HMS Daring

Lord Mayor’s Blog 11
Last week we had the opportunity to visit HMS Daring on the occasion of the commissioning of this highly advanced ant-air warfare destroyer. The type 45 is a world leader and the City of Birmingham is proud to have a close association with HMS Daring as one of our links with the Royal Navy.
As well as the ceremony itself and a guided tour of the ship, we had the pleasure of meeting crew members from Birmingham and getting to know more of their role and the wide range of capabilities of the Destroyer itself.
Daring is a futuristic-looking surface warship designed to meet defence needs for the next 30 years. This is not so much a case of the projection of force, but rather of being a force for good in UK defence that also includes a capability for non-combatant evacuation operations.

I’m very proud of the City’s association with HMS Daring and am looking forward to the freedom parade in September.

Freedom Parade

Lord Mayor's Blog 10
As Lord Mayor of Birmingham it was a great pleasure to confer the Freedom of the City on the 26th Regiment Royal Artillery (the Midlands Gunners) recently. This is what I said in my speech at the reception:
"It has been both an enjoyable occasion and an honour to be with the Regiment again today following meetings with officers and our memorable visit to the Regiment last month in Gutersloh. And most importantly, to officially confer the freedom award.
It was also a privilege to take part in the award ceremony and a pleasure to see the warm and positive response of the people of Birmingham - a support that is freely given and which today was evident in abundance.
I would also compliment the thoughtful preparation and professional attention to detail with which the Regiment and its batteries conducted your role in today’s proceedings.
And I think all will agree that it was a particular joy to see the Regiment then exercising the 'Freedom of the City of Birmingham'.
You carried out the noble tradition of 'marching through the streets with drums beating, bands playing, colours flying and bayonets fixed’ with characteristic panache and an exuberance reflected in the stirring marching and music so ably provided by the Parachute Regiment.
This lifts the spirits of everyone and creates an exhilarating atmosphere in which we can all share and which suffuses the day.
It was a performance conducted with justifiable pride. Just as indeed the 26th Regiment Royal Artillery can be rightfully proud of so many achievements in the fight for freedom, justice and the defence of liberty.
I can think of no more honourable calling than that of ensuring the security and well-being of this country and in defending the fundamental freedoms of others less fortunate than ourselves.
We express our gratitude for the Regiment’s service to the country and we are extremely proud of our strong and deepening association with you.
It would not surprise me to hear you say that active service in theatres of danger is a soldiers job, but what strikes me very strongly whenever I meet the troops is the sheer positive vitality of our service men and women not simply for their readiness to undertake further tours of duty, but their enthusiasm to take these on and to carry out the tasks for which they have been trained - and in so doing fulfilling the ideals of service that prompted them to join the forces in the first place.
Hence the deep respect you have gained for the individual courage and commitment and for the collective teamwork and professionalism both in active service and in support.
All of the service so freely given represents the extraordinary efforts made, as the services as a whole so modestly put it, by ‘ordinary people’ - but in my view by people who, as Lincoln put it, ‘reflect the better angels of our nature’.
And in all of this we in Birmingham are intensely proud of our connection with the Regiment and the close and personal links that have been formed between the regiment, the city and the wider region.
These links are very important to us and we thank the Regiment for your bravery, skill and dedication. This has been a wonderful day for everyone and we look forward to ever-closer links with the Regiment.
In the broadest sense of the word we salute you, and the City of Birmingham wishes the 26th Regiment Royal Artillery continuing success and every good fortune in the years to come."

Aston Hall Re-opening

Lord Mayor's Blog 9
On July 16th I had the great privilege of re-opening Aston Hall and Park after a major refurbishment. A tremendous job has been done in a scheme of over 12 million pounds. If you’ve not yet visited this magnificent Jacobean mansion you have a treat in store.

