Tag Archive for: Mayor of St Neots

Mayor of St Neots — December 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 has been an exciting mix of over 35 meetings, shows, pantos, concerts, and civic events — the usual busy schedule you’d expect for mayors across the country.

The St Neots Choral Society invited me to their annual autumn concert at the church in Eaton Socon. This is the third time I’ve attended one of their performances, and each time they surpass the last. This season’s choice of Handel’s Judas Maccabaeus was absolutely stunning. If you get the chance, I’d highly recommend booking for their next performance in April: Stainer’s The Crucifixion.

The mayor with conductor (left) Reg Searle and the lead singers

I was interviewed on Dotty’s morning show on BBC Radio Cambridgeshire to discuss the very important question of whether St Neots’ Christmas tree is wonkier than the one in the Fenland town of March. Naturally, St Neots took the title — we’re clearly champions in the wonky tree category.

I attended the Mayor of Huntingdon’s Charity Dinner to support his chosen causes. It was a fantastic evening with dozens of mayors, former mayors, civic leaders, and even some celebrities. The highlight was an exciting auction, with one very sought-after item fetching £1,000.

The next show the Mayoress and I enjoyed was A Midwinter Night’s Dream, organized by Riverside Theatre and held again at Eaton Socon Church. It was hugely entertaining and superbly acted. One young performer who intentionally sang off-key for her role impressed everyone — I’m told she has an incredible voice. What talent to pull that off.

The mayor with performers from Riverside Theatre on stage at A Midwinter Night’s Dream

The following week, we were back at the same church for the Mayor’s Carol Concert, this time in Christmas jumpers. This annual tradition is always a joy, and I was thrilled to experience it as Mayor after attending last year as Deputy. The children from local junior schools sang beautifully, moving many proud parents — and even a few teary-eyed audience members.

I had the chance to visit St Neots’ new escape room last week. Luckily, our team managed to get out in time — and avoided being dragon food. We made it with just 30 seconds to spare, with only minimal hints from the team at The Escape House.

The mayor with co-founder of The Escape House

I also popped into the Hunts Volunteer Centre Christmas party, where I had the pleasure of chatting with their amazing volunteer drivers and some of the residents they assist. It’s a brilliant service run by Shona and her team, and one that the council hopes to use in the future to support some of our less-able councillors.

The mayor with some of the volunteer drivers from Hunts Volunteer Centre

A real highlight of the month was awarding two remarkable individuals the honorary title of Freedom of the Town of St Neots. This is the highest recognition our council can bestow, reflecting the profound impact these individuals have had on our community. Reginald Searle was honoured for leading the Choral Society and Sinfonia for over 50 years, and Roger Pitt for running the St Neots Folk Club and Festival for more than four decades. I also made a special mention of Roger’s late wife, Patti, who would have been proudly by his side. Both honourees have brought culture, entertainment, and joy to our town.

The final event of the month was Peter Panto, Adult Adventures by Pocket Productions. This cheeky, adult-themed pantomime was fast-paced, hilarious, and a true crowd-pleaser. It was thoroughly enjoyable and a brilliant way to end a busy month.

The mayor with the cast from Pocket Productions on stage at Peter Panto

Back in May, when I chose local theatre groups as my mayoral charities, I never imagined I’d get to attend every one of their shows. I’m delighted to say I’ve done just that, and the ambition, talent, and creativity of these groups continue to amaze me. I’m looking forward to attended the shows in 2025.

Mayor of St Neots — November 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

Autumn is an exciting time for us all, and once the clocks change, mayors across the country start to prepare for remembrance, fireworks, and Christmas.

It’s no different for us in St Neots with our annual remembrance parade, service and laying of wreaths to honour and remember those we have lost in war. I had the privilege of joining the parade alongside the air and army cadets, guides, scouts, veterans and military associations just to name a few. It was especially poignant for me this year as I wore my grandfather’s medals and gave a reading at the service. The next day the mayoress and I proudly took part in the Veteran Day Ceremony at Cambridge American Cemetery which honours the thousands of overseas soldiers who fought and died alongside British servicepeople.

Mayor Richard Slade laying a wreath at the town memorial

This month I was at 45 different meetings, events, services and other civic events, it’s the highest for the year so far and has left me feeling a bit exhausted. My spirits were lifted last weekend though with three days of culture and sport. On Friday the mayoress and I, along with two former St Neots mayors and partners went to see Joseph and the Amazing Technicolor Dreamcoat. The fantastic adaption was put on by VAMPS of St Neots and held in St Neots Parish Church. It is the first time the church has been used as a theatre and the perfect backdrop for this wonderful immersive performance. The performers were joined by a choir and orchestra that used the full acoustic brilliance of the church.

