Mayoral Musings: May 2019

One of the privileges of being Lord Mayor is representing Swansea at a Royal Garden Party in Buckingham Palace. So, first thing this morning, we set off for London, arriving in good time to join the queue of roughly 8,000 people waiting to enter the palace grounds.

I have been to Buckingham Palace once before, when I was awarded my CBE, but at that time we were confined to the buildings. The grounds are very pleasant, complete with lake and impressive herbaceous borders. The event itself is run with military-like precision, as we queue for refreshments at a large number of serving counters under the canvass.

There were two bands playing alternatively and a special tent where the royals who are present can take tea with the great and the good (not us).

We met a number of people we knew from South Wales and beyond, including the Lord Lieutenant of West Glamorgan and the High Sheriff of Gwent, but also people who work in the health service and the third sector. And as a bonus, the sun shone down on us all day.

It was a fantastic event and we were proud to be able to have represented the City there.

The day has finally arrived and I have been inaugurated as Swansea's new Lord Mayor. It is going to be a busy year as my speech to the chamber made clear. It is set out below:

Lord Lieutenant, High Sheriff, Honorary Recorder, Distinguished Guests, Council colleagues, ladies and gentlemen.

Can I start by thanking everybody for attending today? It really is an honour and a privilege to be allowed to take on this role in my adoptive city, especially in the 50th anniversary year of Swansea becoming a city in the first place, on 3rd July 1969.

I know that this is going to be a busy year, filled with events commemorating that anniversary, as well as the 60th anniversary of St Mary’s Church in the City Centre.

2019 is also the 100th anniversary of Swansea acquiring Singleton Park, a fantastic asset and green lung to the City, and I hope that we will be doing something to commemorate that too.

And of course, the tail end of my year as Lord Mayor in 2020 also coincides with the 100th anniversary year of the founding of Swansea University, my alma mater, the institution that brought me here in the first place nearly 41 years ago.

I should also take this opportunity to thank Angela, for taking on the role of Lady Mayoress. She has been hugely supportive of me in my political career and I am grateful to her for continuing that support in a much higher profile position.

Thanks too, are due to Chris Holley and Graham Thomas for their kind words in proposing and seconding me.

Thank you too to my council colleagues for supporting that nomination, to my constituents who have consistently returned me to the council at nine subsequent elections, and to all my friends, party workers and family who have supported my work in the Cwmbwrla ward and in Swansea.

Finally, in this section of my speech, I would like to pay tribute to David and Sybil, who as the outgoing Lord Mayor and Lady Mayoress have brought dignity and distinction to the role and in the way they carried out their duties, and who have been a huge help to me in adjusting to the demands of being Deputy Lord Mayor and in preparing me for the year ahead.

Thank you both for your service and for your work for our great City.

* * *

I came to Swansea in 1978 to study for a degree in English and History and because I was attracted to a beach-front campus. I stayed because of the city’s friendly, welcoming people, its deep-rooted communities, good sporting and cultural links, fantastic scenery and because I enjoy living in a City with a strong sense of identity.

Like every other City in the UK, Swansea has its problems, but it remains a great place to live and work. Unlike Cardiff it has a real bay and, as a city, we have a proud tradition of social justice and community cohesion based on cultural, racial and religious tolerance.

I am proud to call Swansea my home, as so many others who have moved here have called this city home. In fact, Swansea has a long history of integrating new arrivals into its own distinctive urban identity.

As was recorded in a display by the archive service some time ago, we have welcomed large numbers of people from Ireland, many fleeing famine. We have had a significant Welsh-Italian community here since the early 1900s running local businesses, whilst during the early twentieth century, many men of Chinese origin were employed here as cooks, stewards and firemen on merchant ships in the docks. The first Chinese restaurants opened in Swansea in 1959.

During the first world war a small Belgian population was established here, many of whom were employed in the town’s spelter works. During the Spanish Civil War Swansea became home to child refugees, while following the accession of Adolf Hitler to power in 1933, we also welcomed Jewish refugees, two of whom brought the Mettoy factory here.

