Christmas greetings from the Mayor of Winchester
Greetings to everyone -
One of the rewards of being Mayor of Winchester is the awareness it gives you of the very many fantastic people across the district who do so much good work throughout the year. An even greater privilege is to meet and talk with them and above all to recognise them for their work. Their dedication to improving the lives of others is an example to all and a great tribute to the district of Winchester.
So many people give their time to bring joy, cheer and practical help to those for whom life is difficult or lonely. We’re grateful for their work. I also recognise the dedicated staff in the public and emergency services, hospitals and care homes who will probably have an increased workload over the Christmas period.
During the past six months, I have found out about the work done by some small charities, such as Read Easy, BOAZ and Say Aphasia. It is very hard to list all the charities in the district as there are so many. I hope to find out about others and to increase their recognition.
I have also enjoyed spreading the word about my four nominated charities and raising some funds so that they can carry on all that they offer to our community and beyond.
It has been a big year for WINCHESTER RADIO as it celebrated an amazing 40 years of volunteer-led service supporting patients and NHS staff at the Royal Hampshire County Hospital. It also supported local Dementia Action Week activities and helped organise the national Hospital Broadcasting Association (HBA) conference, whilst also celebrating an HBA nomination. 2025 will bring lots more awareness-raising and expansion of the volunteer team.
In 2024, ST JOHN’S WINCHESTER opened new Colebrook Street Almshouses and received the Charity and Social Enterprise of the Year award at the Winchester Business Excellence Awards. The almshouse community thrives with a vibrant schedule and the Memory Wellbeing Centres have expanded from fortnightly to weekly sessions, providing support for people living with dementia and their carers. In 2025 it will launch The Big Conversation, a campaign to encourage families to have meaningful discussions about later life, and the annual Founders’ Day will transform into Founders’ Week.
It has also been a packed 2024 for WINCHESTER SEA CADETS with lots of ship visits, boating, and lots of qualifications gained by the cadets. They also went on lots of voyages on the Royalist and local cadets were amongst those chosen to attend the 80th anniversary of D-Day. 2025 will be the same busy and fun-filled times! The regular programme will continue on Tuesdays and there is a full programme of boating planned for the spring including ship visits.
At HAMPSHIRE HISTORY TRUST, 2024 saw another very successful Winchester Heritage Open Days festival. It was brilliant to see so many people visit the wide range of events from the Merdon Castle Tour to Hursley Park House IBM. Planning is already well underway for the 2025 event! The theme is Architecture, linked to design in a historical context. The Trust’s first event of the new year will be taking place on 18 January at The ARC when Mary Montagu-Scott will talk about Lord Nelson’s favourite ship HMS Agamemnon.
I am very much looking forward to visiting the Winchester Cathedral Christmas Market where I will help to staff the charity chalet on Saturday 21 December. For the first time the Mayor’s charity will be selling some original merchandise to help raise funds.
Another aspect of the Mayor’s work is to recognise the benefits that new businesses bring to the district. It has been a pleasure to open a new pub, a coffee shop and farm shop and a range of retail premises.
I send my very best Christmas wishes to all, and my wishes for a joyful and peaceful new year. I hope very much that 2025 has a lot of good things in store for all of us.
Cllr Russell Gordon-Smith
Mayoral Charity events coming up in 2025.