The mayor with the cast and crew of Joseph and the Amazing Technicolor Dreamcoat

Saturday, we watched the premier of Assassination, a play by the St Neots Players which dramatised a true account of the murder of a British Prime Minister by local resident John Bellingham. It was a wonderfully informative and inciteful evening.

(L-R): Mary Bellingham, (played by Christine Suggars), John Bellingham, (played by Nigel Moorhouse), Narrator, (played by Grace Chapman) and Judge, (played by Richard Fitt)

Finally, on Sunday the big day had arrived and the chance to run my first half-marathon. The weather forecast the week before the St Neots Half Marathon was awful but I wasn’t going to let that stop me. Luckily the sun shone, twelve weeks of training paid off and I eventually crossed the finish line in 966th place. I couldn’t have done it without the support and kindness of fellow runners councillors Becky and Ben, and officers Andrew and Lucy, It was also a great experience to be given the chance to start the race and I eventually caught up with my colleagues. Your generous donations have added nearly £700 to the mayor’s charity. This takes the total fund to over £7,000. I’ve now swapped my shoes for a bike and back to training for an epic 543km cycle to Cornwall in May 2025.

Andrew, Ben, the mayor, Lucy and Becky getting ready to run St Neots Half Marathon

I spent an interesting morning on a guided walk around Priory Park with the open spaces team from the district council. Their work to improve habitats in the park has now begun and it was great to hear what they are doing to support the wildlife above, on and under the water. The biggest change you’ll see is the pond, which will be dug out to its original level and a new platform installed so you can observe aquatic life up close.

The work to restore and improve the surface of the ramps at St Neots Skatepark has now been completed and it was great to meet up with Sam and Chris who were the driving force behind the project. This jointly funded project between St Neots, the district council among other groups will ensure the ramps are safe for the next generation of street skaters.

Mayor Richard Slade with Revamp the Ramp’s Sam and Chris

This month two new independent shops opened their doors on our high street and I popped along to Church Walk to officially open one of them — Pink Rooster, a shop that specialises in selling retro, upcycled and vintage goods to raise money for their charity. Their purpose is to improve the health and well-being of people in the local area, especially those with dementia.

The mayor at the official opening of independent charity shop Pink Rooster with the founders, Andrea and Dave with the team.

This weekend was due to be our annual Christmas lights switch but I’m afraid Storm Bert had other plans and like many other towns we had to cancel our outdoor festivities. The indoor events still went ahead and there was a great atmosphere at the four venues across the town. In the run up to Christmas the council have lots of workshops and events planned so keep an eye out for updates on our website.

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.

HDC officers Auriane Cirasuolo, mayor, Nicholas Massey-Vernon, MP Ian Sollom and officer HDC Harriet

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.

Mayor of St Neots — September 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

After a summer break in council meetings and civic events September has been a bit of a shock to the system and in the last three weeks I’ve attended 35 different events.

I was delighted to be invited by the chair of the county council to the British citizenship ceremony at the offices in Alconbury Weald. The ceremony is the last stage for foreign nationals in the British citizenship process and is a very formal event where delegates swear an oath. Each week the ceremony welcomes citizens from across the world and for this one, we had over 30 people from 15 different countries. It was a joy to socialise afterwards in the café and hear their stories. 

I joined St Neots Mancave who had a busy afternoon where ‘cavers’ celebrated their second anniversary alongside receiving a much-needed donation from the contactor for the market square, Staff from Taylor Woodrow presented the team with a cheque for £2,500 to help them continue to run their excellent service. 

The mayoress and I were invited to attend the Little Gransden Air Show. We were first-timers to the show and had a wonderful afternoon watching the brave pilots battle 40mph wind speeds with their aerial acrobatics. The single-engine biplanes struggled but it meant you could get a good look as they flew past.

Mayor and Mayoress with Pip Shoobert at the Little Gransden Air Show

Earlier in the year ex-mayor Rob Simonis had planned to hold a Mayor’s Teddy Bear Picnic in Riverside Park but sadly it was cancelled due to bad weather. We rescheduled for August and this time we had glorious sunshine. The miniature railway hosted us and donated half their takings to my charities. Many families came along to enjoy a picnic, ride the train and get their faces painted.  

The Mayor and Mayoress on the train at the Teddy Bear Picnic with local mascot Serious Sid

I’m a big fan of cutting ribbons so I was delighted to open three separate sites — the inclusive play at equipment at Brickhills, Moore’s Walk Garden on the high street and the refurbished games room at the Chaii Hub. We have many more openings coming so I’d be keen to hear if residents would like to know about these in advance so they can attend.

