A moving beginning

It was a joy to be present at the Brackley Mayor Making again this year and listen to the outgoing Mayor, Cllr Don Thompson's review of his past year and listen to the plans of the incoming Mayor, Cllr Mark Morrell. He gave an extraordinarily moving and powerful speech.

Mark (also famous for being Mr Pothole) told me later that he became very moved by the fact that his Mum was wearing her OBE for the first time ever, having been awarded it some years ago. He also proud to explain in his speech that he had a history of some mental health problems but the fact he was there was living proof that a person can deal with these and move on. Very emotional stuff for me and many others in the audience! All power to your elbow: you are going to be an amazing Mayor of Brackley!

But I was left wondering why The Magdalen School seems to have some years where no head boy is appointed...

Glorious Banners

Julie and I had the great pleasure of supporting the 90th Banner Service for Girlguiding Buckinghamshire today. What a splendid occasion!

The Buckingham banner!

What remained of the celebration cake!

Representatives of the Buckingham branch of the Trefoil Guild, with Julie

The badge of the Buckingham banner

Badges of all the banners from across the county

The Service details:

Presentations

Last night we held our first full council meeting of the new year (beyond the statutory meeting last Friday) and we had the greatest of pleasure in awarding a silver salver to John Barnett in recognition of him becoming a 'Friend of Buckingham'.

John was a former councillor and was closely involved in the creation of the original town plan but has been spending most of his time since chairing the trustees and management team that looks after the Buckingham Youth Centre. A great chap and a very worthy Friend of the town. He as was presented with his salver after speeches from Cllrs Strain-Clark and O'Dongohue, having been originally nominated by Cllr Stuchbury. Here he is receiving it from me, courtesy of Robin's photography.

I also received a picture of me receiving a signed football shirt from Andy Cullen at the MK Dons Buckingham Big Day match ten days ago. I am still pondering what to do with it to maximise its fundraising possibilities. Any ideas??

(Thanks Thomas Evans for the pic)

Big Day!

I have not been to a football game since I was twelve and my only recollection of that one was the floodlights going out which meant me missing Dr Who! So it was a great pleasure to be invited to join Pete Winkelman and his other guests to watch MK Dons play Scunthorpe last Saturday. Sadly there was nothing the team could do to prevent them going down to the league below - but it was a great occasion and I enjoyed being there! So thanks Pete and all the team of footballers and staff that make up the MK Dons. You will be back up next season!

I do have a signed shirt that was presented to me... I am currently pondering on how to use it to raise money for the Mayor's Charities. All ideas welcome.

Here is my pic of Pete and his son Bobby watching the game with increasing frustration, it has to be said!

#BuckinghamBigDay

And here is the pic of me receiving the signed shirt from Andy Cullen, Executive Director of the club. Thanks Andy! Now... how can we raise money with this..???

Imagination: the theme of my second year as Town Mayor

The Town Council hosted the Mayor Making ceremony last night and I was elected to be Mayor again for a second year. Here are the speeches I gave last night. Please note especially the speech I gave to award Barbara Farmer, our Mace Bearer, for her long service. Also, there are two wonderful poems by two year 8 students, written especially for last night's ceremony. I was delighted to be able to read them out.

Below also is the programme showing the other awards the Town Council gave out last night as well. And there is a selection of photos all taken by Katharine McElligott from the Town Council staff - thank you!

Review of the highlights of last year

My Ladies, my Lords, fellow Town Councillors, distinguished guests and honoured members of the Buckingham community, welcome to this Mayor Making event.

This has been an intensely engrossing, uplifting and joyous year for me & Julie, my amazing Mayoress who has helped me stay clear, centred and focused. 

Buckingham is a bright and brilliant town, full of ambition, heart and dynamism. There is always something happening in our town. In fact all life is here. When I set out on this last year, I made ambition the theme for my Mayoralty. I said I would be looking for all the ways in which to support and celebrate ambition in the town.  

