I am immensely proud to have been elected to this prestigious office...
Waverley is a wide-flung Borough, having 21 Parishes with no obvious nucleus, but 4 main centres of population, all with their own Leaders and Mayors or Chairs who are fiercely proud of the areas they represent – I know I have been there.
When I was first a Town Mayor, someone asked me “What is the theme of your year?”, to which I gave an instinctive answer saying “Good Communications”. This has stayed with me as I am a firm believer in consensus politics and that communication between protagonists enables even the fiercest political debate to be conducted in good humour.
I have given considerable thought to deciding which charities to choose for my Mayoral year. I am keen to improve mental health and wanted to focus on local organisations that help and support those who are disadvantaged by this or have felt neglected by mainstream society. I am particularly interested in helping young people with problems like autism, but did not want to neglect those adults who have encountered unexpected difficulties in their lives. I also wanted, if possible, to choose smaller charities and spread my selection across the borough.
I have therefore chosen Creative Response Arts in Farnham and Jigsaw Trust School in Dunsfold Park.
Creative Response Arts is currently helping about 75 adults a week at its Farnham centre. It is a small local charity offering arts-based workshops for those experiencing mental health, learning and physical difficulties. In their central Farnham studios, practising artists work collaboratively with participants from across the borough, guiding and facilitating the creation of paintings, drawings, sculpture and ceramics. Passionate advocates of the benefits of the arts for mental health and wellbeing, the Creative Response Team are proud to have been serving the community for over 25 years. They are looking to explore new local partnerships and collaboration opportunities - recently making plans for a series of outreach workshops with the UCA. They are actively exploring how the charity can further increase its reach - perhaps by restarting a satellite offer in Cranleigh, as well as looking at how they might serve young people.
Jigsaw Trust was set up in 1999 and is based at Dunsfold Park in Cranleigh. The Trust manages Jigsaw CABAS School which supports 80 pupils (aged 4-19). Jigsaw’s vision is that autistic people should be enabled to live a life that gives them the opportunity to reach their potential. Autism is a lifelong developmental disability affecting how someone perceives and interacts with the world around them, their communication skills and their ability to form relationships.
Jigsaw supports children with higher dependency needs, and whilst most of the children they work with will need some form of support for the rest of their lives, they focus on increasing independence, developing communication and supporting improved social inclusion. They too are considering expanding their services to a wider age-group and I hope that both of these Charities can find some synergy in their efforts.
I will be organising some fundraising events during my year as Mayor that I hope will be widely supported but if would like to donate to my chosen charities you can give via my JustGiving page here.
Thank you all for your patience and attention – I am looking forward to a busy and exciting year as Mayor of Waverley.