This is what I said at the re-opening.
"Aston Hall and its park is not only important for Birmingham and the Midlands but is a site of national significance. It is a truly remarkable survival located here in the heart of inner-city Birmingham.
Today, Aston Park extends to around fifty acres – just a little less than its original three hundred and fifty acres! But the fact that any of it survives at all is a remarkable testament to the determination and foresight of the people of Birmingham.
Following the death of James Watt Junior in 1848, Aston Hall's future looked very bleak indeed as it occupied prime building land on the edge of what was then the rapidly expanding town of Birmingham.
However, thanks first to the efforts of a group of passionate individuals, sufficient funds were raised to take over the site through a private company known as the Aston Hall and Park Company.
This very public spirited enterprise opened the Hall to the general public in 1858.
Although the company alone didn’t manage to raise all of the funds necessary to buy the Hall, support came from the highest quarter of the land.
It was thanks to the intervention of Queen Victoria herself that the Corporation of Birmingham was persuaded to step in and to complete the purchase on behalf of the people of the town.
So it was that in 1864, Aston Hall became the first historic house in the country to be purchased by a local authority and to be opened to the public as a heritage attraction. This pre-dated the foundation of the National Trust by some 30 years.
Although over a hundred years has passed since the Park and Hall were first opened to the public, the refurbishment project that we are here to celebrate this evening is very much in the spirit of these foresightful Victorian conservationists.
I am sure that you will agree with me that the superb transformation of Aston Hall and Park is fully in the spirit of our Victorian forebears and a fitting tribute to their memory.
I’m sure also that it is also an acknowledgement of the great affection with which the Hall and Park are regarded by all the people of the City of Birmingham. We owe our team from the Museum, their partners, funding agencies and all involved a debt of thanks.
And I am absolutely certain that thanks to this magnificent restoration, visitors will greatly enjoy Aston Hall and park for many years to come.

Armed Forces Day and Alrewas

Lord Mayor's Blog 8
In the past week I have had the privilege of taking part in a number of events connected with Armed Forces Day and visiting the Memorial Arboretum at Alrewas which is devoted to the concept of remembrance.

We attended a moving ceremony and the memorial itself creates a great impact on you both emotionally and visually.
At the service in St Martin’s Church the day before I’d given this contribution:
Last Monday I raised the Armed Forces flag in Birmingham outside the Council House in Victoria Square as part of a nation-wide event and as a herald of Armed Forces Day itself which is an excellent opportunity for the whole nation to show its appreciation for those who defend our liberties.
We gather together today to express the gratitude of the City of Birmingham, the wider region and the people of the Midlands towards those men and women who serve in the forces, those who have served and those who seek to serve their country in this honourable, professional and courageous way.
In the inaugural year of this day of celebrations there are displays, activities and exhibits in Centenary Square. And in this and through this service in St Martin’s, we salute all those who are here present and those whom they represent.
Birmingham was proud in 2007 to host the national event for National Veterans Day, which was the forerunner to Armed Forces Day and to which there was a tremendous public response.
National Veterans Day had as its focus our veterans and the truly outstanding contributions that they have made to the protection and well being of this country over very many years.
This year that splendid occasion has been expanded into Armed Forces Day itself, a name that has been chosen to embrace the wider Armed Forces, including serving personnel, both regular and reserve, as well as the Veterans themselves and also of course the Cadet Forces.
And I know that the core values of the armed forces bring out the very best in our young people.
This all serves further to raise the public consciousness of the vital role that is played by our Armed Forces both in ensuring the security and well-being of this country and in defending the fundamental freedoms of others that we can all too easily take for granted.
So today is a day for thankfulness and also for celebration, because pride, as a positive virtue, has both serious and joyful dimensions.
We are immensely proud of our Armed Forces and their achievements in service and I have recently had the privilege, accompanied by the Lady Mayoress, of presenting medals to returning soldiers at bases both here in Birmingham and also in Germany.
The medals of course recognise service in theatres of danger but what also struck me on those occasions was the sheer positive vitality of our service men and women who were not just willing but thoroughly enthusiastic about undertaking further tours of duty to carry out the tasks for which they have been trained - and indeed fulfilling the ideals of service that prompted them to join the forces in the first place.
This is a spirited sentiment in which we can share and which will suffuse today’s celebrations. This exuberance is reflected in the stirring music that we have already been hearing and the further selection that we shall hear later on.
The music includes ‘The Dam Busters March’, ‘A Life on the Ocean Wave’ ‘Colonel Bogey’ and a rendition of one of my favourite pieces from childhood - and which I readily own is still so today - The Teddy Bears’ Picnic! Hopefully the bears will not need to dash for shelter in Centenary Square!
I know that there is an immense depth of public support for the British Armed Forces - that fact should never be doubted for a single moment. There is respect for the individual courage and commitment and for the collective teamwork and professionalism both in active service and in support.
All of the service that is given represents the extraordinary efforts made, as the services themselves so modestly put it, by ‘ordinary people’ - in other words people just like ourselves.
And as they perform this outstanding work we also stand out squarely in support of them, a support that is freely given and which I am sure will be evident in abundance on this the inaugural Armed Forces Day.

