The Mayor of Bournemouth & The Charter Trustees

On Friday 24 May, Cllr George Farquhar became the 110th person to hold the Office of Mayor of Bournemouth at the Annual Meeting of the Charter Trustees. (Whilst the first Mayor was installed in 1890, a number held office for more than one year!) The former Mayor, Cllr Anne Filer, takes on the role of Deputy Mayor.

On 13 May, the Mayor of Poole was delighted to join members of the Broadstone Neighbourhood Forum for the official opening of the reinstated Broadstone Playground upon its centennial anniversary.
In 1923, the current Broadstone recreation land was gifted to the residents of Broadstone by Viscount Wimborne, and a short while later the playground was built and enjoyed by all ages for many years. Since its original opening 100 years ago, the Broadstone recreation ground has provided its residents with a place to wander and enjoy beautiful scenery, to play, and for families and groups to gather. Unfortunately, historic, successive decommissioning of equipment without comparable replacement resulted in a diminished area which became unsuitable. Using Community Infrastructure Levy and grant monies, the Broadstone Neighbourhood Forum has worked with the BCP project teams to install an imaginative and exciting play area for our older children of all abilities.

On 1 May, the Deputy Mayor stepped in when the Mayor was unwell and hosted a Reception for the members and Volunteer Watchkeepers from the National Coastwatch Institution who are based at Hengistbury Head. Two of the members, who missed the visit on 1 February by HRH The Princess Anne, were presented with their 5-year service awards.

The Mayor recently attended the Bournemouth Writing Festival in the Bandstand in the Lower Gardens. This housed "The Stanza Room", a free writing activity using typewriters, which was facilitated by the University of Wi******er. The Mayor joined in and typed a poem!

In March, the Mayor was delighted to present local Veteran Phil Pring with his Royal British Legion 80 Medal to mark his fantastic achievement of 80 years of volunteering for the RBL. He was accompanied by RBL members, David Kelsey and Nic Taylor.

You may have noticed the increasing investment in reconfiguring healthcare across Dorset? Particularly at University Hospitals Dorset who have put in new theatres for planned care at Poole Hospital and the new BEACH Building at the Royal Bournemouth Hospital. Last week, the Mayor and her Consort attended the official launch of their new fundraising appeal to help transform care for Dorset. Watch the video here ( https://youtu.be/NjPxqijO6XM ) to find out more, or go to uhdcharity.org/beachappeal

On Easter Monday, the Mayor and her Consort attended the first ever Indian Food Festival in Bournemouth, attended by over 500 people. The Mayor enjoyed tasting various dishes from the 15 food vendors who offered over 50 varieties of Indian Cuisine. She also presented awards to 6 children for winning the Easter themed Drawing competition held as a part of the Festival. The free Easter egg hunt & free Art & Craft table were a big hit with the children who visited!. Thanks to Meg for the photos.
https://www.facebook.com/indoukshoppinghub/

The Deputy Mayor (Cllr George Farquhar) recently joined the Mayor of Christchurch, Cllr Vivienne Charrett, at the regional semi-annual conference of The Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints. Their service included musical items and messages of faith, hope and inspiration given by members of the church community.

Yesterday, the Mayor received Sqn Ldr Matt Marshall, the Commanding Officer of the East Dorset Sector of the RAFAC, with some of the Royal Air Force Air Cadets. The Cadets heard about the history of the Mayoralty and items in the Mayor's Parlour, and then visited the Council Chamber afterwards to see where the Charter Trustee meetings are held.

The Mayor recently attended the Bournemouth Business Awards when she was delighted to present the Certificates to the category winners. Some of the Winners are shown here, but the results were: Family - Jigsaw Specialist Recruitment; Customer Service - Creditplus; Business Innovation - Cold Banana; Community Support - Age UK; Young Entrepreneur - Ollie Storey; Independent - Phoenix Digital Media; B2B - Virtual Lottie; Tourism - Russell-Cotes Art Gallery & Museum; BPTW - Tru Talent; BPTW Joint - Dorset Mind; New - Fantastic Things; Café - Black Cherry Theatre Café; and Small - Discount Health Store. Well done everyone!

At the weekend, the Mayor joined the Mayor of Christchurch for a service of thanksgiving and commemoration for the 200th anniversary of the RNLI at the Christchurch Priory.
The RNLI was represented by the Mudeford Lifeboat crew, the local RNLI lifeguards, the Mudeford Fundraising Crew (formerly the Mudeford Lifeboat Guild) and members of the Christchurch & Bournemouth Fundraising Branch who support our local lifeguards.
Thanks to all who supported the event, and to Rob King of the RNLI who provided the photographs of the beautiful Priory.

Earlie this month the Mayor and her Consort attended the Dancers' Showcase Evening at the Nice n' Easy Dance Studio in Boscombe. The children were so excited that after they got over their initial butterflies they kept asking to perform more dances! The Mayor was delighted to present the trophies to the participants afterwards and congratulated them on their performances.

