January has whizzed by in a flash, but I still managed to attend, host or take part in 20 different events. On New Year’s Day I got up early to be on Black Cat Radio, I was invited on the breakfast show to read out residents’ new year messages. It was a lovely way to celebrate the start of 2025. The following week I was back on air for a special evening ‘Ask the Mayor’ show. We started off with sensible questions “When will the market square be open?” but as the show went on the more relaxed “what colour is your favourite t-shirt” was asked. It was great fun and thanks to the team for looking after me.

Next up was a visit to the East West Rail consultation at the football club in Love’s Farm. Residents were asked by EWR representatives for their views on the route, layout and impact and it was great to see that hundreds of people went along to share their opinions. EWRs statutory consultation will come next so sign-up to hear when that will be via eastwestrail.co.uk.

My last Panto of the winter season was the fabulous Panto Mayhem (oh yes it was). Organised by the St Neots Players and held at Longsands Academy the cast and crew did an amazing job of entertaining the crowd with a great storyline and acting, plus dancing, a human pyramid and acro-gymnastics, expertly choreographed and performed by Bee’s Dance Academy. The audience participation of singing, dancing and even a snowball fight was equally entertaining. It was a great way to spend an evening and I have so much admiration for all the hard work and commitment from the cast and crew to put on shows like this one.

Last weekend I joined our metro mayor Dr Nik Johnson at the Walk and Talk for Men charity fundraiser. The group had challenged themselves to walk 874 miles in seven days (the distance from John O’Groats to Land’s End) and raise money for Blue Smile, a Cambridgeshire-based children’s mental health charity. As the week came to a close the walkers had triumphantly smashed their target covering over 1,100 miles and raised a whopping £2,000 for the charity. Congratulations to all the team and if you want to join their regular walks on Saturday mornings, they leave at 9.30am from Riverside car park.

Finally, I dropped by a new Ancestry Research Surgery at St Neots library. Specialists from Cambridgeshire and Huntingdonshire Family History Society were on hand to answer questions and offer advice to residents stuck on researching their tree. I’ve recently completed a branch of my tree and was delighted to discover my family have lived in Huntingdonshire for centuries. The surgeries are being run on the fourth Thursday of each month at 2pm and come earlier as the sessions are very popular.