October has been another busy month!

Beating Retreat

At the beginning of the month, me and my Consort, Dan, enjoyed a wonderful evening at Fulwood Barracks for the Beating Retreat.

Preston is a historic garrison town and it was great to hear how much that link is valued on both sides. The performances were great too - and it was lovely to see the official unveiling of one of the artistic Platinum Jubilee beacons in the shape of a Lancashire Rose being presented to the barracks as its new home.

Highgate Wood Boardwalk

On October 2, I had the great pleasure of officially opening the Highgate Wood Boardwalk - which they are hoping will later have permission to be named in memorial of Queen Elizabeth II. It is amazing to see the effect that volunteers working together can achieve in our city - finding funding from different sources (in this case PCC, LCC and Lancashire Environmental Fund) to get things done to benefit all.

Rugby League World Cup trophies

Last month we welcomed the Rugby League World Cup trophies back to Preston!

And if you're wondering, the mascot is called Rug-bee, for obvious reasons. Whilst we were visiting the Rugby League World Cup trophies, we also met these extra special people from Shining Stars Nursery who were out and about in Preston. I think they were more excited to meet Rug-bee than me though...

L'il Champs Nursery

I had the opportunity to visit L'il Champs Nursery in Deepdale for their graduation a little while back.

I was chuffed to receive a beautiful thank you card they have sent in! And they've even raised some money for the Mayoral charities Intact Centre and Lancashire Teaching Hospitals Charity - so thank you very much to all of you. What amazing kids we have in Preston!

Curtain Up' at Preston Playhouse Theatre

It was great fun watching 'Curtain Up' at Preston Playhouse Theatre performed by the outstanding Broughton Players. There is an amazing cast of highly talented people working both on the stage and behind the scenes to make everything happen. Congratulations to all of them on a wonderful performance and thank you for inviting us along!

STEM North

We got to visit Fulwood Barracks again later in October - this time with for #STEMNorth.

Great seeing kids so excited getting involved in the STEM activities. Some excellent future career opportunities on show! Also, I highly recommend visiting the Lancashire Infantry Museum at the barracks.

A wonderful collection of our history, including one of the few remaining eagles of Napoleon's legions - captured by one of the Duke of Lancaster's Regiments predecessor units!

Save the date for Carols in the Chamber

On 8 December, I will be giving centre stage in the Council Chamber at Town Hall to Steph and the Intact Centre choir for the Carols in the Chamber event.

We will be raising money for both of the Mayor's charities, Intact and Lancashire Teaching Hospitals Charity - whilst enjoying a few mince pies and singing along to Christmas songs. Look out for tickets soon - likely to be £10 per head and available to everyone. All proceeds will go to these wonderful local charities.

Prince's Trust in Preston

On October 7, I had the pleasure of seeing more of the great work being done by Prince's Trust in Preston I had the honour of officially cutting the ribbon on Team 79's amazing work at Moor Nook allotments. They've done an excellent job and all spoke so well about their experience. All these young people will go far and it was wonderful to once again welcome the group to Preston Town Hall.

Preston Central Team 79 are an incredible group of young people who have already done amazing work in the community.

St Catherine's Hospice, Lancashire

It was great to show my support for St Catherine's Hospice, Lancashire alongside the Mayor of South Ribble and the Mayor of Chorley as we joined them for their AGM.

St Catherine's do an incredible job of helping people and families, often in their most difficult time. It was good to hear a summary of their last year and their plans for the year ahead. Keep up the great work and thank you to everyone in Preston who donates to keep them going!

17th One in Four Film Festival at The University of Central Lancashire - UCLan

We attended the 17th One in Four Film Festival at The University of Central Lancashire - UCLan on the evening of October 10, World Mental Health Day. The festival highlighted mental health and encouraged people to be open about their experiences and seek help when it is needed. We saw Short Term 12, a very moving film.  

Welsh Rugby League Men's team

Giving the official welcome to the Welsh Rugby League Men's team to Preston was a real treat. They've already been getting involved in our local community - and we've been seeing more young people getting interested in the sport too. It's great for everyone involved!