The Mayor giving speech at the opening of the Moore’s Walk Garden

Last weekend I attended the annual Living History Festival organised by the St Neots Museum. On a smaller footprint at the market square than previous years I was pleased to see so many reenactors and stalls squeezed in. I was fascinated by the in-depth knowledge of each character from their chosen period. My highlight was a conversation with Charles II and Catherine of Braganza, they never once slipped out of character.

Mayor with the museum team, photo by traybakestudio

I was secretly invited to the medieval palace of Buckden Towers where the Shakespeare at the George team revealed it as their new venue, and what will be an amazing backdrop to their first performance next summer. My advice, get your tickets early for Twelfth Night once they go live.

(LtoR) Father Paul Smyth, Director of the Claret Centre at Buckden Towers; Cllr Karl Brockett, Mayor of Huntingdon; Cllr Martin Hassall, Buckden District; Natalie Leigh-Brown, Urban & Civic; Reuben Milne, Chair, Shakespeare at the Towers Trust; Dame Norma Major, Shakespeare at the Towers Patron; Cllr Sebastian Kindersley, Chair Cambridgeshire County Council & Cllr Richard Slade, Mayor of St Neots

The Mayor’s Charity Golf Day was a huge success last week, we had a bit of thunder and one heavy shower but this didn’t dampen the spirits or the skill of the 84 golfers from 21 teams who competed for first place. Over £100,000 has been raised for local charities since we started this event in the 1990s and we are delighted to be supported by St Mary’s Rotary Club for this annual event.

This weekend was super busy and the mayoress and I attended a lovely musical theatre event in Loves’ Farm hosted by Backstage Cabaret, a private view at the museum of work by local illustrator Stacie Swift and judged fancy dress at the Scarecrow Festival in Great Paxton. Alongside this, and in my district councillor role, I was asked to be a judge at Little Paxton Flower Show.

I’m already nearly six months into my role as mayor and I can honestly say I’m thoroughly enjoying it. I get to meet so many lovely residents, businesses and visitors and the support I get from my fellow councillors and of course, the mayoress is very humbling. 

Mayor of St Neots — August 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

Late summer is quieter for mayors and their civic duties, we have no council or committee meetings in August except for planning where it is statutory by law that the committee make decisions. Despite this, I still attended 15 meetings but managed to cram in a much-needed two-week holiday with the family.

The biggest news this month is the closure of the Priory Centre for refurbishment and the opening of our new temporary home on New Street, opposite the museum. I dropped by last week to see for myself — the cafe downstairs was packed with residents and upstairs a gallery space has been divided up so we can accommodate all the regular events we usually host at the Priory Centre. I met the team from U3A and they are very pleased with the new spaces.

One of the most discussed topics among residents when I’m out is nuisance parking, mostly in the centre of town. This issue is county-wide, and we’ve been eagerly waiting for civil parking enforcement (traffic wardens to you and me) to be introduced to Huntingdonshire. Last month I met with the team for an update and was pleased to say that the street mapping exercise has been completed so they know which road lines need repainting and what new signs need installing. The process has been slow but we can hope to see wardens on the streets in early 2025.

This weekend was the annual St Neots Dragon Boat Festival and if you’ve never been before it’s a great day out for the family. This year 22 teams from across St Neots raced against each other with a chance to win the festival trophy. It was a very tense and exciting series of heats and finals with the eventual winners, and for the second year running, was Young Guns II. Our council team, Slade’s Sailors alas didn’t make the semi-final, but we were delighted to be part of the event and councillors and officers enjoyed the challenge.

The crew of Slade’s Sailors from St Neots Dragonboat Festival

There are lots of council projects that have kept us busy in the last twelve months and it’s not going to slow down. I’ll to keep you updated each month and you may have spotted a few already taking shape. The refurbishment of the Priory Centre is a big change for the town. Smaller projects like the refurbishment of the garden in Moore’s Walk start this week where you will see new planting, and new paving that gives level access via the high street and the cast iron railings will be fixed and painted.

The last few snagging issues are being sorted on the new accessible toilets in riverside car park and we hope to see them operational very soon. Thank you for your patience whilst we’ve been working with the district council in improving these facilities and for tolerating the Portaloos.

The resurfacing of the ramps in the skatepark is due to start in the next few weeks, I’ve supported this project right from the start as the skatepark is a fantastic facility for the young people of St Neots and I want to ensure it is safe and fit for purpose for our teenagers.

We’ve been supporting the district council with new paths in riverside park and the new much wider paths are nearly complete. We got to test them out this weekend at the dragon boat festival and were impressed with how much more accessible it has made the park.

Finally a quick congratulations to St Neots Mancave on celebrating their second anniversary. It’s a great initiative and one I was pleased to officially open two years ago alongside other councillors. Happy birthday.

