To receive such announcements as may be made by the Mayor.
Minutes:
The Mayor:-
1. Announced that, since the last Council meeting, he and the Deputy Mayor had undertaken over one hundred engagements and that details had been circulated around the Chamber.
2. Thanked his Chaplain, Rev Doctor Paul Smith, for so ably conducting his Civic Service on Sunday 28 September. There had been an excellent turnout at St Bartholomew’s Church in Wilmslow and he thanked all Members who had been able to attend.
3. Stated that he would like to put on record his pride by the way in which Cheshire East has commemorated the centenary of the start of the First World War and he congratulated those that organised the two marvellous and very well attended events that he had had the pleasure of hosting in August. He considered that it was very fitting that the Council had remembered the centenary of the First Battle of Ypres at today’s meeting.
4. Announced that, in a private capacity, since the last meeting of Council, he had visited Normandy with representatives of ABF, the Soldiers Charity, one of his two charities for his Mayoral year. It had been a privilege to learn at first hand of the good work that this wonderful charity did. He had concluded his visit with the laying of a wreath on behalf of ABF.
5. Announced that the second of his two charities was MacMillan Cancer Support and he had had the pleasure of being part of MacMillan World’s Biggest Coffee Morning a couple of weeks earlier. Thanks to the generosity of the people of Macclesfield, over £200 had been raised for this very good cause.
6. Announced that he had been informed of the death of Keith Bagnall, a former Congleton Borough Councillor and serving Middlewich Town Councillor. He was sure that Members would join with him in sending condolences to Mr Bagnall’s family and friends.
7. Referred to much of the good work in society that went unnoticed and unrecognised and stated that one of the joys of being Mayor was having the opportunity to celebrate this good work. Since he had been appointed in May he had been truly astounded by the commitment and energy that he had seen from those providing services for people with disabilities and life limiting illnesses. What he had seen had been truly inspirational and he gave two examples:-
· On 24 September he and the Mayoress had had the pleasure of visiting the Donna Louise Children's Hospice; this was outside of the Borough, in Stoke, but provided services to the Borough’s residents. He had learnt a lot; not least that the majority of Children who used the services of the Hospice moved on to other forms of treatment or were in remission when they left. The visit was truly life affirming.
· In August, he had been entertained to afternoon tea by the Parkinson’s Disease Society. Again, he was extremely impressed by what he saw; dedicated volunteers, a thriving organisation and perhaps most impressively many of examples of self help by those suffering from Parkinson’s.
He considered that being Mayor of Cheshire East was a great privilege.