'I’m in awe of their inspirational achievements' Mayor welcomes Rugby's Olympians

I was delighted to welcome home our local Olympians Chelsie Giles, Lauren Henry and Kimberley Woods recently following the conclusion of Paris 2024.

Qualifying for the Olympics in itself is a remarkable achievement, but for all three local athletes they have gone even further and have all won a medal which is absolutely incredible (Chelsie - Bronze in Tokyo, Lauren - Gold in Paris, Kimberley - 2 x Bronze in Paris).

I’m in awe of their achievements and self discipline to get to where they have to date.

Not only are they an inspiration to us all but they are so humble too.

I’m honoured to be linking up with all three ladies visiting local schools, local groups including the newly formed Rugby Police Cadets and different events with more to follow as Chelsie, Lauren and Kimberley continue to inspire future generations.

My mayoral cadet, cadet sgt Alessia Fracchia from the 29th sq Air Cadets, and I have been attending many engagements over the last few weeks as I feel it’s important that Alessia gets a lot out of her year as the Mayor’s cadet also.

This has included summer events such as the Brinklow Scarecrow Festival, Houlton youth games, national play day at Whitehall Rec and the Ukrainian Independence Day Parade around Caldecott Park. It’s been great to see such community engagement at all of these events.

I had the pleasure to meet four-year-old Rory who has Cerebral Palsy and Autism. What an absolute superstar he is.

Rory is passionate about the refuse lorries and has built up a great bond with refuse collectors Darren and Snowy who go out of their way to spend time with him whenever they see him whilst on their rounds.

I was delighted to accompany Rory and his dad on a special tour of the refuse depot and town hall where we had a lot of fun. Lovely to meet you Rory and keep being you. Such a polite and engaging young man.

I’ve presented a few Mayor’s Special Appreciation Awards to incredible individuals recently. One of which was to young five-year-old Lottie who is a litter collecting champion. Such a kind and caring young lady who goes out of her way to make a difference.

I was delighted to support my mayoral charity, OurJay Foundation, in their recent solar powered defib installation at Houlton which was supported and funded by Urban & Civic.

This is only the 12th of it’s kind in the U.K. and the 2nd OurJay one (the other being at Princethorpe School).

It’s been a pleasure to open a new pre school at Clifton Upon Dunsmore and reopened the Paddox pub in Hillmorton and the Rugby Tap in town. I’ve also had the delight of being one of the first visitors to the newly created Rugby Gin making experience (the clubhouse) and will continue to promote and support local businesses where I can.

I recently launched a new charity networking group, meeting for the first time last month, and looking to hold these meetings every couple of months.

We have some incredible local charities and it’s nice to link up different groups.

There was approximately 20+ charities for this first meeting and I’d love to hear from anyone others interested in joining the group as everyone is welcome.

For more information or if you would like to book the mayor, contact the mayoral office on email [email protected] or call (01788) 533523.