Page 35 - Phonebox Magazine February 2014

From the Mayor’s Chair
Councillor John Smith, Mayor of Newport Pagnell
Ido hope that you are all getting into the swing of life after the Christmas and New Year break. I feel sorry for the retail workers who had to be at work early on Boxing Day morning with pushy shoppers fighting for the ‘bargain’ of the year. The other group of workers are those who maintain services 24 hours a day, 365 days a year. The ones who I admire, are
those Yvonne and I visited on Christmas Day morning: Care Home staff. Here in Newport, we have our share of homes that cater for all levels of care that an aging population requires, to maintain as full a life as possible. Mike Barry, a previous Mayor, decided to visit the homes a few years ago and that has been continued ever since. Most of the residents seemed pleased to have the Mayor and Consort pay a visit as part of their Christmas Day which made it worthwhile. All the staff were busy working extra hard to provide a wonderful celebration, having decorated the communal rooms and provided a full Christmas meal. Whilst the residents were happy to see us, it was obviously awkward for the staff to spare someone to take us round at what must have been a peak time for them. The gifts we left for the staff were only a token gesture for the good that they do all year round.
In a perverse sort of way, I am glad that the Christmas and the New Year celebrations are over for another year. For Type 1 diabetics like me and also for Type 2’s, this is a terrible time for maintaining your blood glucose levels to an acceptable level. So much rich and sugary food is put in front of you, and trying to match your insulin injections to balance it all, coupled with a less energetic time, is an absolute nightmare. What you have at home is controllable, what you get offered elsewhere cannot always be turned down, for fear of offending the host. It is not very polite to grill them on how much glucose is in their home-made Christmas pud or sherry trifle. You have to guess and hope what you are injecting is correct for what you are about to eat. Getting it wrong too often is not good for your body. Yvonne asked me the other day what happens to my pancreas now it no longer works. Does it shrivel up or just sit there doing nothing? I don’t know. I will have to ask my Diabetes Specialist Nurse.
Christmas was a very busy time for
attending many Carol Concerts and other functions which we both thoroughly enjoyed, at both ends of Buckinghamshire. The privilege of sitting up front for these events is truly amazing and is something to be remembered. One event will be remembered for many reasons. Newport Pagnell Town Council puts on a Christmas Reception hosted by the Mayor each year, to recognise the immense work done by volunteers in the town. Without these dedicated people, many things which make up life in a small town, would not happen. This was held on Friday 13th December. Unbeknown to us, our daughter and her fiancé at the end of November, had a ‘let’s get married’ moment and went along to Bletchley Registry Office to check availability. Needless to say, because of the date, Friday 13th was free. Apart from being utterly delighted with our Nikki marrying her Chris, I was thrown into a bit of a quandary as to how to juggle both events. Family has to come first, but I do hold a privileged position with a duty to fulfil in the evening. In the end it was a wonderful day. Taking Nikki to the registry office to ‘give her away,’ a nice lunch with just the two immediate families, back home to help Yvonne with food for the evening and taking her and the food to Nikki and Chris’ house in Castlethorpe. Quick dash home, pop the ‘chains’ on and up to Brooklands for the Council’s Reception. I stayed just long enough to say a few words and a brief chat here a there and back to Castlethorpe where friends and family were gathering. Lovely day! Thank you to fellow councillor Ian Carman, for being photographer at short notice.
A public consultation on the future of Newport Pagnell was held in December, in what is now called The Mead Centre (URC Church Hall). A large map showed the town divided into several significant areas. Around the hall were displays, showing each of those areas and what each one contains. We asked what is right/wrong, good/bad etc. with the areas and what would you, as a resident, want from this. We had a colour-coded post-it pad for each area and wanted people to write on the pads what they thought, then stick them on another large map as they went out. We did this over two days and by the end of the first day, the map was completely covered. The same happened on the following day. I am not sure of how many people came in, but it was many hundred. So gratifying, considering it poured down both days. I would guess that each person spent a
good half hour looking round, which shows how much residents care about where they live. It was good to see that we had all age groups attending, not just one section of the community. Councillors and office staff now have the monumental job of collating all the information gathered. Once that is done, the results will be published for all to see in ‘Town Talk’ the Council’s quarterly newspaper. Those who took part and left their e-mail address will, hopefully, receive it electronically.
The Mayor’s diary is starting to fill up, reaching well into the year ahead. One event that Yvonne and I are looking forward to, is the second of our Mayor’s Tea Parties to be held this time in Portfields Community Centre. If you live in that area, watch out to see if you get an invitation in the post. The invitation numbers are limited by the size the centre can accommodate and are picked completely at random. If you are one of those lucky enough to be picked, do come along. Tea, coffee, cakes, biscuits, it is all free and very easy going. The only bit of formality is me wearing the chain of office. I much prefer jeans and a sweater. Our first Tea Party held at the Tickford Centre was a success, despite the bad weather, so we are looking for as good, if not better, this next time. It’s down to you.
Having had a year off (from competition that is), the gardening group of volunteers that I belong to, are once again entering this region’s Britain-in-Bloom contest. Like many other groups around the country, we will do a tribute to the servicemen and women and the civilians who also gave their lives in the First World War. We have a raised bed earmarked, that will be created to form our own tribute to Newport Pagnell’s own fallen. Everyone a hero. The town centre flower baskets, the planting in the Ousebank Gardens and in the adjacent churchyard, will be colour co- ordinated to create a more cohesive look. Once again, the staff and pupils at Ousedale School’s Eco-Centre, will be producing the bedding plants for us and their help is very much appreciated. There is no way we could do this for ourselves, nor could we afford to buy such large quantities of plants. There is a flower bed in the churchyard which Ousedale had to relinquish and which we have taken back, but they are most welcome to come as and when time allows, to tend to the planting. That’s it for now. I have run out of steam a bit and I can smell coffee downstairs. It looks like a good place to end. See you soon. I wish you all the very best for the New Year.
Phonebox Magazine 35