Minutes:
The Mayor welcomed everyone to the meeting.
1. Speech of the Young Mayor
The Young Mayor, Okan Gurhan, gave a brief speech. He began by expressing his gratitude to Councillor Kate Anolue for setting up the young mayoralty and enabling him to be the first young mayor of Enfield.
Being Young Mayor had been a wonderful opportunity, he had met so many people and he had gained so much from the experience. Highlights included visiting the House of Lords and meeting Bambos Charalambous MP and attending the Mayor’s Day with mayors from all over London.
On 17 April 2020 they had arranged a public speaking event called the Big Speech for year 8 children. He hoped members would be able to attend.
He was very grateful for an amazing year and he hoped to be able to go on to Oxford University to study Politics Philosophy and Economics and become a lawyer, politician or a banker.
The Mayor thanked Okan Gurhan and said how much she valued the young people.
2. The Mayor’s Announcements
The Mayor began by saying how quickly the last year had passed.
The Mayor thanked the officers in democratic services who had enabled her to achieve the goal of creating a young mayor and deputy mayor for Enfield. This had been a great success and for next year there were now 45 young people interested in the roles. She hoped the Council would continue to support the initiative.
The Mayor said that she was happy to have spent her life working with people, 40 years at North Middlesex Hospital and for the people of Enfield and she would continue to do so.
The Mayor was organising a special event on Friday 6 March 2020 to commemorate International Women’s Day, celebrating the achievements of local women.
During the year the Mayor had visited lots of organisations and other boroughs. Enfield had a great deal of vivacity, people spoke over 100 different languages and it was a wonderfully cultured borough. She had lived in Enfield for more than 40 years and loved Enfield.
Last week she had visited sickle cell unit at North Middlesex Hospital. They needed their own machine. This had changed dramatically since her last visit in 2012 but more resources were needed. This was one of her ten charities for which she was raising money. She wanted to help the lonely, the vulnerable, carers and the elderly and all vulnerable, isolated and lonely residents.
This had been a tough year but she felt that it could not have gone better. When people invited her to an event, she had found it difficult to refuse, so she had been to many events.
The Mayor said that she could not have done it without the help and support of Koulla Panaretou, the Mayor’s Secretary, saying how hard she worked and how wonderful the way she appealed to people was. She also thanked her wonderful drivers Bill Cornish and Paresh Thakore who were so caring, always on time and enjoyed what they are doing. She respected them all and thanked them all for making things go so well.
3. Speech of the Deputy Young Mayor
Deputy Young Mayor, Christevie Ngoma, also gave a short speech. She said that her whole year as deputy had been an amazing experience. She had learnt so much and would have some wonderful memories. She had particularly enjoyed working with Councillor Barnes on climate change,meeting and talking to so many new people and hearing new ideas. She also wanted to study Politics, Philosophy and Economics and hoped that she could be a role model for others in the future.
Councillor Barnes thanked Christevie Ngoma and Okan Gurhan for their fantastic contributions on the Climate Change Task Force.
Councillor Laban added her thanks saying how proud she was of the young people and wished them both a brilliant future.