I am lucky that throughout my life, I have met many people wrapped up in their sense of purpose, their aspirations and their ambitions. And this year I have met many more in my journey as your Mayor. It has been a glorious year of discovering ambition. But unlike panning for gold, the nuggets of shining ambition have been easy to find. 

I have seen how ambition has built new sports facilities and encouraged even more sporting achievement. I have seen the intensity of relief and pride on the faces of students as gained their graduation. I have seen the joy of town council colleagues as they help the community make the town more accessible to all or finally get the new toilets built! I have seen new partnerships, plans and places become established and people grow in confidence and strength. I have discovered about the so many ways in which teachers inspire their students and pupils to learn and develop new dreams. I have been in awe of the determination and professionalism in lots of places to make a difference to people’s lives. I have been charmed by the way in which some fragile, vulnerable or cautious people are helped so carefully to shape their ambitions and enjoy the ride along the way. 

I could go on and on… And if you really want to know more, please browse my blog - all of what I have done is all there! I have written about the 160+ occasions when I have represented the town and/or added a bit mayoral glitter when needed. It has been my pleasure to explain what a year in the life of a town mayor is all about and make that accessible to all. For those who like numbers, the blog I started this time last year has now been uploaded over 137,000 times. For me, social media can transform the relationship people have with their elected representatives and the councils that look after their interests. 

This is now the time to thank a few people. This may take a couple of minutes but I am impelled to say these thank yous

Firstly there are two wonderful town council staff who have helped me to manage this year and follow due protocol. Thank you Katharine McElligott for all your wisdom and wry humour. Thank you Eloise-Mary Godwin for all of your gentle firmness and ability to remember things when I have forgotten them. Next, I must thank the Town Clerk: thank you Chris for your professionalism, integrity, insight and precise advice. You have helped me Chair the Council. Indeed, I could name every single member of the Town Clerk’s staff because each person has added something very special and uniquely helpful to my year as Mayor. I won’t list you all, but I hope each one of you knows how deeply grateful I am. 

But I will mention Russell Cross, our illustrious Town Crier who has not quite burst my eardrums but has helped feel less lonely on many occasions. And Barbara Farmer of course who has carried the Mace for many a year now. Thank you for your long and dedicated service to our town. You really do add the gold. Thank you. And a bit more later of course.

And I must thank Cllr Mark Cole, the Deputy Mayor and his wife Alex who sadly cannot be here this evening due to an unchangeable work commitment. Both Mark and Alex have offered me and Julie wise counsel and sterling support on many occasions as well as deputising on many others. 

I must also thank my fellow town councillors, especially the past mayors who have offered me their experience based advice and general support. Again I won’t list you each by name, but I hope you each know how much I value you and am just how proud I am to call you a colleague. You have helped make this year very special for me. And thank you for all that you do for the town. 

And thanks also to fellow Mayors across the county and beyond in Oxfordshire, Northamptonshire and Bedfordshire. I have received invaluable guidance and ideas from them as indeed I have from all the members of the so called ‘chain gang’ here in the county, appointed and elected. I must especially highlight the past High Sheriff, Peter Kara - thank you. 

I would also like to highlight the support and friendship I have built along the way with the University Vice Chancellor. Thank you Sir Anthony for all your help during this last year and thank you for all that you are doing for the town as well as the university. I am looking forward to continuing to build yet more bridges between the town and the gown.

And last but not least, all my family and close friends who have watched with intrigue and wry smiles as I have navigated my way through being Mayor these last twelve months: thank you for your love and support. And of course, my wife, Julie, my Mayoress, my love: thank you from every level and chamber of my heart.

I will say more about the coming year a little later on.

Meanwhile, I have the most enormous pleasure of presenting a cheque to each of the three charities I have been collecting for this year. Each cheque is for £1300. So firstly, the Buckingham Youth Centre who do such brilliant work for local young people…. Secondly for the NSPCC who support children locally and beyond to help them stay safe and be all that they can be… And finally UNICEF will receive this cheque soon. I did ask Eddie Izzard, a well known supporter of UNICEF, to be here this evening but sadly other prior engagements kept him away. But this one is for you Eddie and all the children of the world that have received life saving and life affirming help from UNICEF. 

