Here is an update on what I’ve been doing in the last two months since my previous blog.
Since then a lot has happened, as I became Mayor of Congleton on 16th May, and of course we then had a general election!
I will continue to record project and community work in this blog, but apart from the process of becoming Mayor which I document here, most of my civic activities as Mayor will be detailed on my new Facebook page: Kay Wesley – Mayor of Congleton
Get in touch if you like. For Mayor related things, email mayor@congleton-tc.gov.uk
For everything else email cllrkay.wesley@congleton-tc.gov.uk or call or text 07711 459740
Or you can come to one of my surgeries – check out my councillor Facebook page to find one the next one is.
Mayor of Congleton
I was delighted to be voted in as Mayor by my Council colleagues on the 16th May. Cllr Robert Brittain was selected as Deputy Mayor, and I have a Cadet, Explorer Scout Barney Mitcheson. My husband Mike became Mayor’s Consort. The ‘Mayor Making’ ceremony in the Town Hall was attended by the public, family and friends, and Mayors from surrounding towns.
For my Mayor’s Charities I selected Ruby’s, supporter of SEND children and their families, myCWA, provider of domestic abuse services, and Congleton Pride, advocate for inclusivity for the LGBTQIA+ community.
Later, on 2nd June we had the Mayor’s Civic Parade and Service. This year, instead of a small ‘military’-style parade and church service, we decided to do something different and invite everyone who contributes to Congleton life. So we had charities, businesses, youth groups and more, as well as neighbouring Mayors, strolling and marching behind the Beartown Stompers Jazz Band on a lovely sunny day, with the streets lined with spectators.
The service was conducted beautifully by Celebrant Jill Young, and consisted of a number of inspiring readings by Deborah Lawson, a Disability Advocate, Yacob Cajee, a Race Equality campaigner and White Ribbon Ambassador, Rev Murray George on behalf of Congleton Pride and Ian Enticott representing All Saints Congleton.
I read an extract of a poem by Maya Angelou ‘On the Pulse of the Morning’ , Mike read from Carl Sagan’s A Pale Blue Dot, and Barney read the a poem about a panda befriending a polar bear.
The theme of the service was friendship and inclusion, and the Congleton Choral Society provided wonderful music from Elgar’s Music Makers as well as leading the audience singing ‘From a Distance’, ‘Bridge Over Troubled Water’ and ‘Up Where We Belong’.
My son Jamie composed the processional music and my 4 sons played a song called Hometown, written about Congleton, by my son Kieran. John Dhali also performed his song about living an authentic life, Only One.
The visiting Mayors were very complimentary about the whole day and said it was the best Mayor’s Parade and Service they had attended. The smiles on everyone’s faces confirmed that a good time was had by all.
Many thanks to all the performers and speakers, and of course everyone who came along and joined in with this wonderful celebration of Congleton!
As well as my own events, I attended several other ‘mayor-making’ events as a guest of other mayors, including Sandbach, Winsford and Knutsford. My other Mayoral activities are documented on the Facebook page.
Town Meeting
I was on the panel for the town meeting on 9th May. This is a meeting where the people of Congleton can come and ask questions about what is going on in the town. I gave a short talk about the work we are doing to support disabled people, and helped answer the questions from the floor.
Equal Access Congleton
This group of disabled people, chaired by Deborah Lawson, is helping us to make Congleton more accessible for all. We have conducted a survey and established a number of areas we need to work on – buildings, transport, the town centre, events, and attitudes of other people.
In May and June we have looked in more detail at Events and Transport. The group has provided a number of areas in which we can improve events, and the Congleton Town Council Christmas team has already taken many of the recommendations on board.
The group identified problems with transport including walking and using a mobility scooter on our uneven roads and pavements, buses not always being accessible, the lack of a local taxi service that can take wheelchairs, insufficient disabled parking, and more. We will be taking all this into meetings with partners like Cheshire East Council and the bus companies.
Working with the Police
I attended a Cheshire Police Stakeholder’s meeting which brought together groups that work with the Police on a voluntary basis, to discuss the priorities of the force and progress in a number of important areas such as Hate Crime, Stop and Search, Use of Force, Police Complaints and Policing by Consent.
It was a very informative and productive session, which I attended as a member of the Police EDEI (External Diversity, Equality and Inclusion) Board.
Locally in our Congleton Community Safety Working Group, which I chair, we have been discussing antisocial behaviour, especially in Congleton Park, as well as shoplifting. On the latter, we are now seeing good co-operation between retailers and the police, and several perpetrators have been brought to justice.
White Ribbon
White Ribbon is a national charity that engages men to help combat men’s violence against women and girls. Congleton has a White Ribbon working group that consists of male ambassadors who go into schools and other organisations to talk about respect, gender stereotypes and positive masculinity.
Nick Pimlott of Mentell Congleton has joined the group and Prickly Peach films are making a video with the group to be launched for White Ribbon Day 2024 in November.
