26th January – 28th March

Over the last two months I have been really pleased to be involved in a number of Community and Youth initiatives. I attended the Youth Speaks event organised by Rotary at Brockhill School. The young people who competed were very impressive and I could see some future politicians among them. Cllr Penny Graham & I were pleased to visit Saltwood School to award a certificate for their contributions to World Kindness Day. We were given a lovely welcome.

I was delighted to organise the Skate Park consultation. I am really passionate about providing better spaces and equipment for the young people in our town. It was a great opportunity to learn more about what our young people would like for their skate park and what we need to improve. I started the consultation knowing very little about Skateboarding, so I was pleased to be educated by those who attended!

The Active Travel workshop that took place at Oaklands was really useful. We were fortunate to have a sunny day to do a slow cycle around Hythe to look at the infrastructure currently in place. I am hoping that some of our feedback will translate into improved walking and cycling routes around Hythe.

I attended another wonderful concert by the Princess of Wales Royal Regiment Band. Thank you to Dennis Bradley for organising it.

Our second councillor surgery went well this month. Residents seem to be really pleased to have to opportunity to speak with us face to face about their concerns.

One of the highlights of this month was the Hythe Community Awards evening. This was a great opportunity to celebrate some of the wonderful people who contribute to our lovely town and make it a great place to live. It was really wonderful to hear why people had been nominated and to award them a medal and certificate.

Steve and I attended the 75th Anniversary of Hythe Rotary Club. It was good to celebrate this wonderful group of people who work hard for the good of the local community and also the wider world.

Another highlight was the Hythe Youth Forum that took place last week. We invited 4 young people from each school in Hythe & Saltwood to attend in the Town Hall. After some drinks and cake, the students from Brockhill led the meeting which involved discussions about play facilities, open spaces, beaches, recycling, safety, transport, cycling, footpaths, entertainment and fitness provision. After a quiet start, the young people soon found their voice and highlighted a number of things that we will look at improving and implementing.

Last week, I was pleased to attend the BBC Radio 4 live broadcast in St Leonard’s. Before the broadcast, there was a good warm up where local issues were discussed. I was really pleased that the presenter, Alex Forsyth, said that she thought that Hythe was lovely town!

I attended the Shepway Brass Academy 10th Anniversary concert. This is a really good local group which trains young people to play in brass bands from scratch. They have four bands – beginners, training band, academy band & senior ensemble.

The last event which I had the pleasure to attend, was the Harvey Grammar Prize Giving. Another great opportunity to celebrate young people’s achievements.

Source: hythe-tc.gov.uk