Speech for Barbara Farmer

Barbara Farmer was appointed to become the Town’s Mace Bearer on 2 November 1987. She has faithfully served the Town and Council since then, a period now of over 30 years. And I have the most enormous pleasure of recognising, celebrating and thanking Barbara for her dedication and long service. 

Barbara’s role is a ceremonial and voluntary one - but one that she has done with exemplary skill, professionalism and panache. I know she will remember for example, accompanying the Town Mayor, Cllr Derrick Isham on the visit by HM the Queen in 1996. And how wonderful a day that was. 

The Mace is priceless. It is made of silver gilt, and dates from the time of Charles II. On the raised flat top are the Royal Stuart arms. And between the letters at the base is an inscription as follows: “In the 12th year of the reign of our sovereign lord King Charles II by the grace of God, King of England, Scotland, France and Ireland 1660”. 

So I know I am glad I do not have the responsibility of carrying such a precious piece of history! I would probably have dropped it my now. More than once...

I should add Barbara is effectively my bodyguard at events such as these as the mace was originally a weapon of battle. Fortunately I have not had reason to call on her martial arts skills so far, but I have no doubt that she would despatch any combatant swiftly and without mercy should anyone threaten the Mayor of Buckingham. Indeed I know that Barbara has battled the elements of inclement weather on many occasions with grace, stoicism and determination.

Barbara is from a local family and is one the stalwarts of our solid Buckingham community. She is of course, the first woman to hold this position. And I am told, this was controversial at the time she was appointed by the then Mayor, Cllr Mordue after being nominated by Cllr Isham. Heaven knows why gender should have mattered but I am so glad that times have moved on much since then.

And so here we are, 30 years on Barbara. I am guessing that when you signed up for this role, you may not have expected to be here all this time later. But you are and Buckingham Town Council, Buckingham people and me as the current Mayor are extraordinarily grateful. Thank you so much for your long and dedicated service. 

In honour of your service, here is small gift for you to wear. For those who cannot see it is a lapel brooch miniature of the mace itself. Thank you so much again.

Chairman’s announcements 

Before I make my planned address, I need to mention the sad demise of one our former Mayoresses. Claire Stuchbury died last Saturday. Robin is grieving her loss greatly, as indeed are we all on the Town Council. Rest in Peace, Claire. 
...

Thank you again for making the time to be here this evening. I just have a few words to say, before we have some refreshments and be serenaded by musicians from the Royal Latin School. Thanks to them in advance and thanks to the musician from the Buckingham School who played at the beginning too.

I am humbled and deeply honoured to have been elected Town Mayor for a second year by my councillor colleagues. Thank you for trusting me with this responsibility again. I never presumed I would pass my probationary year. So thank you for your confidence in me.

I promise to continue to be the best Mayor that I can be. I will faithfully and diligently serve the Town Council and the people of our fair parish to the best of my abilities. I promise to uphold the seven Nolan principles of public life and service: selflessness, integrity, objectivity, accountability, openness, honesty and leadership. 

I will be relentless in searching for all ways to help Buckingham become an even better place in which to live, work, study, visit and play.

This year I have chosen three different charities to raise money for. Well, I say different, one is the same: the Buckingham Youth Centre. The other two are Bucks Mind and BACAB which raises money for the local Citizens Advice services. You might be wondering what links these three charities.

I have a very simple political philosophy: I want to help build a world in which everyone has dreams and ambitions and the wherewithal to achieve those. 

The first part of that is fairly straightforward - everyone should have dreams and ambitions - having dreams and ambitions should not be a privilege just for a fortunate few. The second part needs a bit of unpacking: what do I mean by ‘wherewithal’?

For me this includes a combination of positive life skills, an understanding of how the world works brought about by good education and reflection, sufficient basic resources such as shelter, food and friendship, good health and well-being, confidence and hope. And the three charities I have chosen all help people gain elements of that wherewithal. (That is why they are so important and why I implore you to be generous later on with the collecting buckets!)