Townswomen's Guild

Lord Mayor's Blog 7

Last week I had the pleasure of addressing the national AGM of the Townswomen’s Guild. There were about 2,000 delegates in the splendid surroundings of Birmingham’s ICC. This is what I said.
It gives me very great pleasure to welcome all members of the Townswomen’s Guild to Birmingham for your Annual General Meeting today. Thank you for inviting us to share part of this with you. We have an attractive and friendly city and I hope that you will get a chance to see a little of it and come back soon and see more.
It was good to see the National and Federation banners and their historic and significant colours just a few minutes ago. These are important reminders of heritage, purpose and unity.
And you have important purposes today and much business to transact. But equally important are the inspirational speakers and also the inspiration that comes from talking to fellow members and the opportunity to make new friends.
Your guest speaker today, especially in his former manifestation as the anchor on John Craven’s Newsround, has been a familiar figure in our household for many years since the programme was also very much enjoyed by our children. Thank you John for that excellent family viewing!
This was a few years ago now of course and it is a few more years ago than that since I first addressed a local meeting of The Townswomen’s Guild way back when in my own ward of Hall Green. It was a talk on mistakes made by the press, and I think several volumes more could have been written about the ‘fourth estate’ since then – not to mention a few minor and of course entirely innocent financial mistakes and oversights in the second and third estates!
I read with great interest of the origins of the Townswomen’s Guild arising from the sustained endeavours of the suffragists, and I have always shared the view of how much can be achieved through working within the law to secure important social objectives such as real equality of citizenship.
And I know that there is much work still to be done today – so it is as well that you are here. This ranges from the isolation and lack of empowerment of women in some parts of some communities to the still pervasive, if unstated and subtle – and sometimes not so subtle – easing aside of women when it comes to important roles and occasions.
And I’ve also learnt of the guild’s environmental work that is so important with today’s challenges and your work on a broad range of issues further afield as well as your contribution to literacy projects and issues involving women at home and abroad. It is not just women’s lives that are affected, important though that is, society as a whole is diminished if all women do not have a chance to play a full part.
This is one reason why one of the Lord Mayor’s charities for 2009/10 is WAITS - Women Acting In Today’s Society. I believe that this is particularly important charity in a diverse city such as Birmingham and both the Lady Mayoress and I are working to raise as much money as we can.
WAITS is doing outstanding work enabling women to address issues and overcome barriers, combating isolation and providing help to increase the involvement of women in the public life and business of communities throughout the city - from which the whole of society will benefit.
We know that there is a continuing need for the extensive range of activities carried out by WAITS, and that there are many women who are yet to benefit, and that there’s a great deal more work still to be done and in which so many of us can play a role.
President John F Kennedy once said that every individual can make a difference and should try. At a recent conference in Birmingham Dr Jane Goodall said that every individual can make a difference every day by recognising personal responsibility and the ability to affect beneficial change through our conduct as consumers, through lifestyle change, through being active and engaged.
And, I think that the Guild would add, through the extension of friendship. And it doesn’t matter if that difference seems to be just a drop in an ocean of need - remember, no drops no ocean!
This is all very serious business but it is all the better done in an energising environment of mutual support, idea-sharing and of course stimulating friendship. All of which is why the Townswomen’s Guild succeeds so very well in making a critical difference and in being tomorrow’s women today.
I hope that you have a successful and productive AGM and once again, welcome to Birmingham!