So lucky to have our community
Ihope you all had a very enjoyable Christmas. I can hardly believe 2023 is nearly behind us, and this is the last time I will be addressing you through this column this year.
As a country, it’s been a difficult year, with price rises seemingly at every turn and locally, this has affected many people with the cost-of-living crisis still hitting hard, and local foodbanks and homeless charities still busier than ever.
As I said a few weeks ago at the Town Council’s Civic Service, we are so lucky in Bognor Regis, to have such a fantastic community, including many charities and organisations who are critical to the wellbeing of our residents, and who do so much for our town. In recent years, so much has been asked of them, and they continue to work tirelessly to make our local community a better place to live, work, study and visit. On behalf of Bognor Regis Town Council, we thank you for all you do. The Town Council continues to support some of these charities and organisations through its Grant Aid process and over the course of 2023, it’s been great to be able to present some additional cheques, funded from various Town Council budgets, to support their work further. Most recently, cheques have been awarded to The Salvation Army, toward their 2023 Christmas Appeal, supporting families over the Christmas period, by providing them with gift vouchers for experiences over the festive period and just a couple of weeks ago, I presented a cheque to the 39 Youth Club, enabling them to enhance their youth provision offerings to young people in the Town and earlier in the year, money was awarded to The Regis School.
On a personal note, it’s been a real honour to have attended so many Mayoral engagements in 2023. My very first engagement was the Bognor Regis Carnival, which I attended alongside our Town Crier, and was a wonderful way to get acquainted with so many of you. The Town Council hosted a full programme of events this year, including Book Day, Proms in the Park, Drive through Time, Funshine Days and of course the annual Remembrance Day Service, which was extremely poignant. More recently, the Christmas Lights Switch-on was a real spectacle, and so well supported by the hundreds of residents who lined the streets to see the town illuminate. As well as Town Council run events, I’ve had the pleasure of attending openings of various new and expanding businesses in the town, including the opening of ‘Skyline Eats’ at Butlin’s, ‘The Promenade’ (which replaced The Carlton Hotel), ‘Scope’ charity shop which enjoyed an impressive refurbishment this year and ‘Boutique Roma’ which made the move to London Road, to name just a few.
The Punch and Judy Festival was another highlight of this year, bringing a sea of colour, fun and puppetry to Bognor Regis, to mark the 60th anniversary of the Tony Hancock film ‘The Punch and Judy Man’, which was of course, filmed right here in Bognor Regis. I was delighted to be invited to the unveiling of the Blue Plaque along with the other festivities! As your Mayor, I’ve been really humbled to have visited several local schools, to give talks on my role, to speak to the children about the Town Council and its history and to present School Council badges to some very impressive budding young politicians! It was a pleasure to meet you all, and of course, all your wonderful teachers!
I’m certainly looking forward to seeing what new opportunities 2024 will bring, and what the Town Council will continue to do for you, our residents. A happy and healthy New Year to you all!