The New Year’s Day Parade in London had been an amazing display of excellent floats and had been attended by many people. Unfortunately Enfield’s float had not won this year, but it had been an honour for the Mayor to be part of the day. It had also been wonderful for the Mayor to be on the top deck of a London bus with all the London mayors wishing everyone “a Happy New Year”.
5. Haven House Children’s Hospice
The Mayor said that she had made a crucial connection with Haven House Children’s Hospice, which although based out of Enfield, took many Enfield children. She looked forward to raising funds for their music therapy and to raising their profile in Enfield.
6. Primary Schools
The Mayor had been delighted that two Enfield primary schools, Eversley and Worcester’s, had been recognised as centres of excellence in this year’s Parliamentary Review. Both of these maintained schools had been graded as outstanding by Ofsted and had contributed to school improvement across the borough.
The Mayor had been delighted that the Queen, in her New Year’s Honours list, had awarded an OBE to Marva Rollins, Headteacher at Raynham Primary School, for the outstanding contribution she had made to education. Marva had been Headteacher at Raynham for 17 years, and has worked tirelessly to put teams and systems in place to ensure that children in one of the poorest areas in the country received an education that increased their chances of moving out of poverty.
Marva Rollins was presented with a bouquet of flowers.
7. Holocaust Memorial Day
Finally the Mayor said that she had been very honoured and moved to attend the Holocaust Memorial Day Commemoration at City Hall on Monday 23 January 2017, with Sadiq Khan, the Mayor of London, and Councillors Derek Levy and Daniel Anderson.
She also reminded members about the Enfield Holocaust Memorial Day Commemoration due to take place on the following evening and said that she hoped to see many of them there.
8. Future Engagements
· Enfield Sounds Great LIVE Event - 5th February 2017, at the Chickenshed Theatre. Tickets would be available from the Chickenshed box office. She hoped that this would be a wonderful event involving local Enfield musicians coming together to support the Mayor’s charity.
· A St Patrick’s Eve Fundraiser - 16th March 2017 with local musicians.
· The Mayors Ball – 25 March 2017 at the Royal Chase Hotel. Tickets were now on sale. Lisa McEwan would have some in the Mayor’s Parlour if anyone wanted to buy one that evening.
· Dick Whittington Walk – the Mayor would be walking with all the London mayors in aid of her charity, starting at the Whittington Hospital and finishing at Mansion House, with the Mayor of Islington providing light refreshments. The Mayor said that she would appreciate members’ sponsorship and that Lisa McEwan would have sponsorship forms available, in the parlour, after the meeting.
· Finally in celebration of Burns Night, “a wee bit of haggis” would be served in the parlour, that evening.
The Mayor reminded members that the meeting had a timed agenda, and that she would inform the chamber 10 minutes before the end of the time allocated for each section, so that members were aware of the need to sum-up.
The Mayor also asked that members, in order to keep as much as possible to the timings, be aware of their conduct during the meeting, and said that she expected that they would behave courteously and respectfully to each other and herself as Mayor. She added “please remember when you are rude to me as the first citizen you are rude to all the residents of Enfield”.
She asked that members were mindful of the requests she made as Mayor, to ensure the smooth running of the meeting, and that if there was behaviour which she considered to be disruptive to the business of the meeting, she would have no recourse but to ask that that member leave.
A comfort break would be announced at a suitable time in the proceedings, around 8.30pm.