As my year in office comes to an end, community events have come thick and fast. The most exciting included:
- Sevenoaks Welcomes Refugees fundraising concert at Walthamstow Hall School on 25th April. It featured Dr Peyman Heydarian, an award-winning Persian santur player, Rama Alcoutlabi, Syrian vocalist, and founder of Music for Peace-Building, and Ukrainian singers, Project DZVIN.CO. An inspiring evening with the chance to talk to the musicians about their traditions.
- Bosville Big Band concert in aid of Guide Dogs at Bat & Ball Community Centre on 26th April, led by Ray Russell and Audrey Franks. Lots of old jazz favourites – and some lovely dogs!
- Spring in the Park – the Mayor of Swanley’s invitation to mayors across Kent to come and discover the delights of Swanley Park as its trees come into bloom. We had a private train to take us round the park in the spring sunshine.
- Sevenoaks Climate Fair on the Vine on 2nd May, organised again by Sevenoaks Climate Action Network (SCAN), and attracting a good crowd. A big theme this year was energy – solar powered homes, heat pumps and other technology to reduce both our carbon footprints and our energy bills. There were lots of exhibitors on these issues, and an announcement by SCAN that it is looking to set up a community interest company to support new initiatives.
- A theatre show and rock painting on The Vine on 3rd May with around 100 children coming to paint bugs and other creatures on pebbles which will be used for Sevenoaks in Bloom to make the gardens more interesting.
- Sevenoaks District Scout Gathering – with 600 young people of all ages from 5 to 20 at their big camp in the woods at Downe. We were invited together with Lynda Harrison, the District Council Chair, to see how the Scouts were celebrating their first local gathering for several years. The enthusiasm was infectious as we watched achievement awards and each of the different classes of Scouts renewing their promises.
- On 6th May, I held my last fundraising event for the charities I’ve been supporting through the year Sevenoaks Citizens Advice and Sevenoaks Area Youth Trust. By kind permission of the Foreign Secretary and Chevening Trustees, several mayors from across Kent, as well as current and former councillors and consorts, joined us for lunch at Chevening House. It’s a very special place – a stately home that really feels like a home, still with much of the last Earl Stanhope’s belongings in it, from before it became a home for Foreign Ministers.
- And finally on 7th May we went to visit the charity We are Beams in Hextable, to be shown round by fundraiser Bradley Thornburrow, and meet CEO Katrina Adams. This is an organisation which supports young people with special needs with practical help, educational programmes, respite care to support families and organised stays to help young people socialise and gain some independence. The range of work the organisation does has expanded hugely over the 30 years they have been in existence, but the demand for their services has rocketed. Their aim is to support and enable young people with learning needs, and it clearly works. It’s an inspiring organisation with expert, dedicated, carers.
As I hand over to the new Mayor at tonight’s Annual Council Meeting, I’m confident the Town Council will be in very good hands!
Cllr Tony Clayton
Mayor of Sevenoaks