HRH The Princess Royal visited Hengistbury Head on Wednesday, 14 February for a tour of the National Coastwatch Institute. After visiting the Coastwatch Station, HRH The Princess Royal joined invited dignitaries and guests for a Reception afterwards at St Nicholas Church Hall, Southbourne.
The Chairman of BCP Council and the Mayor of Bournemouth attended alongside The Rt Hon Tobias Ellwood MP and Miss Janie Berrie from BCP Council. The NCI was represented by Mr Eric Taylor (Head of Operations and Dorset/Needles Sector Manager), Dr Chris Aps (Deputy Chairman and Regional Trustee for Dorset, NCI), Mr Steve Han (NCI Chairman) and the Coastwatch Station Manager, Mr Peter Holway.

The Mayor of Bournemouth had representatives from Malmesbury Park Primary School Council. A talk in the parlour was followed by a visit to the BCP Council Chamber.

The Mayor of Bournemouth welcomes St Martins School Council to her parlour.

On Sunday, the Mayor attended the annual Holocaust Memorial Day event at The Lighthouse in Poole, along with the Mayor of Poole and the Chairman of BCP Council. She was pleased to have the opportunity afterwards to catch up with Ramesh Lal and his colleagues from the BPC Indian Community Association whom she previously met last summer at the Indian Soldiers Memorial event in Barton-on-Sea.
(History note on the Indian connection: The Civic Office in Bournemouth was originally the Mont D'Ore Hotel, and the building was taken over in November 1914 by the Government for use as a military hospital for Indian troops until November 1915.)

Yesterday, the Mayor invited some Young Carers to the Parlour to help decorate the Mayoral Christmas tree, and enjoyed a buffet tea afterwards whilst quizzing the Mayor and Macebearer about items in the Parlour, particularly "the long gold thing on the table” - the Mace! Thanks to The BCP Young Carers Team for their help in arranging this. I'm sure you'll agree they all made an excellent job of decorating the tree!

The Mayor recently visited Joan Rollason at Zetland Court to help celebrate her 100th birthday with her two sons. Due to her deep fondness of horses, the Home also arranged the visit of Flora, a friendly Shetland pony, to mark the occasion!

The 'Young Carer's' doing a wonderful job decorating the Mayor's Parlour Christmas tree.

The Mayor receiving flowers from a young attendee of the Hampshire & IOW SW Masonic Christmas Carol service

The Mayor visiting Freemasons Hall, Knole Rd for the Masonic Group's presentation of toys to the Salvation Army

The 'Young Carers' doing a fine job decorating the Mayor's Christmas tree

The Mayor during her visit to the Hampshire & IOW South West Masonic Christmas Carol Service

The Deputy Mayor, Cllr George Farquhar, represented the Mayor and laid a wreath on her behalf at the short Service of Remembrance at the HMS Phoebe Stone in the Bournemouth Central Gardens following the main Remembrance Sunday Parade & Service.

Following the main Remembrance Sunday Parade & Service on 12 November, the Mayor laid a wreath at the Canadian Memorial at the Lansdowne to remember those who lost their lives following the WW2 bombing of the former Metropole Hotel.

On Sunday, 12 November 2023 the Town marked Remembrance Sunday with a Parade of Veterans, Youth Organisations, Civilian and Civic representatives in the presence of His Majesty's Lord-Lieutenant of Dorset, Mr Angus Campbell. The Service was led by Rev Steve Parselle, Armed Forces Chaplain. Thanks to the Boscombe Salvation Army Band, the Gun Crew, the Civic wreath-bearers from TS Phoebe, the Wreath Marshals (Neil, Nick and Bob), the Bournemouth Symphony Chorus, the 35th Bournemouth Sea Scouts who sold poppies for the RBL and distributed the Orders of Service, the St John Ambulance volunteers, and all who attended and supported the event. "We shall remember them."

The Mayor and her Consort recently attended the unveiling of a new War Memorial in Throop. The war memorial was funded totally by donations and fund raising and replaces a war memorial plaque that was lost when renovating the old United Reformed Church in Muscliffe Lane. Bill Clark, who raised £781.50 by being sponsored for walking around Roi Mar, unveiled the new memorial with the Mayor.

The Deputy Mayor, Cllr George Farquhar, attended BCP Council's 999 Emergency Services Day Flag-raising on 9 September with HM Lord-Lieutenant of Dorset, Mr Angus Campbell, the Chairman of BCP Council and The Mayor of Christchurch. The flag was raised by HM Lord-Lieutenant's Cadet - CWO Joshua Chinery, RAF Air Cadet - and the event was attended by representatives of the Emergency Services - Police, Fire, Ambulance, Air Ambulance, St John Ambulance, RNLI, HM Coastguard, Coastwatch and Wessex 4x4 Response. The event is held on the 9th hour of the 9th day of the 9th month.

The Mayor of Bournemouth paying respects to John Egging at the memorial along East Overcliff Drive