Minutes:
The Mayor said “I have embraced my Mayoral duties with great pride. I am also lucky enough to be supported by two highly intelligent and thoroughly decent young individuals who have been nominated to be our new Young Mayor, Mr Okan Gurhan, and Deputy Young Mayor, Miss Christevie Ngoma. I am very proud of them and eagerly await to see how their future pans out as I am sure they will be fine upstanding pillars of our community as they enter adulthood.”
1. Citizenship
One of her first tasks as Mayor had been chairing the Citizenship ceremony. She had been honoured to be part of this ceremony where so many members of the borough came to obtain their place in this country. New citizens attended with great excitement and she said that she enjoyed them all. She had attended six ceremonies so far.
2. Events
Over the last two months the Mayor had received many invitations and thanked the Deputy Mayor, Cllr Sabri Ozaydin, for helping her with some of the events, together with the Mayoral office, making a great team.
The Mayor had the pleasure of meeting many of those involved with the Mayor’s Office, some of whom she had known when she was last Mayor in 2012. She named: Ann Cable (Deputy Lieutenant), Kathy Worrall, Paul Everitt, Shaun Rogan, Andrea Clemons, and the very helpful press team.
The Mayor had been extremely lucky to be able to meet many voluntary sector and community agency workers and had been overwhelmed by the amount of work that they all do for the community in our borough. This helped her to decide which charities she had chosen to support in her Mayoral year.
The Mayor had visited many local organisations since becoming mayor and had been amazed at the work being done in the borough. She said that she had met some wonderful people.
3. The Mayor’s Charities
The Mayor’s chosen charities were Sickle Cell and Thalassaemia, Dementia Care, the Children’s Society, the Nightingale Cancer Support Centre, the Lefkara Association in Enfield, the Zebra Children and Adults Charity, Enfield Carers Centre, Stroke Action, Over 50’s Forum, Capel Manor Enriching Programme for Youth Clubs and Groups.
The Mayor had begun work on raising as much money as she could for her charities. The first event was to be the quiz night on the 25th July 2019, which was to take place in the Civic Centre restaurant. She hoped that as many people as possible would join her for what she hoped would be a very enjoyable evening. Tickets would cost £10, all of the money collected was to go directly to her charity.
4. Future Engagements
The Mayor was launching her autobiography in the Council Chamber on Friday 26th July 2019 at 7pm in the Council Chamber. She hoped members would join her to share this special moment.
On the 22nd September 2019, the Mayor planned to hold a Civic Mass.
On 29th September 2019 there was to be the annual Mayor’s Forty Hall Fun Run.
The Mayor’s main fund raiser, a gala, will be on the 18th October 2019 at the Selby Centre. She asked members to mark the date in their diaries as she wanted to celebrate these events with everyone.
5. Tribute to Mrs Rita Miller, Freeperson of the Borough
The Mayor paid tribute to a late freeperson of the borough, Mrs Rita Miller, who had passed away the preceding week. Her funeral was due to take place on Monday 15th July 2019 at 11am at Christchurch, Southgate and afterwards at the Walker Cricket Ground.
A minute’s silence was held in honour of Mrs Rita Miller.
Finally, the Mayor thanked everyone for attending the meeting and wished them all a very nice summer.
6. Young Mayor and Deputy Young Mayor
The Young Mayor, Mr Okan Gurhan, and Deputy Young Mayor, Miss Christevie Ngoma also made short speeches saying how much they were looking forward to working with the Mayor and that they were enjoying their new roles.