And when these charities (along with so many more people and agencies) help people increase their wherewithal, they also help people regain and refresh another magic ingredient, without which there can be no ambition and ultimately no progress for individuals or our society as a whole. And that ingredient is imagination

Imagination opens our minds and makes us explore the world in different ways. From Midsummer Nights Dream to Matilda, from Harry Potter to Yoda (May the fourth be with you of course) and from daffoldils to Xanadu: writers, poets and lyricists enrich our lives and help us think of something new and better 

It is imagination that will be the theme of my second year as Town Mayor. Before I say a bit more about this, let me read you two poems especially written for this evening by pupils from our two secondary schools. 

In advance, may I say a huge thank you to the two poets who have created these compositions. They are both wonderful and inspiring poems.

Firstly is a poem by year 8 student, Ffion Hacker, from the Royal Latin School. It is entitled “Imagination”

To the kneeling girl, the field is where she’ll be on her wedding day.
Pink peonies in her hair and a pearly white veil.
With creamy satin shoes and a fairy tale dress. 

To the old gentleman next to her, the field is where his allotment will flourish.
Ripe rosy beetroot leaves tickle the delicate frothy sweet peas.
Parsnips and potatoes nestle underground.
In the centre a portly pumpkin watches over them.

To the small boy nearby, the field is where he’ll become an explorer.
Crawling through the undergrowth, on muddy hands and filthy knees.
Peering through his binoculars and navigating by the stars. 

To the little girl making a daisy chain, the field is where she will meet the fairies.
With gossamer wings and tiny hands and feet.
Sprinkled with fairy dust, they will grant her a wish. 

Although the field is just a field,
To them it is so much more……..
A wedding day, a thriving allotment,
an adventure and a fairy world.

And I have another poem by Daisy Abra from the Buckingham School, also in year 8. She has called it 
“I closed my eyes”

I closed my eyes and I could see,
A whole new world in front of me.
A blood red sky, bleak mountains high,
Trees like silk, rivers of milk.
Clouds of gold above the ground,
And a deafening silence, not a sound.
No people, no war,
Just peace, and adventure in store.
No suffering, no anger, no sadness, no death,
No greed, no gain, no bereavement, no pain.
Happiness and joy floated by,
Like glimmering angels that never die.
And as beautiful colors joined my view,
My spirit flew.

I am enormously grateful to Ffion and Daisy for these beautiful poems. I think they deserve a round of applause.

This year, the Town Council will be refreshing and revising the Neighbourhood Development Plan. The world around us is changing rapidly and we must make sure that we do not allow ourselves to be boiled alive because we fail to respond to much bigger forces, trends and plans. But we must do more than simply try and react: we must seek to imagine the kind of future we want for our town. Without imagination we risk being drowned by the waves of change. With imagination we can surf these waves and arrive on the sunny beach of the future smiling and proud. 

Just #imagineBuckingham - what can and should we be 30 or more years from now?

So imagination is my theme for the coming year and I invite everyone to become imagineers, and to flex and stretch our imagination ‘muscles’ - and set about imagining new and better futures for ourselves, our families and our glorious town of Buckingham and its community.

The Civic Service 29 April 2018

Last Sunday, at the Buckingham Parish Church, the Revd Will Pearson-Gee and I hosted a Civic Service for the town. More than 100 people came along and joined with us in acknowledging the spiritual in the civic and civic in the spiritual. People have told me since that they found the service most inspiring, joyous and contemplative. Both Will and I were delighted how our plans came to fruition and it just seemed that all the pieces came together in an integrated occasion where we were able to celebrate the quiet light of ambition & aspiration in Buckingham.

What follows are the words that I used during various parts of the service, so that those who were not there are able to be there can read these. There are also some photographs: the first two showing our three testimonial speakers (Cllr Christine Strain-Clark, Buckingham Town Council; Phil Doran, Chairman of Moretonville Junior Football Club; Queen Great, Student at the University of Buckingham) and the Buckingham Children's Choir. They were all amazing!

