This week Councillors, voluntary and community groups, charities and key partners from across the town gathered at Reading Town Hall for the Council’s Annual General Meeting and Mayor-making ceremony.
It’s an important tradition which celebrates the values and responsibilities of public office and the event is two-fold. Firstly, to appoint Councillors to the various positions and committees for the Municipal Year ahead following the recent local elections.
The second part is the Mayor-making Ceremony where Reading’s new first citizen is sworn in and thanking the outgoing Mayor, on this occasion my colleague Alice Mpofu Coles, for her tremendous efforts over the past 12 months in which she attended more than 260 local events at the invitation of organisations across the town, and raised thousands of pounds for her chosen charities of Readifood and Utulivu Women’s Group.
I’m sure those of you who have had the pleasure of welcoming Alice to their community events or fundraising occasions will join me in congratulating her on an incredible year. Replacing her is my long-term ward colleague, Councillor Paul Gittings, who I’m certain will fill the role amazingly well.
Mayor-making is a once-a-year opportunity to thank guests, our town’s incredible community and voluntary sector organisations and charities, and key partners for their enormous contribution to everyday life in our town. The event is about Civic pride, local democracy, celebrating our town’s communities and about representing Reading.
It’s regrettable that in recent years we have seen the Mayor-making event exploited on occasion for political purposes. The suggestion that this is somehow an extravagant, opulent affair with little or no value to the town only serves to diminish the incredible job Reading’s Mayors do.
Every year the Mayor of Reading raises thousands of pounds for their chosen charities and our Mayor making event plays an important role in helping to raise the profile of the these charities and how people can contribute, not to mention thanking the town’s community and voluntary organisations and other charities whose work can very often go unseen.
The enormous contribution the Mayor of Reading makes to our communities every single year should be, and generally is, widely welcomed and commended. It would be a refreshing change if this year if that could be acknowledged from all sides of the Chamber.
By Cllr Liz Terry, leader of Reading Borough Council