Mayor of St Neots — July 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

My second month as mayor of St Neots has been quieter than the last. I still had about 14 meetings to attend. These were mostly procedural and where we bring councillors and officers together at various committee meetings to make decisions related to operational work we do at St Neots Town Council.

In one of these meetings, we made the important decision to agree on the council’s climate action plan for the next few years. The plan outlines our priorities to reduce our carbon footprint by using renewable energy across our buildings, moving our fleet of vehicles and tools to electric, exploring how we can increase biodiversity across the town and more vitally working with you, the residents and businesses so we can all get a little closer to Net Zero.

We held our second grants committee of the year, where we decided on the organisations that benefit from public money. We gave grants to a wide range of groups, ranging from gardening and tennis clubs, community and volunteer centres, the Living History Festival which returns later this year and is organised by St Neots Museum and other groups supporting those with mental health and financial difficulties.

I volunteered at the council’s regular Youth Cafe at Love’s Farm House in what I can only describe as a busy two hours of taking orders, cooking food and serving drinks to the 70-plus young people who turned up after school to play games and wind down from their school day. It was a lot of fun but I definitely overdid the waffle orders so the youth officer Hannah and I had to finish the last few.

The mayoress and I attended the most talked about events in civic calendar — the High Sheriff of Cambridgeshire’s Garden party and Independence Day celebrations at Alconbury. Unfortunately, they both happened to be on the same day this year. So we started with an eclectic afternoon of rubbing shoulders with mayors, lord lieutenants, sheriffs, police commissioners and more. We then dashed over to the air base in Alconbury to be part of their yearly celebrations which included lots of authentic American food stalls and entertainment. At the end was an amazing firework display that could be seen for miles and enjoyed by those on and off base.

My final duties of the month were to put aside the mayoral chain and volunteer at the amazing St Neots Festival in Priory Park. I’ve been one of the organisers since we started the project back in 2021, a year before I became a councillor. With a volunteer team of 100s and despite the torrential rain the night before, the sun came out and over 12,000 residents came along to enjoy the music, arts and unexpected delights we had promised from the start. The public response since has been lovely with so many kind comments that it has made all the hard work of nine months alongside my council duties so worth it.

Mayor of St Neots — June 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

My first month as mayor of St Neots has been really busy — I’ve spent my time attending 12 meetings, 22 events, had three interviews and volunteered at a disco. Although I’ve not counted, I reckon I’ve spoken to a few hundred people in the last month.

My first official interview was by two young journalists on work experience placement at Black Cat Radio — Megan and Scarlet from Ernulf Academy spent their week at the radio station and I was honoured to be their first political interview.

I met with Shona and her colleagues from the St Neots Volunteer Centre and learnt about the volunteer car scheme which supports residents who cannot access public transport. Last year their 15 active drivers covered over 23,000 miles taking residents to appointments, meetings or the shops. They are in desperate need of more drivers so get in touch if you can help them.

I volunteering at the Youth Council disco, held at Love’s Farm House it was for 11 to 16-year-olds and we welcomed over 70 young people through the door who ‘danced the late afternoon away’ to music by youth DJs.

We commemorated the 80th anniversary of the D-Day Normandy landings in St Neots — we raised flags, laid wreaths and lit beacons to honour those who fought for our liberty and freedom. It was my most emotional and humbling civic duty so far.

This week is the Great Big Green Week — a national celebration of action on climate change. Our council has organised a variety of events and initiatives, including an eco-marathon where our officers and staff will attempt to cover 150 miles on foot, bicycle, bus and train. Our environment officer Nicola will be observing 492 minutes of silence. That is one minute for each species that has become extinct in the UK since records began.

Last Saturday the mayoress and I attended two amazing performances in one evening. We were treated to an excellent performance of Seussical the Musical by Pocket Productions, then we dashed over to see the last act of Girl on the Train — an emotionally charged thriller adapted excellently by the team at St Neots Players.

The Mayor and Mayoress with the cast of the Seussical the Musical

Under the theme of culture and sport this mayoral year I am delighted to announce that I have chosen to support Peppercorns Academy, Pocket Productions, Riverside Theatre, St Neots Players and VAMPs of St Neots and will be fundraising to support these amazing groups.

The cast of Girl on the Train with the Mayor and Mayoress

Many of these groups rehearse or perform at The Priory Centre, so whilst the site is closed for redevelopment, it’s essential we support the arts. We have a rich theatrical history in St Neots going back a century and I’m keen we keep it that way.

This month we have Armed Forces Day, Wintringham Sports Fair, Big St Neots Read-a-thon, Model Railway exhibition, St Neots Choral Society performance and that’s just my invitations. I urge you also to get out, get cultural and get active.