Deputising for the Mayor (Mark Dorrington) has been keeping me busy again this week. Mark is a very ‘hands-on’ Mayor and likes to attend as many events as he can. I’ve been treading in his shoes for the last couple of weeks, and I can see why he needs a holiday!
The Mayor of Yeovil hosted a Civic Day on Tuesday which included a chance to meet several other local council officers from all around Somerset. It was a good day and gave us all the chance to network and find out what is happening at other councils around the county.
There was a lot of excitement on Wednesday evening when I helped to celebrate the installation of solar panels at Vallis Youth and Community Centre. It’s a great example of the Solar Streets initiative, enabling business owners and residents to install solar panels to help reduce carbon emissions and electricity bills. If you’re interested, check it out here: https://www.frometowncouncil.gov.uk/your-community/resilience/solar-streets/
Frome has a very strong group of ‘Litter Warriors’, who do a great job of keeping the roads and lanes free of discarded rubbish, and I’m pleased to say this initiative has been adopted by the Bright Stars nursery group, who went out every day last week picking up litter from Victoria Park. I had great fun joining the little ones on Thursday morning and loved their enthusiasm for the task, they learned a lot about recycling too, so let’s hope other nurseries follow suit!
The next litter meet has a really spooky theme as it falls on Halloween! All are welcome at the zombie litter pick, meeting outside Tescos in Stonebridge at 2pm – face painters will be on hand to make it a really spooky affair. Find out more details here: https://www.frometowncouncil.gov.uk/your-community/keep-frome-clean/litter-warriors
I also popped into the Men’s Shed afterwards at The Welshmill Hub to find them making huge planters which are used all over Frome, sanding down tables and chairs for the hospital, repairing a wicker chair that had fallen into disrepair, and lots more besides. It’s a very active shed that meets every Thursday morning from 9-1pm, so if you’re looking for somewhere to use your skills and enjoy good company, this could be the place for you.
On Thursday I thoroughly enjoyed attending the preview of the prestigious Black Swan Arts Open. It’s an annual competition which welcomes entries of original works from established practitioners and emerging artists of all professions and disciplines. I was amazed at the quality of work being displayed, in paintings using many different materials, in ceramics and in metal work and photography. The exhibition is open from now until 16th November. Please get along to it if you can!
Sunday morning saw the annual Apple Day festival at the community orchard in the Old Showfield. It was a fabulous day with apple pressing, an apple coring competition, face painting, talks on all sorts of topics, the Country Market stall selling apple cake & other goodies, toffee apples and even music! A fun day for all the family and another success for Frome Town Council.
My final event of the week was a visit to the Repair Café at the Welshmill Hub, where anyone could bring anything that needed repairing. While I was there, I watched some soldering going on, a doorbell being fixed, someone changing bicycle pedals, and bunting being made out of old material. It’s a great way to repair stuff rather than have it go to landfill, so another initiative that’s helping to save the planet! Look out for other events from them coming up over the next few months.
Astounding isn’t it, what goes on in this town in one week!
