Charity begins at home in Stortford

THE town council website is a very useful source of information on many matters connected with Stortford.

On the Mayors’ Engagements page you can get a view of some of the events that I have attended and there is a form to ‘book the mayor’ if you would like to invite me along to support activities of local organisations .

You will see from the events listed that the charity sector is definitely active and raising funds and awareness even in these difficult days of recession.

We are proving to be quite recession resilient. In fact I was recently interviewed for Radio 4’s World Tonight and the piece did not run on air, as together with the views of exhibitors at Bishop’s Stortford Means Business held at Rhodes, we were all according to reporter Jonty Bloom “unrelentingly optimistic” about our town.

No doubt times are tough for many and there are battles to be fought to maintain or return services to Stortford, such as the Jobcentre.

But the town is well placed to come through recession. We have a well educated and entrepreneurial population with results to be proud of in our schools and a vibrant small business sector. Even our retail outlook is relatively positive with interest shown in most of the vacant shop units in the town.

I have recently opened the new kitchen department at Coopers; the St Clare’s Hospice shop and Brasserie Gerard, and I have cut the ribbon on the QD store taking over the old Woolworth’s site. It is sad to see the reduction in the long-established Clement Joscelyne’s but I’m sure we will survive and prosper.

There have been some great celebratory events that I have had the opportunity to support; the Observer “New You” makeover for Gail, greatly supported by local health and beauty businesses; awards for lads in the Boys Brigade; a Ramadan curry dinner that raised over £1400 for relief work in Bangladesh; go-karting at Rye House with some young people, PCSO Adele and our County Youth worker Jamie, (a project that was the brainchild of a local resident which came together when we located some ‘spare’ karts and enlisted the help of Birchwood’s Motor Apprentice Skillcentre); and some exuberant Zulu dancing at World Mental Health Day, just to name a few things.

It has also been a pleasure to inaugurate a new BSTC Youth Council and to share in various other good moments around the town such the turning on of Christmas lights at Pearsons and the fabulous “You Can’t Stop the Beat” show by Tracey Walker School of Dance, who raised over £1800 for Cystic Fybrosis.

The Mayor’s Charity Appeal is also going well, boosted by sales of the 2010 calendar in aid of 12 local goods causes. You can get hold of a copy at BSTC offices; Tourist Information; Pearsons or at Coopers of Stortford for just £4.99. The calendar is packed with useful information about these local charities. Three of them nominated by myself have also benefited by sharing the £1000 from the ‘green disks’ collection so generously provided by Waitrose partners.

Finally, November (or ‘Mo’vember) has been the month for your mayor to attempt to grow a ‘tache’ I have decided to put down my razor for one month and help raise awareness and funds for men's health - specifically prostate cancer. Our Stortford team has been growing hairier by the day and we’d love to have your support. What many people don't appreciate is that one man dies every hour of prostate cancer in the UK, more than 35,000 men will be diagnosed this year and that prostate cancer is the most common cancer in men in the UK. Facts like these have convinced me I should get involved and I am hoping that you will support me.

To donate to my Mo, you can either:

1) Go to http://uk.movember.com/mospace/160975/ and donate online using your credit card, debit card or PayPal account.

2) Write a cheque payable to 'The Prostate Cancer Charity - Movember', referencing my Registration Number 160975 and mailing it to: Movember - The Prostate Cancer Charity, First Floor, Cambridge House, Cambridge Grove, London, W6 0LE.

Movember is now in its third year here in the UK and, to date, has achieved some pretty amazing results by working alongside The Prostate Cancer Charity. Check out further details at: http://uk.movemberfoundation.com/research-and-programs.