Mayor of St Neots — October round-up

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

This month, alongside 34 committee meetings, ceremonies, and public events, I have been training for the St Neots Half Marathon. I’ve never run 13 miles in one go and am a little nervous. Luckily, Becky, Ben, Andrew, Jacqui, and Lucy from the council will be joining me to raise money for my chosen charities. I’ve set up a Just Giving page; search ” St Neots Mayor Just Giving” to support us.

One of my favourite tasks of the year is awarding badges and certificates to each child who completes the Summer Reading Challenge. Cambridgeshire Libraries runs the challenge, and this year, St Neots came top of the list with the most books read. It was lovely to experience the smiles and delight of the 150 children who attended.

What is rapidly turning into a yearly event was the St Neots Bake-Off as part of Macmillan Coffee Morning. Hosted by Serious About St Neots and held in Cross Keys we judged a range of sweet and savory entries with guest judge GBBO winner Matty Edgell.

We hosted a visit from 25 students studying architecture at Kingston School of Art. They have been set a project to redesign a building or space in St Neots. Along with their teachers, we gave them a quick tour of the high street to help guide the projects. I’ll share the ideas once they’re completed as I’m sure they’ll be amazing.

Between the council and mayor’s duties, I popped along to a reunion party for the Bedford College faculty and students. I taught graphic design there until 2019 and it was lovely to see so many of my students doing well in their careers.

I attended a workshop run by the Great Ouse Valley Trust. Trustees wanted to hear the views and ideas of local residents, councillors and other stakeholders on how we can improve the green spaces along the River Great Ouse. This is the last of three highly-useful workshops they have commissioned and I’m keen to see what can be done with our beautiful stretch of the Ouse.

Last week we hosted various events as part of Baby Loss Awareness Week culminating in a Wave of Light ceremony, held in memory of all the babies who lit up our lives for such a short time. I’d like to thank Becky and Katie for leading this kind of initiative to support parents, family and friends.

I dropped by the regular farmer’s market on the market square to enjoy some music and browse the stalls. I was pleased to chat with two new creative stall holders, Bob selling amazing looking prints and Lex selling a range of beautiful ceramics.

St Neots Library had its first Eco event, working with St Neots Town Council and Huntingdonshire District Council Lots of people turned up to learn more about how they can make a difference with their choices for the planet. Our Environmental Project Officer, Nicola, was there and is making a huge difference in her role at the council. I had some great conversations with people covering all sorts of subjects ranging from The Pightle, St Neots FLAG – flood liaison action group, Grow Wild St Neots, SNARL – St Neots Against Rubbish & Litter as well as our new MP Ian Sollom, whose maiden speech in parliament last week mentioned St Neots an impressive nine times.

Later in the week we officially opened the Derek Giles memorial bench alongside his family. Volunteers from The Pightle, councillors friends and residents met to celebrate the legacy of a man who has dedicated over 40 years of his life to public service.

Finally one of the strangest things as mayor was cutting the ribbon to open public toilets. Not just any toilet though but the newly completed Changing Places toilet at Riverside Park. A state-of-the-art facility designed for anyone with disabilities, ensuring that the park is accessible for all to enjoy. The joint project between town and district has seen the whole toilet block refurbished and dare I say it, they are the best-looking toilets in the town.