Hello and welcome to the first of my series of monthly blogs.
I am Councillor Neil Darby and I became Mayor of Preston in May this year. As one of the youngest Mayors of Preston, I thought it would be a good idea to share some of my work and experiences in the role to highlight just some of the amazing people and places in and around our wonderful city, which, of course, celebrates its 20th year anniversary of city status this year.
The tradition of having a Mayor of Preston dates back to the middle ages when the City's first Charter (a document bestowing certain rights on a town) was granted by Henry II in 1179.
The Mayor of Preston acts as the city's first citizen, which means I speak on behalf of the city and the Mayor's role is an important part of its identity. I also represent local people at civic and ceremonial events, so please share these exciting experiences with me!
Charities I support
It may be worth mentioning at this point, I will be supporting two charities this year: the Intact Centre in Ingol, which provides support, advice and a signposting service, as well as a drop in service and Lancashire Teaching Hospitals Charity who are dedicated to making a difference to the thousands of patients treated at Preston and Chorley hospitals every year. I will be engaging with the charities on a regular basis, so you will become familiar with the work they do and the selfless people who support the charities.
Since I began as Mayor, my diary has been filled with a whirlwind of wonderful events, most of which I attend with my consort Dan. Here are some highlights over the past couple of months...
Roundup of event highlights so far
In June we celebrated the Queen's Platinum Jubilee with a special event at Preston's Flag Market. It was a huge honour to light the Queen's Platinum Jubilee Beacon on behalf of the people of Preston. This special weekend also included a visit to the Preston Mela, celebrating its 25th year and the Big Lunch in which communities came together to celebrate Her Majesty's 70 year reign.
It was also wonderful to see Prestonians be honoured in the Queen's Birthday honours List. Congratulations again to Glenda Andrew (champion of Preston's Windrush community), Annie Wynn of Let's Grow Preston (promoting health and wellbeing through horticulture) and Taz Ali for his support to local people at the Preston Community Hub.
It was an honour to speak at Armed Forces Day in Preston. The city has a long history with the armed forces as a garrison town and it was a pleasure to meet so many serving members and veterans.
Also in this month, I got the chance to see some of our twin city of Kalisz in Poland. It's such a beautiful place and their revitalisation work is inspiring! It is important for us as a city in Preston to build on our links to friends and partners across Europe while we all recover together from the impact of Covid and work together over the tragedy still unfolding in Ukraine. In fact, we are in the middle of arranging an event on Preston's Flag Market in support of our Ukrainian friends. Please keep an eye on social media for more details.
July's engagements included welcoming the Queen's Commonwealth Games Baton as it travelled through Preston to the Flag Market. I also enjoyed taking part in the many sporting events that followed including boxing and penalty shoot outs.
Other highlights include attending a presentation of The Queen's Award for Voluntary Service, the unveiling the plaque commemorating the Peace Field Project, twinning the Sir Tom Finney Soccer Centre at UCLan Sports Arena with designated areas of play at the Flanders Peace Field and cutting the ribbon to open the new outdoor community space at Farringdon Park Community Centre.
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