My Civic Address

This civic service rounds off what has been an intensely enthralling, inspiring and delightful year for me & Julie, my wonderfully grounded Mayoress. 

We have been enthralled by the shear brilliance of so many Buckingham people who are working so hard to make the lives of others more fruitful. We have been inspired by the passion and commitment of so many who just keep on keeping on making a positive contribution to our town. And we have been delighted to have been part of so many occasions when people of all ages have just been having so much fun. 

Buckingham is trail blazing, beautiful and bountiful town that provides the scope and opportunities for people to shape and realise their ambitions in so many ways. But I was asked the other day why I chose ‘ambition’ as the theme to my Mayoralty this last year. So I thought I would reflect on that a little.

A few days ago, I was chatting to a young relative called Lucy at a family event about her coming to the end of her training as an Occupational Therapist. I was so impressed by the sparkle in her eyes when she talked about her plans for the future and how she has delighted in helping people reclaim their lives and their well-being through her interventions as an OT. 
She really seemed to me to have found her niche and I imagined her career stretching out in front her like long sunny spring avenue. She had bright purpose and she had oodles of ambition. 

And when I meet someone like that, I am intoxicated, charmed and blissful. Because when I meet someone like that, I feel that they have channelled their spirit and are fully engaged with all that life can bring us. And I find that quite simply, awesome.

And I am lucky that throughout my life, I have often met such people: wrapped up in and in rapture with their sense of purpose, their aspirations and ambitions. They know where they are going, they know what they are here to do and they are making their destiny rather than having it made for them. They are the authors of their own stories and not merely walk on characters in someone else’s play. 

And many of these people are religious in a profound way or working somehow in public service or working as a volunteer for some club or neighbour, or indeed, all of course. Or they could be a plumber or a poet or a farmer or a pharmacist...

And basically, my ambition is (and has always been) that I want everyone to have this sense of purpose, this glow of ambition. I think it’s a simple aim but it’s complex making it happen. It has taken me a lifetime so far.

And so I thought I would use this year as Mayor to ask people to think about their own ambitions and also how they can help other people more to achieve their ambitions too. It has been my intention to support, rejoice and celebrate all the ambition I have happened across over this last year. And there has been much to see!

I have seen how ambition has built new sports facilities and encouraged even more sporting achievement. I have seen the intensity of relief and pride on the faces of students as gained their graduation. I have seen the joy of town council colleagues as they help the community make the town more accessible to all or finally get the new toilets built! I have seen new partnerships, plans and places become established and people grow in confidence and strength. I have discovered about the so many ways in which teachers inspire their students and pupils to learn and develop new dreams. I have been in awe of the determination and professionalism in lots of places to make a difference to people’s lives. I have been charmed by the way in which some fragile, vulnerable or cautious people are helped so carefully to shape their ambitions and enjoy the ride along the way. 

I could go on and on… (And if you really want to know more, please browse my blog!) This has been my purpose this year - this has always been my purpose.

And as we are in the middle of this Civic Service, in a place of worship and faith, I would like to make the link between ambition and the spiritual dimension of our town and all those living, studying or working here. 

It seems to me that at the core of almost all faiths and religions is the idea of hope: hope for a better world in which all of creation works well together in peace, health and prosperity. There is of course an important place for quiet contemplation, prayer and meditation where hope, faith and love can be experienced in a pure and absolute form. 

But there is also an important place in my view for people who use their hope, faith and love to take action and shape a better world. 

It is at this point I think that the civic side and the spiritual sides of town fuse together: we are all in the business of shaping ambitions and helping others to do so. 

And this is what today is all about: reflecting on the spiritual in the civic and the civic in the spiritual. Let us all celebrate and rejoice in the myriad of ways in which Buckingham people are shaping and realising their dreams, hopes and ambitions.   

In this way, our Town will continue to be the very special place that it is: a place for imagination and ambition.

Welcoming words

My lords, ladies, distinguished guests and honoured members of the Buckingham community, welcome to this Civic Service. The purpose of today’s service is recognise, consolidate and celebrate the links between the spiritual dimensions, the religious institutions and civic agencies in our town. It is a moment to recognise the civic in the spiritual and the spiritual in the civic. 

