I am proud and honoured to be elected Mayor of Sandhurst our wonderful town and community. I would like to thank all of my fellow councillors for bestowing this great privilege and responsibility upon me. I would also like to show my appreciation of the work our retiring Mayor, Councillor Gaby Kennedy has done during her year in office. Councillor Kennedy has worked tirelessly in her year to raise money for her chosen charity, Sandhurst Youth.

We are living in difficult times at the moment with the Covid19 threat all around us and it is dominating our lives. We have all been affected in some way, some may have lost loved ones and we are all separated from those who matter to us.

However, we will win through, we will come out the other side and for this we have our wonderful NHS and care workers to thank. Many of these people live amongst of us here in Sandhurst as do the many other people who deliver our vital everyday services such as our postmen, bin men, shop assistants and police to name just a few who have worked relentlessly for the good of the whole community. We should also recognise all those unpaid carers who contribute so much to our community.

The lockdown has changed the way we live, and I like to feel in some way we have become a closer community more ready and willing to help each other. As I take on the role of Mayor of Sandhurst, I will be a completely different Mayor from those that have gone before me. I will be the first Mayor to be elected into a lockdown. I will not be able to visit or attend events until the rules relax. But that is not going to stop me. I will use other ways to be in contact the residents of Sandhurst and be available to all people and those amazing groups and organisations that have always set our great town apart. A Facebook page is being setup especially for the Mayor and I hope to be able to communicate and share with everyone using it. Hopefully, residents will tell me who has a special birthday, anniversary, or lockdown project such as garden and home improvements or that new skill you have just learned so that I can share it with the whole community. In many ways I hope the Facebook page will put me in touch with more residents than perhaps when cutting a ribbon at an event or making a speech on a stage. In this coming year lockdown should not mean being on your own I want everyone to be in touch with someone else even if it is via social media. This could be exciting times where no one will be forgotten or missed out.

Lockdown will end and we will move freely around our community again, but until then I will be a lockdown Mayor obeying the guidance and promoting all that is good about our wonderful town as will my Deputy Mayor Councillor Michael Sanderson. I will also be strongly supported throughout my mayoral year by my husband Keith, who will be my consort.

My chosen charity will be Sandhurst Day Centre.