Thursday, 15 May 2014
A New Mayor for Hebden Royd
On Wednesday 14th May, the Annual Meeting of Hebden Royd Town Council was held at the Hope Baptist Church in Hebden Bridge. The meeting saw Mayor Elect, Cllr Jonathan Timber take the chain for the Mayoral year of 2014-15, his wife Aeisha will join him as consort.
The Deputy Mayor will be Cllr Anthony Hodgins whose consort will be his wife Hazel.
Cllr Timbers takes over the role from Cllr Karl Boggis. The retiring Mayor presented Cllr Timbers with the chain before taking time to reflect on his busy year, which included rising over £2000 for the Children's Ward at Calderdale Royal Hospital.
On the evening, awards were also presented. The first of these awards was the 2014 Service to the Community Award. This was presented by the new Mayor to Andrew Bibby for commitment to the area and his effort in a number of initiatives such as the Hebden Bridge Community Association, who have developed the splendid Town Hall, and his continued work for the Hebden Bridge Partnership. On collecting his award Mr. Bibby gave thanks and stressed the importance of working as a collective to improve our community.
In the junior section, the 2014 Service to the Community Award was presented to two young people who have shown dedication and responsibility in developing the Fair for Youth. These are Roisin Sheridan and Alex Kostyakov, without the efforts of these young people the Fair for Youth would have almost certainly ceased to exist and with it the benefits that it brings to the young people in our area.
Cllr Timbers announced that he will be supporting two charities in his Mayoral year; these are St Augustine's Centre in Halifax which offers vital support for refugees and asylum seekers in our area. The centre offers a home away from home for those who are most in need and is run entirely on donations.
The second of the charities is Combat Stress which is the UK's leading Veterans' mental health charity. Mental ill-health affects ex-Service men and women of all ages. Currently they are supporting over 5,400 Veterans aged from 19 to 101 and are a vital lifeline for these men and women, and their families.
The evening drew to a close with a performance by pianist Dave Nelson who played Liszt: Petrarch Sonnet no.2 (from Années de Pèlerinage, Italie) and The Long Haul (Piano Cycle piece 4) written and by Dave Nelson as part of the celebrations of the Tour De France.