Director of Neotists Richard Slade was elected as Mayor of St Neots in May 2024 and has been writing a regular column for the Hunts Posts since then. For those who don’t get the paper delivered or subscribe we it thought it would be useful for members to  read about it too.

By Richard Slade

In the last few weeks, it certainly has felt spring-like, and now the clocks have changed, I’m looking forward to more time in the evenings to train for next month’s mammoth charity cycle to St Neot in Cornwall. In March, I’ve only attended 24 meetings and events, but given some of them last three hours, it feels like more.

The Mayoress and I went to our fifth pantomime of the year, and I will never get tired of the quality and professionalism of the shows delivered by our theatre groups. The Little Mermaid, produced by Melodramatics, was held in Buckden Village Hall with an amazing cast and great acting. Original music and script, stunning new scenery and tech, plus magical props, made it all a great show.

I dropped by to support members of St Neots Rowing Club who were setting off on their 24-hour indoor rowing challenge to raise money for new boats for learners. I started rowing at the club myself back in 2011, and it felt great get back on the rowing machine, clock up a few kilometres and support this great cause. When I returned the next day to check on their progress, some of the team had been rowing on and off overnight, helping them nearly reach their target of £2,400.

The Mayoress and I welcomed the Cambridgeshire Libraries mobile bus to Wintringham for the first time. It’s great to see this stop, along with another at Love’s Farm, added to the service, which supports the new residents in St Neots. We were joined by library driver Darren and manager Ally from the libraries team. The bus will return every second Monday of the month.

I spent a day in Kingston upon Thames with council officer Andrew Korolev and architect Tom Coward critiquing 15 projects produced by architecture students from Kingston School of Art. The class had visited St Neots last year to gather research to help answer the brief, “Design a performance space for St Neots.” The students reimagined some of our old and new buildings, and I was so impressed by the quality, scope, and variety of presentations. They will now take our feedback and finalise the projects, which I hope to share later in the year.

I popped along to the new Greggs in St Neots a few weeks ago to mark their official opening and waited eagerly with other customers for the doors to open. I grabbed a coffee and spoke with the team, who are very excited to have larger and more modern premises. I’m delighted another national retailer has invested in St Neots and will continue my promotion of the town to other retailers to get the message over that St Neots is the fastest-growing town in Cambridgeshire and a vibrant place to set up shop.

My final visit of the month was to St Neots Tennis Club to unveil a plaque commemorating the funding St Neots Town Council has granted the club, which has helped them build a new ramp for accessible access to the clubhouse, toilets, and changing rooms. I was joined by other funders, including St Neots Rotary Club, and we were treated to a gripping singles match between two young players.