Civic Engagements Week Ending 5 April 2020

Due to COVID-19 there are no civic engagements this week

Lord Mayor's Column - 25 March 2020

The on-going coronavirus crisis has had a marked impact on the Lord Mayor’s diary, with all of my official functions quite rightly cancelled for the foreseeable future in the light of advice to stay at home unless you have a good reason to go out, and to avoid contact with others.

Social distancing has led to the closure of pubs, clubs and restaurants and with that we have also abandoned some charity events in the Mansion House together with many other events the Lord Mayor would normally attend. It looks like it will be some considerable time before things get back to normal.

The one activity I am determined to continue with is fundraising for my charities, albeit in a more limited way. I have three in all – Crisis, Unity in Diversity and Llys Nini – so I thought it would be useful to say a bit about them in this and subsequent columns.

In recent years there has been a visible increase in the numbers of people sleeping rough on the streets in Swansea. The council has adopted a housing first approach to get people into homes and then keep them there with relevant support.

Crisis’s Skylight South Wales service complements this approach by 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.

If you would like to support this work, and the work of my other two charities then please send your donations (made out to the Lord Mayor’s Charity Fund) to my office in the Guildhall. Thank you and please stay safe.

Civic Engagements Week Ending 29 March 2020

Due to the current COVID-19 crisis there are no civic engagements next week

Lord Mayor's Column - 18 March 2020

The Mayoral diary has seen a number of cancellations this week due to the impact of the coronavirus outbreak.

Coronavirus is a viral disease that can cause coughing, fever and difficulty breathing. It can be more severe in older people, those with weakened immune systems and some long-term conditions like diabetes or cancer.

It’s understandably a worrying time for lots of people, particularly for the older members of our community and those with underlying health problems. The people of Swansea have always shown a great deal of generosity and community spirit, and in these uncertain times I would like to call on you all to make sure those most vulnerable in your community have the support they need.

These most vulnerable groups are also being advised by the government to avoid social gatherings, either in public places likes pubs, clubs and restaurants, or large family gatherings at home.

The one mayoral event that did take place was the monthly citizenship ceremony. It is always a lovely way to welcome new citizens to Swansea and to the UK. The sense of community which makes our City such an attractive place to live and work will be a major factor in how we manage our response to coronavirus over the next few months.

Inevitably, given the age groups involved, a ‘Don’t dance alone’ event at Clwyd Primary School was one of my postponed events this week. It’s been running for a number of years now and does great work in raising awareness of the issue and encouraging different generations to interact.

One consequence of this virus may well be an increase in loneliness and isolation, so keeping in touch with older people – particularly by things like telephone calls – is even more important while they are self-isolating. Please help if you can.

Citizenship Ceremony March 2020

We staged a rather unusual citizenship ceremony this afternoon with the 23 prospective citizens being encouraged to limit the attendance of their families because of the coronavirus pandemic, and the High Sheriff and Lord Lieutenant being absent due to underlying health issues around their own families.

The ceremony was also shorter than usual, and not just because there were fewer speeches, but there were fewer formal photographs taken and refreshments were not provided.

All of these measures are of course, essential due to the guidance being given to us from government  to try and limit the spread of the virus and also to protect the staff who manage these events.

Nevertheless, it was a pleasure once more to welcome the new citizens on behalf of the City and County of Swansea and do my best to make it a special day for them.

Civic Engagements Week Ending 22 March 2020

Swansea Sports Awards 2019

The Swansea Sports Awards this evening was an exceptional event highlighting some of the fantastic sporting talent around Swansea, the commitment and dedication of those participating in sport at so many levels and the volunteers and coaches who make that possible.

Awards were given out for the inspiring young person of the year, volunteer of the year, community coach of the year, performance coach of the year, junior sportsman of the year, junior sportswoman of the year, school team of the year, junior club or team of the year, senior club or team of the year, getting Swansea active award, sportsperson of the year with a disability and sportsperson of the year.