The White Ribbon team will have a stall at Congleton Pride on 20th July. If you want to get involved, please email info@congleton-tc.gov.uk.
Climate Emergency and Green
I have been co-opted onto the Town Hall Decarbonisation Project team and attended the pitch meetings with vendors for the initial phase of the project. A company has now been selected and the project will kick off in July.
In May we had one of our regular awareness days in Congleton Town Centre. This time the subject was Biodiversity and lots of people came to chat about what they are doing or might do to improve their gardens for wildlife and pollinators.
Domestic Abuse
I am continuing to support efforts to find additional funding to support Congleton families affected by domestic abuse, after local services were paused by Cheshire East Council.The Cheshire East Domestic Abuse phone line, which supports everyone affected, can still be reached at 0300 123 5101.
As part of this, in my role on the CEDSAP board, I attended a strategy meeting which was to design the future DA services for Cheshire East.
Congleton Pride
I continue to volunteer with Congleton Pride when I can and we are looking forward to the big annual event on the 20th July. I have helped with some of the communications and advertising. My company, Kanga Health Ltd, worked with the Pride team to deliver its new branding and logo to celebrate 5 years of Congleton Pride.
I hope everyone will come and join in this wonderful celebration of love and inclusion in Congleton. If you haven’t been to Pride before, why not come along? It is a great day out for all the family.
Health and Wellbeing
Our Health and Wellbeing Group has been working with a number of partners including Plus Dane, who are setting up a mental health hub, local GPs, who are reviewing same-day services, and the War Memorial Hospital, which is celebrating its 100th birthday this year.
I have attended a birthday party at the hospital and a ‘party in the park’ organised for the public by Congleton Town Council.
I also helped to plant hedges and trees as part of the year’s celebrations. I hope to open the new ‘Wellbeing Garden’ that is being provided for patients, later in the summer.
Bromley Farm Hub
The Bromley Farm Hub Group is going from strength to strength and I continue to be the group secretary although I have little time now for hands-on volunteering during the week.
I helped out with the big Community Picnic in June, and a good time was had by all.
If you would like to volunteer with any of the Bromley Farm Hub Groups (gardening – the Bromley Bloomers, the Lunch Club, the Resident’s Forum, Stay-and-Play or Peer Support), please get in touch with bromleyfarmhub@gmail.com.
Food and Drink Festival
This is always a big event in the summer and thousands of people came to town to enjoy the wonderful artisan foods and drinks as well as all the activities. I was volunteering on the day and was stationed in the Town Hall helping the children with cake decorating, which was a lot of fun!
New Council Website
We ran the pitch process for the vendors who applied to build the new Town Council website. I am delighted to say that we were selected a local company – Thrive Creative. Many thanks to all the teams who presented to us.
The kick off and co-creation workshop for this project will be in July.
Bus Services
I attended a Bus Enhanced Partnership meeting in Sandbach Town Hall, organised by Cheshire East Council. In this we learned about the Bus Service Improvement Plan and the bus consultation that CEC was conducting. I helped put together a Town Council response to the consultation, based on the previous work we have done on buses and our Congleton bus survey we did a couple of years ago.
Our number 38 bus is now running on Sundays again, which is great, but I would like many more services and plan to meet with CEC Officers and bus companies to lobby for these.
Roads and Bins
I have been working with the residents of Sheldon Avenue for some time to try to get the bins belonging to businesses moved off the avenue. We now have Cheshire East officers involved and action is being taken.
I have also resubmitted a request for parking controls on Bailey Crescent on behalf of residents.
Other Activities
I attended the D Day 80th Anniversary Memorial Service at St Peter’s Church, led by the Air Cadets. It was a moving event and the cadets presented the history of the events of D Day in a very impactful and informative way.
I also joined in the celebrations of Congleton Town’s Football team winning the Midland League Premier Division Cup and Midland League Cup. The Town Council organised an open-top bus procession which I enjoyed watching along with everyone else!
My Council Meeting Attendance
For May and June, my Council meeting attendance was 94% for all council meetings and working/other groups (17 out of 18). For Council Committees I have attended 100% of meetings (6 of 6). I am bound to attend main Council but the other Committees are ‘ex-officio’ (optional) for me as Mayor.
I am now a member of 21 other Groups as well as the Council Committees, some of which are council-related, some are other local charities and community groups.
The Town Council’s remit does not include things such as Social Services, Health, Transport, Waste, Recycling – these are the domain of Cheshire East, but we can lobby in these areas.
General Election
I was WEP’s nominated candidate for the General Election so ‘Mayor’ work was put on hold for a month while we campaigned. Many thanks to the whole WEP team and all those that voted for me. Congratulations to Congleton’s new MP, Sarah Russell!
Previous Posts
I have been blogging about my Council work for 5 years and so has my WEP colleague Susan. You can see Susan’s posts here.
See my previous posts here:
March-April 2024
January-February 2024
November-December 2023
September-October 2023
July-August 2023
May-June 2023
March-April 2023
The Equality Party 