Rugby Mayor rubs shoulders with the Royals and meets the borough's newest centenarian

What a busy and enjoyable first month it’s been as Mayor of Rugby. I’ve met so many amazing individuals and groups who do so much for the community.

Here’s just a snippet.

Congratulations to Christine Ann Beech from Rugby; awarded a BEM (British Empire Medal) for her services to young people, particularly through her Girlguiding role as a Brownie Leader.

Christine was presented with her medal by His Majesty’s Lord Lieutenant of Warwickshire Tim Cox at the Long Lawford Memorial Hall.

Long Lawford is very lucky to have you Chris.

My wife and I enjoyed a once in a lifetime experience. Lunch at Parliament with our MP Mark Pawsey followed by attending the Royal Garden party at Buckingham Palace.

The weather was horrendous but luckily I had my umbrella from Our Jay Foundation (my chosen charity) to keep us dry. The tea, sandwiches and cakes were lovely and we got to see Prince William, Princesses Beatrice and Eugenie, Zara and Mike Tindall, the Duke and Duchess of Gloucester and so many other distinguished guests. A day to remember.

A Golden Anniversary celebration event to commemorate 50 years of Rugby Borough Council, was held at the Benn Hall, Rugby.

As part of the event, I invited members of the Rugby Ukrainian Community who sang for us.

It was a pleasure to meet up with some of the members of Past and Present Memories of Rugby and District at their latest get together.

The history of our town and our borough is so important and this group do so much to keep this alive.

Looking forward to hearing more from the group and supporting where I can.

It was a pleasure to attend the Brinklow FC tournament. A club that means a lot to me as it’s where my son started his footballing journey at the age of 5 through to 12 and where I started my coaching journey also.

Always a great tournament and run by a great bunch of volunteers giving their time for the community.

I had the honour of presenting the awards to the winners and runners up in the U7s and U8s age groups and also chose the player of the match in the U7s final.

I was delighted to attend a view/meet the artists event at Art at the Alex, James Street, Rugby, for their WOS24 exhibition which includes 18 Warwickshire Open Studios artists. Many of which are familiar faces having attended previous events but it was also nice to meet some new faces.

We are so lucky to have so many talented and diverse artists and makers in the borough of Rugby and I would encourage you all to go and have a look for yourself at their amazing work.

I attended the Colas rail careers and rail safety event in Rugby. Every child should know about the dangers of railway lines and putting their safety first.

I was honoured to meet Elizabeth Ballantyne who is really passionate about rail safety and understandably so as she tragically lost her 11-year old son Harrison after he entered onto the railway line at Crick to retrieve his football in 2017.

A big thank you to everyone involved in the Sewa Walkathon around Draycote Water.

It was great to see so many people there for this fundraising walk around Draycote Water raising funds for Our Jay Foundation.

I had a great time attending The BIG Sing rehearsal. It was great to chat to many of the members and hear all about why they joined and what they get out of it.

There was a real sense of friendship and the energy in the room was incredible. I’ve seen The BIG Sing performing several times before at events but seeing them in rehearsal and the camaraderie that they have was a real experience.

I’m also keen to hear more about the charity work that they do in the community. Thank you to Dan for inviting me along.

Happy birthday Aileen. As mentioned on her sash - 100 and fabulous.

It was lovely to celebrate your day with you and nice to meet your family over from Australia too.

I also had the pleasure of meeting a number of staff and residents at Thurlaston Meadows Care Home plus a guided tour from home manager Elvira who also showed me their taxi/eshuttle which is great for residents outings.

Thank you for the hospitality shown by everyone and don’t mention the kiss on the lips from Aileen to my wife!

As the Mayor of Rugby it’s an honour to be the president of The Bradby Club Supporters and yesterday I had the pleasure of attending their garden party to help raise vital funds for the club.

They do such important work in the community and help support so many youngsters teaching life skills along the way.