It was compered by Kev Johns and at one stage he even interviewed me. This event was yet another example of how much work goes on in our communities all around Swansea and the inspiring stories of some of those involved.

Pentrehafod School visit to Mansion House

I was delighted to welcome members of the Pentrehafod School choir to the Mansion House this morning. This visit had been postponed from December due to the school having an Estyn inspection - one they passed with flying colours - and had been arranged to thank the pupils and teachers for singing at my civic service.

I explained some of the history of the house and the chain to the visitors, before we enjoyed an outstanding impromptu concert around the grand piano. Afterwards I gave them a tour of the house and put on tea, coffee and Welsh cakes for everybody.

Mother's Day Parcel Postbox unveiling

I took part in a rather unusual event this afternoon, the unveiling of a post box. In fact it is a special parcel box, repainted and redesigned to accommodate Mother's Day's parcels.

My job was to unveil the box and pose for photographs posting a parcel of biscuits to my own mother to help the Royal Mail advertise its availability.

Morriston Tabernacle Choir Coffee Morning

Having very much enjoyed their Messiah concert at the beginning of December at Tabernacle Chapel in Morriston, it was a pleasure to welcome Morriston Tabernacle Choir to the Mansion House this morning.

This was a fundraiser for the choir involving members plus family and friends, and involved an outstanding piano rendition by their accompanist, followed by lovely cakes.

Lord Mayor's Column - 11 March 2020

It was a pleasure yesterday, to welcome champion boxer Jay Harris to the Lord Mayor’s Parlour in the Guildhall. Jay, from Townhill, holds a number of European and Commonwealth flyweight titles.

He held his own in a narrow points defeat against the World Champion Julio Cesar Martinez at a televised title fight in Texas a couple of weeks ago – arguably the biggest fight in his career so far. Acting as a real ambassador for Swansea and Wales before and during the fight, he impressed both fans and commentators with his performance.

Mother’s Day is fast approaching and with just over two weeks to go, sons and daughters across the UK are preparing to spoil their mothers with gifts. This afternoon I will be joining Royal Mail to unveil a special Mother’s Day Parcel Post-box on Union Street in the city centre.

I have met many schools right across the city during my mayoral year, so I am looking forward to hosting Pentrehafod’s school council and choir in a visit to the Mansion House tomorrow, when I will be thanking them for singing at my civic service at St Michael’s Church last year.

Later I will be at the Brangwyn Hall for the annual Swansea Sports Awards. It takes dedication, determination and hours of hard work to maintain the city of sport we know and love.

Whether it's the volunteer or the coach who puts in hour after hour behind the scenes, the team which has been the most successful through the year or the sportsperson that has achieved the most in their sport, Swansea is a city full of sporting champions. It’s only right that we take the time to recognise and honour their achievements and outstanding contributions to sport.

Parlour visit - Jay Harris (Boxer)

This afternoon I was privileged to welcome to the Lord Mayor's parlour, Swansea boxer Jay Harris, who hails from Townhill and has recently returned from fighting for the world flyweight title in Texas.

As Wales-on-line explains, Jay went down to a gallant loss in his bid to snatch the world flyweight title from fearsome Mexican Julio Cesar Martinez in the early hours of the morning of 1 March.

Jay was accompanied by his father, who was himself a former British featherweight champion, and his mother who manages his diet, especially during training. He is all a big Swans fan.

Clearly, Jay has a big future in boxing and will hopefully have another shot at a World title soon. He is certainly helping to put Swansea on the map.

Civic Engagements Week Ending 15 March 2020

Hollywoodland

This evening we were at the Dylan Thomas Theatre for the world premiere of 'Hollywoodland' a fictionalised account of the relationship between infamous American syndicated gossip columnist, Hedda Hopper and little remembered Welsh actor, Gareth Hughes.

Hughes gave up his life as a screen star to follow a spiritual path. He was so fixed on this that he became padre to a Native American tribe, the Paiute of Pyramid Lake Nevada.