The war produced millions of displaced persons from eastern Europe, many of whom settled in Swansea, leading, amongst others, to the establishment of the Ukrainian Club in Morriston. While in the early 1950s, Swansea industrialists recruited thousands of workers from southern Italy to help address the chronic labour shortages in the local tinplate industry. There is also a significant south Asian population in the City.

We continue to receive refugees and asylum seekers in Swansea, the majority from Syria, Somalia and Afghanistan, and I am proud that we have built up a culture of hospitality and welcome, and that we became the UK’s second official City of Sanctuary in May 2010. Next year by the way is the tenth anniversary of that decision, another momentous milestone.

That is why Angela and I have chosen as the first of the Lord Mayor’s charities, an organisation called Unity in Diversity, that runs twice-weekly sessions providing food, support and learning opportunities to asylum seekers and refugees in the Swansea area. Based in the former URC church in Carmarthen Road and run entirely by dedicated volunteers, they have helped over 500 people of 40+ nationalities and ethnic origins in their 5 years of existence.

My second charity reflects my longstanding interest in housing and homelessness. In recent years there has been a visible increase in the numbers of people sleeping rough on the streets in Swansea. In addition, there are also people stuck and struggling in inadequate temporary accommodation that can lack the basic facilities many people take for granted, in hostels and night shelters, and sleeping on the sofas of friends and family or in cars, tents and sheds.

Crisis have only recently established themselves in the YMCA in Swansea. The Skylight South Wales service is helping people directly out of homelessness. People learn new skills, gain qualifications and improve their health and wellbeing in order to move in to work and accommodation. The dedicated, experienced coaches work with people one-to-one to equip them with the skills they need to find and keep a home.

We cannot eradicate homelessness altogether, but we should be aiming to ensure that when an individual or a family finds themselves without a home, then that episode in their life must be brief and it must be a one-off.

Crisis are also looking to form links with Unity in Diversity so that they can provide similar services to people seeking asylum in Swansea.

My third and final charity has links with Crisis. The local branch of the RSPCA in Llys Nini has provided excellent opportunities to Crisis clients by offering dog walking volunteering.

Swansea’s RSPCA Branch was established by animal-loving volunteers in the Swansea and Neath areas nearly 200 years ago. The first animal centre was in Singleton Park and was leased from Swansea Corporation in 1935. It was able to house 31 dogs and 18 cats. In 1997 the Animal Centre moved to Llys Nini Farm, where the charity provides animal welfare throughout Swansea, Neath Port Talbot, Bridgend and parts of Rhondda Cynon Taf and Cardiff council areas. Llys Nini helps over 2,000 animals each year and rehomes many of those, including my two rescue cats.

I hope that over the course of the next year we will be able to raise sufficient money to make a real difference to these three charities.

My other task over the next twelve months will be to act as an Ambassador for Swansea. The fiftieth anniversary of our city status is an opportunity to promote our city to the wider world, to use it to raise our profile and try to attract investment. The civic and political leaderships can work together on this for the benefit of Swansea.

Amongst the events that are planned for our fiftieth, are the raising of a ceremonial flag, and honorary freedom ceremonies for Swansea’s sporting son and Wales rugby captain, Alun Wyn Jones, and for 157 Regiment, where we are building on our relationships with the armed forces.

We will be welcoming back Proms in the Park as part of our celebrations as well as hosting 50 community events in every ward in Swansea. This year’s air show will be bigger and better with an after dark event featuring night time flights and hot air balloon displays, specifically commissioned for our 50th anniversary.

My final job today is to appoint a chaplain. I am pleased to nominate the Reverend Ian Drew-Jones from St Michael’s Church, Manselton as Lord Mayor’s chaplain for the municipal year 2019-2020.

Thank you once more for the honour of becoming Swansea’s First Citizen.