Oxfordshire County Youth Orchestra Gala Concert

I had the pleasure this evening of attending the Oxfordshire County Youth Orchestra Gala concert. It was a really wonderful evening and I very much enjoyed all the music. An amazing orchestra and some incredibly talented young musicians who showed incredibly skill and control of their instruments. It was my pleasure to take Maurice Dixon, a vice principal at Oxford Spires Academy, with me as my guest as I know he has a keen interest in music.  I think it’s really important to get children involved in music as science has show that it really helps brain development and teaches all sorts of important social skills.

There was a reception with the chairman at the start and Maurice and I greatly enjoyed the concert.  The programme included:

R Strauss:  Don Juan
Bruch: Violin Concerto  No. 1 in G minor
John Rutter:  Sprig of Thyme (with Oxon Schools’ choirs)
Britten:  Four Sea Interludes

Opening Oxford’s branch of Wren Kitchens

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Gavin, Paul, me, Greg

Today’s trip was what you might call my first commercial civic engagement. I was invited along to open the Oxford branch of Wren Kitchens, which is in Botley Retail Park in the unit that was Comet until the demise of that company last year.

I was welcomed by Paul Russell, the new Store Manager; Gavin Challinor, the Area Manager; and Greg Ashdown the Regional Manager.  I had a walk around the new store and was impressed at the quality of all the kitchens and bedrooms on display and pleased to hear that all the kitchens and bedrooms are sourced and manufactured in the UK, and in the North where job are certainly needed.  This store is, I think, the 37th branch to open in the UK in a bit less than four years.  We discussed how it has brought about 30 jobs to Oxford and how Wren has found it hard to recruit as Oxford has such high employment already.

wren2We took a few pictures, including getting me in an apron posing with Hazel Middleton from Neff who was on hand all day to bake snacks and demonstrate the Neff ovens.  What a fun job!

I was also pleased to receive a cheque from Greg for £100 to go to the Lord Mayor’s chosen charities for the year.  That seems reasonable in return for the mayoral visit to the opening.  Having units in a retail park thriving and busy has a very good and positive knock-on effect on footfall and thus other businesses in that park.

Handel’s Saul

saulThis evening’s civic engagement was a real treat! I attended the performance of the Saul oratorio at the Town Hall, given by Oxford Harmonic Society. It was a wonderful concert with some excellent soloists and a great orchestra. I was impressed at how a choir of so many singers blended so well, sounding so united, and the soloists really did set the whole piece off beautifully. As I’m the chair of the City of Oxford Choir I very much enjoyed meeting, and sharing experiences with, Lindsey Charles, the Chair of Oxford Harmonic Society.

This was also my first civic engagement that I took my partner Gordon to. He was pleased to be able to wear the consort’s badge!

Littlemore family fun day

group1I was welcomed to this event as Deputy Lord Mayor today by Anne Mogridge (Chair of the Littlemore Community Association) and Dorian Hancock (Secretary of the Littlemore Community Association).  I had the honour of opening it with Oxford East’s MP, the Rt. Hon Andrew Smith MP. The day kicked off with a marvellous display or dancing from children and a leader from “Messy Jam” doing some amazing dancing. Andrew and I are pictured with the leader.  There was face painting for children and a fire engine was in attendance with some local firefighters who were happily posing for pictures with those at the event.  It was a busy event with lots of stalls and lot of activities throughout the day.

I gave a short speech and reflected on all the work so many regular users of the community centre do.  The include the Playgroup (serving Littlemore for 45 years!), the Children’s Centre, the History Society, the Martial Arts Class, the Church of God of Prophecy, the Job Club, the AgeUK IT Classes and the coffee mornings. This is all made possible by the diligent stewardship of the Littlemore Community Association.    Communities like Littlemore, our county’s third largest parish, depend on dedicated volunteers and it’s great to see such community spirit in action.

group2With a football team; two primaries and one secondary school; a superstore; an hospital; a science park; three churches; two shopping precincts and even its own post office Littlemore certainly is an area deserving of celebration by events like this family fun day.  I had a really good time!

Lowe and Oliver 90th birthday celebrations

img120This was my first civic engagement with a local business and it was a pleasure to meet many generations of the Lowe family and to hear about how Lowe and Oliver, a large Oxford electrical contractor, has grown and flourished since its founding in 1923.  The party took place at the Ashmolean and there were many guests both from the company and from many years of clients.  I had a really long conversation with Patrick Lowe, the current company chairman.  He is an amazing man, in his 80s and only the second chairman the company has ever had, with his father being the first!

Lowe and Oliver really is a family company in all senses of the word.  I was impressed not only the generations of Lowes present but the by real sense of investment that the company makes in its staff, right from apprenticeship through to retirement.  There are a huge number of staff that have served 40+ years in the company and it’s true even today that most apprentices stay with the company once they are trained.  Oxford has myriad listed buildings and many with complex requirements so the company really had bred a huge cohort of incredibly talented craftsmen and they are a real credit to the company and a huge asset to Oxford both in terms of employment and skilled work.  Here’s to many more years of success!