A delegation from Preston went to support Wales in their Rugby League World Cup opening game on October 19. Sadly it was a narrow defeat. Amazing to see Preston kids on the pitch supporting Wales at the start!

#RLWC2021

Geek Retreat Preston

I had a lot of fun visiting Geek Retreat Preston - met some great people and got in a game of MTG (I technically won, for the record!). They do a whole range of great games to play in a safe space. I look forward to going back soon!

Global Wave of Light

On Saturday evening, 15 October, Royal Preston Hospital and landmarks across Preston were illuminated as part of the Global Wave of Light in honour of the babies who lit up lives for too short a time as part of Baby Loss Awareness Week.

I lit a candle to support all of those who have lost a baby either before or after birth. While the pain will be unimaginable to most of us, you are not alone and there are others who have similar experiences who can talk to you and help.

Trafalgar Day

It was an honour to mark Trafalgar Day with the Royal Navy Association Preston Branch. Great to see the standard bearers from the Central Lancashire Armed Forces Veterans Association there too - they come out throughout the year to support events in Preston.

1st Goosnargh Scout Group

I got to see 1st Goosnargh Scout Group open their new Squirrel Scouts section. I was lucky enough to be in the Scouts for years myself and have seen the wonderful work they do with young people. I hope the 12 new members making their Scout Promise enjoy their time as much as I did - and one day they will grow up to be outstanding members of our community!

Lancashire Best Kept Village awards

We went along to the Lancashire Best Kept Village awards to celebrate the community spirit in some of our smaller communities in the county, including several around Preston. A particular congratulations to Goosnargh who had a highly commended award for best school for Oliverson's Primary.

Lancashire Occupational Health and Safety Group AGM

Lovely to be at the Lancashire Occupational Health and Safety Group AGM to hear about the important work they do helping to keep people safe at work throughout Lancashire. Also had a particularly entertaining talk from Laughology - thanks all!

'Don't You Want Me' - Preston Playhouse Theatre

We returned to Preston Playhouse Theatre to see 'Don't You Want Me' - an amazing local production playing for the first time. Amazing talent in Preston drama!

A big thank you to the Hall Players for great entertainment and making us feel so welcome.

Lisa Brown Photos exhibition

It was a pleasure to speak at the opening of Lisa Brown Photos exhibition at The Larder on October 23. A wonderful display of photos from around Preston, showing our city in its best light. I really recommend going to see it - it will be in place the next few weeks!

Preston's twin city of Recklinghausen

It was wonderful to see our guests from Preston's twin city of Recklinghausen visiting us. Everyone involved from Preston Twinning Partnerships and places they visited, including The University of Central Lancashire - UCLan and Preston Market all did Preston proud, letting our German guests see the city at its finest.

We look forward to working with our partners in Recklinghausen in the future to benefit residents in both cities!

Diwali celebrations in Preston

We celebrated Diwali with people from across the community - including a group from Preston's German twin city, Recklinghausen - with a wonderful meal and the lighting of candles and sparklers.  It was also a real pleasure to attend the recent Diwali celebrations in Preston at BAPS Shri Swaminarayan Mandir. A wonderful celebration of the triumph of light over dark, good over evil, and wisdom over ignorance.

"Get In" programme

I had the opportunity to meet a group of inspiring young people who have just completed the "Get In" programme with Prince's Trust in partnership with Marks and Spencer giving them experience in retail. They all spoke so well about their experience on the course - they have a very bright future ahead of them. Thank you to everyone involved - and thank you to the young people for inspiring the rest of us there!

Preston Carnival 2023

I got the opportunity to listen to Preston Carnival at Shout Network talking about their exciting plans to involve more people, businesses and other organisations at Preston Carnival 2023. Give them a shout to find out about workshops, sponsorship and more!

Black History Month

At the end of the month, there was a lovely service to commemorate those, particularly from Preston's black community, who were lost over the pandemic and were unable to have a fully attended funeral due to attendance limits. A moving end to Black History Month.

Follow me on social

To find out about my other visits see my Facebook - Preston Mayor and you can also follow me on Twitter @Preston Mayor.

There will be more detail about my engagements in my next blog so hope to you'll join me again then.