Today we will be celebrating the quiet light of ambition and aspiration in Buckingham. I am delighted to see you all here this afternoon. Thank you so much for coming.

Introducing the three speakers

This is a day for celebrating ambition. I have asked three amazing Buckingham people to tell us about their ambitions and aspirations. I am sure their stories will inspire you to consider your own ambitions and where your ambitions might take you next… 

Introducing the Choir

I chose three children’s charities this year to support as I think young people especially need every bit of support and help to achieve their ambitions. So later on, when we have a collection, please dig deep for our local Youth Centre, the NSPCC and UNICEF. 

But meanwhile it is my greatest pleasure to invite the Buckingham Children’s Choir onto the stage to sing us a well known and beloved song. If music be the food of love, then music and songs sung by children are the food of ambition, dreams and hope... 

Any dream will do...

Introducing the Vicar

When the Vicar and I sat down to plan this service, I asked Will if he would share a story of ambition from the Bible. The Good Book is, of course, full of wise and inspirational stories. I know the one that Will is about to tell you speaks to him of how his faith helps him to be ambitious for all the people he cares about (and that’s a lot of people). Will…

Introducing the multi-faith and inclusive part of the service

Here we are in an Anglican church in the middle of middle England. In planning today, Will and I both felt it to be very important in this Civic Service to provide a space, a moment for all beliefs, faiths, philosophies and religions to be acknowledged, celebrated and honoured. 

Before Will says a few words, here on the altar are some flowers. You will note that there are more on the left than on right. I have already placed some flowers in the right hand vase to symbolise some of the faiths and beliefs I have. I would like to invite anyone now to come forward who would like us to acknowledge a faith that they have or someone dear to them has. You don’t need to say anything, just come forward and take a flower from the left hand vase and place in the right hand one. And I fully appreciate that maybe one, six, more or less people will come forward. But I invite you now…

Final thanks and closing words from me

Thank you again to all of you for coming. 

I am especially grateful to the team of people who have all helped make this happen: Katharine, Nina, Barbara, Mike & Margie, Ruth & Robert, Margaret, Paul and Valerie, and my wife Julie and Valerie, her mother. 

And of course, my huge thanks to the Revd Will Pearson-Gee - it has been a delight to work with you on making today happen. Your time and advice are most appreciated. Thank you. 

And now we drink tea and eat cake in time honoured fashion. But over to Will for a final blessing. After which we and mace will recess. 

A Glorious Mayday

Yesterday was the First of May and it was a beautiful sunny spring day! And the Town Council and local schools had organised, as is the tradition, dancing around the maypole. I enjoyed meeting all the parents, grandparents and friends who turned up to watch the children dance. It was lovely to shake the hands of some of the children too and welcome them to our village green by the church.

Thank you to all the children and the teachers who made this happen and thank you to everyone who turned up to applaud them. Such a delightful morning!

Bending the future

Earlier this week I was invited to be part of a meeting convened by the Vice Chancellor to discuss the implications of the Cambridge/MK/Buckingham/Oxford economic arc/corridor to our town and especially to the University itself. It was attended by many local leaders from the Local Enterprise Partnerships, the County Council and the District Council etc. We were joined by delegates from the Ministry of Housing, Communities, Local Government and the Department Transport. (see the list below). It was a fascinating meeting, potentially the first of many, to dig into the detail of what is being proposed.

The outline plans are all here:

• Partnering for Prosperity: A new deal for the Cambridge-Milton Keynes-Oxford Arc
• Oxford to Cambridge Expressway Strategic Study
• East West Rail

Buckingham is at the centre of all this. We must be thinking about what this means to the future of our town and surrounding countryside. Fortunately, we have the refresh of the current Buckingham Neighbourhood Development Plan underway this year so there will be ample opportunity to think about what kind of future we want for our town in this wider context. 