Refugee Week Celebration

This event was held at the Methodist Church on Cowley Road and this year had the theme of restoring hope.  I was welcomed by Dr Antony Kingsley, Deputy Director of Refugee Resource and show around some displays of excellent work that is done to support refugees and those seeking that status (asylum seekers) in and around Oxford.  There is an impressive amount of partnership working too.  I admire the huge amount of work that is done in Oxford by and for refugees and those seeking that status from all parts of the world.  This event was celebrating all that 16 years after the first discussions that Amanda Webb-Johnson (The Director of Refugee Resource) started and 14 years after the formal establishment of Refugee Resource.  I’m told the first Oxford Refugee Week celebration was back in 2006, set up by Eden Habtemichael and the Refugee Women’s group initiative so it’s brilliant that so many volunteers are still registering and that the organisation is going from strength to strength!

eden and grace

There is still much to be done in this important work and our community’s response to this particularly vulnerable group of people in our world.  I know that many are struggling with hardship, isolation, neglect and an uncertain future and that’s why events like this one are so important in helping to restore hope for so many in such desperate situations.

Discover Oxford’s hidden heritage during Archaeology Day

ArchaeologyThere is a treat in store on Sunday 14th July when you are invited to look below the surface of Oxford and see what lies beneath! During Archaeology Day, there’s fun for all ages on offer with a range of demonstrations, hands-on activities and mini-lectures covering a series of fascinating subjects.

Archaeology Day runs from 11am-4pm on Sunday 14th July. All activities are free so there’s no need to book! Why not come along to Oxford Castle and discover the hidden gems?Activities include: Coil pot-making, Medieval tile-making, Pot reconstruction, Tattoos and Finger-weaving. There will also be a demonstration by the Wychwood Warriors Oxford University Re-enactors

Archaeology Day is a joint collaboration between Oxford Preservation Trust and Oxford Castle Unlocked. Both teams have been successfully working in partnership since 2009 to ensure this free annual event has become an interesting and popular event.

What not turn up?  You can contact Lindsay Kell at Oxford Preservation Trust on 01865 242918 or  l.kell@oxfordpreservation.org.uk if you have any queries.

Topping out the Weston Library

weston1I attended the topping-out ceremony at the Weston Library today, which will emerge from the shell of the refurbished New Bodleian to form a wonderful special collections Library late in 2014. I was invited as ward councillor and was I think the only member of the City Council there. There was an excellent speech by the Vice Chancellor or Oxford University, Professor Andrew Hamilton and he and Dr Sarah Thomas, Bodley’s Librarian unveiled the commemoration stone to mark the event.

weston2Hamilton spoke about how important it is to keep Universities like Oxford moving forward and developing and he said how important the philanthropy of donors is to such progress. He thanked the City Council, via me, for all it support and work with the University in our City, which I think was pretty gracious given how the whole project was slowed down by the City’s refusal to allow a book depository to be built in Osney, thus necessitating its construction in Swindon. 7 million books were moved there from the New Bodleian before the refurbishment to form the Weston Library could start!

I hugely look forward to seeing the finished product, and hopefully the regeneration of the East end of Broad Street including sorting out the awful traffic lights there that don’t even have a pedestrian phase!

The City Council wants your views on Oxpens

Oxford City Council is launching a public consultation on a planning document that will help shape the future of Oxpens.

The Oxpens site, between Oxford Railway Station, the Westgate Centre and the River Thames, represents one of the most significant development opportunities in the city centre and has the potential to make a valuable contribution to the life and economy of the local area and Oxford as a whole.

The document, known as the Oxpens Masterplan Supplementary Planning Document (SPD), will help to establish appropriate uses for the Oxpens site, which could include houses and flats, offices, research & development (R&D) space, local amenities, green open space, a hotel and a public square. The development is also expected to bring regeneration benefits for neighbouring residents, such as improved public transport and better vehicle, cycle and pedestrian links to the city and surrounding areas.

Oxford City Council has an adopted Core Strategy and West End Area Action Plan which outline the policies for development at the Oxpens site. The purpose of the SPD is to determine how these policies can be interpreted and implemented, and to set out the Council’s aspirations for the site, such as the preferred mix of housing, employment uses, open space and community facilities.

Could you take a few minutes to complete the survey about this, which is open from Monday 17 June until Monday 29 July 2013?  I’ve turned off comments on this post as they really need to be put in the survey.  Thanks!

 

Abingdon on Thames Civic Service

abingdon1

It was a pleasure to attend the Civic Service in Abingdon on Thames today to welcome and bless Abingdon’s new Mayor, Councillor Sam Bowring, a good personal friend and a fellow Lib Dem!  The service was at Abingdon Baptist Church and was conducted by David Fleming, the minister of that church.  There were a lot of chains in attendance, including the ones worn by the Lord Mayor of Kensington and Chelsea and several neighbouring mayors.  We had a short procession into the church and I was pleased to walk with Nicola Blackwood MP, the MP for Oxford West and Abingdon and it was nice that she was supportive of me over the recent attacks I’ve been suffering from the far left.

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The service was positive and inclusive and included a short dialogue between David Fleming and Sam Bowring about her hopes for her year as Lord Mayor of Abingdon.  It was good to hear her asking for prayers that her and her fellow councillors would serve their town to the best of their abilities and with the interests of those they represent always at the top of the agenda.  There was a good sermon about civic service and how Christians are called to serve which I found helpful.  We sang lots of music I’d not heard before, with a rather good band accompanying us.  The service was rounded off with a blessing song from the junior church children complete with actions.