It was an entertaining, well-acted and beautifully written play centred around the mystery of an unsolved murder decades before. The playwright is a local writer while the director had flown over from Los Angeles especially. We enjoyed it tremendously.

Cockett Amateur Dramatic Society - Sister Act

To the Taliesin Theatre on Swansea University's Singleton Campus this evening for a production of Sister Act from Cockett Amateur Operatic Society.

The first thing to say about this production is that there was nothing amateur of it. It was outstanding, with tremendous performances from the whole cast. If you are able catch the last night tomorrow, then there are still a few tickets left on account of the fact that it clashes with the rugby.

At the end the audience gave the cast a standing ovation. It was well deserved.

Reception for Mannheim Trainees

Tonight it was our opportunity to return some of the wonderful hospitality we had received when we visited Mannheim and Heidelberg in December. All of the ABB Stotz-Kontakt trainees and the sponsors/tutors who are hosting them in Swansea businesses and charity shops were invited to the Mansion House for supper.

These sponsors included the British Heart Foundation, Mumbles Pier and the Pettifor Trust, a Welsh charity who raise money for animal charities that are independent and based in Wales.

A large number of the trainees are due to return to Germany shortly, others are here to the end of March. Further trainees will arrive in due course. Erasmus is guaranteed for another couple of years, so these work placements will continue for now, but what happens after that, nobody knows.

Children's Art Competition

After the Christian Aid event it was down to the Guildhall where I joined a Principal Social Worker, the Western Bay Business Support and Marketing Officer and the Western Bay Marketing Officer to help judge an artwork competition for children who have been adopted, based around the theme of ‘family’.

Picking just three was very difficult as the standard was so high but we found some we felt  conveyed the important message about family in an original way and which would assist in selling the service to future adoptive parents, though to be honest it could have been any of them.

The artwork will be used in future marketing by Western Bay adoption services to ensure more children find loving families in future.

Charity Event for Christian Aid

We had a fantastic morning in the Mansion House earlier with a charity event for Christian Aid. As well as a very generous raffle and refreshments we were entertained by the very talented choir and pupils from Penclawdd Primary School.

The children, aged from 4 to 11 sang songs, recited poems, danced and read out a prayer for the best part of 45 minutes all on the St David's Day theme. It was a lovely event which hopefully raised a generous amount for a very worthy cause at the same time.

Lord Mayor's Column - 4 March 2020

When most people think about adoption, they imagine babies. The reality is that the majority of children who need adopting across the Western Bay region of Swansea, Neath Port Talbot and Bridgend are over the age of one, and there is a wide age range. What they all have in common is that they have had unsettled lives and need is a loving, supportive and permanent home.

This afternoon I will be judging an artwork competition for children who have been adopted, based around the theme of ‘family’. The artwork will then be used in future marketing by Western Bay adoption services to ensure more children find loving families in future.

Later this evening I will be hosting a reception at the Mansion House for another group of students from our twin city Mannheim who have spent the past few weeks in Swansea. As I have mentioned in previous columns, student exchanges such as these happen frequently and are a wonderful way of fostering friendships and understanding between different cultures.

In the first of two theatrical performances of the weekend, on Friday I’ll be heading to the Taliesin Theatre at Swansea University’s Singleton Campus for Cockett Amateur Operatic Society’s production of Sister Act – the musical based on the hit 1992 film of the same name which starred Whoopi Goldberg as the lounge singer Deloris Van Cartier, who hides out at a convent as part of witness protection programme.

Then on Saturday I will be visiting ‘HollyWoodLand’ at the Dylan Thomas Theatre. This is the world premiere of the PT Rose play, performed by KSW productions. It is based on the true story of Hedda Hopper, the infamous 1940’s American syndicated gossip columnist, and her friendship with a little remembered Welsh actor and Episcopalian padre named Gareth Hughes.

Civic Engagements Week Ending 8 March 2020