Agenda item

To receive any announcements from the Mayor.

Noted the announcements from the Mayor in relation to:

·                Holding a minutes silence in memory of Sir David Amess MP and former councillor Mike Grabiner CBE

·                Remembrance Sunday

·                Visit by Navel Clarke

·                100^th birthday celebration – Bertina Brown

·                Outline of recent events attended

·                Mayor’s Civic Ceremony

·                Zadie Smith’s play “The wife of Willesden”

·                Petitions

The Mayor made the following announcements:

(i)         Minutes silence in memory of Sir David Amess MP and former councillor Mike Grabiner

The Mayor advised that it was with sadness she needed to begin her announcements with reference to the death of Sir David Amess MP who had been attacked and tragically lost his life whilst holding a constituency surgery in Leigh-on-Sea on 15 October 2021.  The tragic nature of the incident had unfortunately required all councillors to reflect and think carefully about how they would continue to conduct business locally.

At the same time as remembering Sir David Amess, the Mayor announced it was also with regret she had to report the death of Mike Grabiner, a former Councillor for St Raphael’s in Brent who had served on the Council between 1978 and 1982.  Members were informed that his death, aged 71, had followed a long illness with him being survived by his wife, four children, two brothers and a sister.

The Mayor, on behalf of the Council, expressed condolences to both Sir David’s and Mike’s family and friends and then invited all members to observe a minutes silence in memory of both Sir David Amess and Mike Grabiner.

At this stage the meeting was paused to observe a minutes silence.

(ii)        Remembrance Sunday

The Mayor advised members she had been honoured to attend the recent ceremony held to commemorate Remembrance Sunday and all those who had lost their lives in various conflicts throughout the world.

The ceremony had been held at the Barham Park Memorial with the Mayor thanking everyone who had attended in order to pay tribute.

(iii)       Visit by Navel Clarke

The Mayor advised that she, along with the Chief Executive, Leader and Deputy Leader, had been delighted to host a recent visit to Brent by Mr Navel Clarke for Black History Month.

Members were advised that Mr Clarke had been part of the original Committee in 1965 responsible for the merger of the former boroughs of Willesden and Wembley to form Brent and had also, that same year, been appointed the TGWU delegate to the Brent Trade Council.  Along with his other achievements the Mayor informed members she had been interested to learn that Mr Clarke had also written a book called Necktie Man.

(iv)    100^th Birthday Celebration

The Mayor advised she had been fortunate to join the recent 100^th birthdaycelebrations for Mrs Bertina Brown, which had taken place in October 2021.  Mrs Brown had left Jamaica in 1954 and settled in Brent with her family who now included six children, 22 grandchildren and 10 great grandchildren.  She had also worked for a number of local companies in Brent over the years although her main passion had always remained dressmaking.

(v)     Recent Mayoral Events

The Mayor then outlined the range of events she had attended over the previous two months, with specific highlights including:

·                A visit to Metroland Studio’s - open-house Day of Visibility;

·                A Theatre performance at Willesden library;

·                Beyond Brent 2020 - to celebrate the success of Brent 2020;

·                Visiting Park Lane Primary School for their School Council elections;

·                The launch of St Raphael’s Family Wellbeing Centre;

·                Black History Month at Brent Mencap;

·                Faith Covenant Celebration Event;

·                A Tree presentation to London's Mayors by The Lord-Lieutenant at a special presentation in Hyde Park to mark HM The Queen’s Platinum Jubilee, as part of The Queen’s Green Canopy.

(vi)    Mayors Civic Ceremony

Highlighting the success of her Civic Ceremony in September, the Mayor took the opportunity to thank all those who had attended for their support.  The event had been held to celebrate her Civic Year and its dedication to her two chosen charities – Parkinson UK and Cricklewood Library.

(vii)   Zadie Smith’s Play “The Wife of Willesden”

The Mayor advised she was also keen to draw attention to a play written by Zadie Smith called “The Wife of Willesden”.  This was a twenty first century translation of Geoffrey Chaucer’s classic “The Wife of Bath’s Prologue” with the play having been commissioned to celebrate Brent’s year as Borough of Culture 2020 and currently being performed at the Kiln Theatre.

(viii)  Petitions

Finally, the Mayor referred members to the list of current petitions tabled at the meeting, in accordance with Standing Orders which also detailed the action being taken to deal with them.