The even wider context is some the 'mega trends' that will be impacting on future including the rapid progress of Artificial Intelligence (AI) and linked (but separate to) the changing role Robotics. A recent summary of megatrends include: 

• Shift in global economic power 
• Demographic shifts
• Accelerating urbanization
• Rise of technology
• Climate change and resource scarcity

I offered several ideas into the pot of discussion:

• We need to start the conversation now and it needs to be highly inclusive especially of young people who will be living in the future that is being currently mapped out
• This conversation needs to make room for imagination, ambition and diverse multiple perspectives and interests
• Perhaps we should now be talking of 'purpose creation' rather than 'job creation' as the impact of AI and robotics grows. (What are we going to do with our time if technology is doing most of the jobs currently occupied by humans?)
• Education is critical in all of this: primary / secondary / colleges / universities / lifelong learning
• Where will well-being fit in and how can we integrate it with prosperity and security into the whole emerging plan
• What can we learn from other parts of the world that are going through something similar: how do we keep housing / infrastructure / commercial opportunities in balance and sustainable? 

It was a good meeting. I am looking forward to the next one!

Reaching out from Buckingham to Ghana

The Social Academic Club (SAC) organised an event last week and kindly invited myself and Julie along. This was the first of the "Buckingham International Talks' arranged by this student association. We were treated first to a presentation from Anthony Nyame-Baafi (Director for Bilateral Trade Ghana and former Ghana trade representative to the World Trade Organisation and to Switzerland and Austria) who spoke about the trading and financial links between the UK and Ghana. Obviously as we approach Brexit such links are going to become more and more important.

Then I joined him, Dr. Juan Castenada (Director for International Institute for Monetary Research and lecturer at the University of Buckingham) and Ronnel Lehmann (CEO Finito and former student at the University) on the panel. We were posed a series of questions by the facilitator Richard Dela Sky (who is a student and works for citi fm 97.3 in Ghana) and students present in the audience. The event was introduced and concluded by Professor John Drew (Dean of Humanities).

It was a fascinating evening and great to meet so many students, presenters and academics. My thanks to La Tess Bartlett, Alakhiwe Ndlovu and Kwasi Nyame-Baa from the SAC to organised this excellent event. Thanks also to Maciej Bochynski for the pics below.

In the front row, Professor Drew, Ronnel Lehmann, Julie and myself

Anthony Nyame-Baafi on the panel with Ronnel

Buckingham Big Day, Businesses and MK Dons reception

Last night I had the greatest of pleasures to listen to Baroness Karren Brady give a presentation to assembled Buckingham business and sport leaders at the University. She is such an astute, witty and powerful woman who makes a mark wherever she goes, I am sure. Her main message chimed with my own: we need more ambition in the UK because ambition drives us forward whether we are in business or sport or indeed anything!

She and Andy Cullen (MK Dons Executive Director) answered some great questions afterwards. I was particularly impressed by their answers to my question about how Buckingham can develop both more ambition and imagination. Karren emphasised the importance of mentoring young people while Andy focused on creating the space for people and businesses to allow themselves to be creative - and find new solutions to old problems.

In the party afterwards, I had some good conversations with Chair and Treasurer of Buckingham Athletic, and a man from Bicester who has just started up a consultancy advising firms on how to manage mental health issues. And many more people too.

Thanks to the University and MK Dons for this event.

The Garden of Ideas

I feel so lucky to have the National Trust's Stowe Gardens on my doorstep and I would hope that every single person in Buckingham has enjoyed its sweeping vistas and stunning buildings at least once, if not several times.

And so it was a great pleasure, last Friday, to attend the Community Reception hosted by the Rt Hon John Bercow MP and General Manager, Jane Greenhaf. We heard about Stowe's successes and plans for the future. It was a glorious evening amongst many friends, colleagues and staff of Stowe. It was fascinating to learn more about the carp and otters in their lakes from one of the ecological rangers.

I am looking forward to working with Jane Greenhaf and all the team at Stowe, finding new ways in which Buckingham can benefit Stowe and Stowe can benefit Buckingham... Watch this space!

Thanks for the pics below, provided by Julie Child, Stowe's Fundraising Manager.