Pearly Kings and Queens event

On Sunday, I attended the Pearly Kings and Queens Harvest Event in Guildhall. This is an annual event where all the Pearly Kings and Queens are wonderfully decked out in all their colourful shiny outfits. The event started witb entertainment outside the Guildhall with marching bands and music, followed by a harvest festival at St Mary-Le-Bow. At the start of the entertainment at Guildhall, the mayors had to all dance round the maypole which added to the fun of the occasion, along with probably one or two embarrassing pictures!

It was great to attend this event, Pearly Kings and Queens are part of the culture and tradition of London and it's create to celebrate that tradition, but also to give thanks for their charitable work. This includes the Whitechapel Mission near the city, which serves one of the most deprived communities in the whole of the UK along with giving support to homeless people. At the harvest festival each mayor also presents a hamper which goes to the Whitehchapel Mission - a very worthy cause and helping those most in need. It was also a long-time since I was last at a Harvest Festival, and it was great to hear all the traditional harvest hymns which brought back so many memories.

Merton Abbey Mills re-launch

Merton Abbey Mills has to be one of the hidden gems we have in Merton. Since becoming Mayor of Merton, I have visited on a number of different occasions, and each time I've not been disappointed. This has included going to performances at the Colour House Theatre; launching the Abbeyfest(a festival that takes place over July and August each year, with a number of different cultural performances including music, theatre, dance and comedy); and more recently attending Kidsfest which had a range of activites aimed specificually at children, and also a ceremony which saw the London 2012 Olympic flag travel 2012 metres from Abbey Mills to the Civic Centre at Morden, where I raised the flag.

This weekend saw the re-launch of Merton Abbey Mills. In recent years, Merton Abbey Mills has seen a decline in numbers visiting, this has been due in part to large-scale site redevelopments, but also changing patterns of spending. The re-launch saw a number of different events laid one to entice people back to visit, including an international food stalls, along with music, and activities for children including a bouncy castle.

At weekends, Merton Abbey Mills has a large market, with a variety of different stalls, but with a special focus on arts and crafts, it also has a number of speciality shops which gives it a uniqueness that you can't find on the High Street. I hope, as well, that many people are enticed back as it's an excellent place to visit, and adds a great deal to the local area. You'll not be disappointed.

Merton Cultutal Olympiad launch

On Saturday, I launched the Cultural Olympiad at Wimbledon Park. This is a weekend of sporting and cultural activities taking place in the park, with opportunities for people to try out a range of different sports, alongside various musical and dance performances. At the launch, I tried out myself a variety of activities, including paralympic tennis(and I can tell you it was difficult), cycling on a bike to provide the energy to make a smoothie(called a Blendavenda), and also shooting penalties. All in all it was a fun day, I also met one of the Olympian Paralympians at the lake which is a magnificent facility we have in the park, and enables many children to undertake rowing,canoeing sailing and windsurfing. Although at first they experienced wind problems(no wind), eventually they abated and a regatta with many boats got underway, Sunday will see a dragon boat race on the same lake.

This is the start of a range of activities that will take place in the next four years in the run up to 2012, it's great that we've had these activities organised and my thanks as well goes to all the Council staff involved in the launch, alongside a number of partner organisations that the Council works with, from what I saw of the event was a great success.

Mitcham Little league

On Saturday I attended the opening of the Mitcham Little League football which takes place every Saturday between September and March. Each Saturday over 200 children from 7-13 play football in a variety of different age-groups, seeing so many children participating is was extremely encouraging, sport is extremely important and it's fantastic to see so many involved. In starting the season I was introduced to all those involved along with kicking a ball to start the first game.

At the opening we also had a minutes silence followed by a minutes applause for David Nunoo who was a Mitcham little league coach who tragically died in the summer at the each of 28. At the Canons there is also a tribute site set up in his memory containing a number of football shirts, he is a great loss to little league.

I would also like to pay tribute to all the volunteers involved in the Little League including the coaches, referees and catering staff. Many put in a hours of work each week and it's great to see as well their enthusiasm and willingness to run Little League that benefits so many children each week in Mitcham.

Charity Quiz Night

On Friday, I hosted a charity quiz night at The Hub in Mitcham. The event itself was attended by over 100 people including the Mayor of Croydon, Cllr Jonathan Driver and the Mayor of Kingston, Cllr David Berry. The night itself was great fun and as a result it raised hundreds of pounds from my chosen charities; The Wimbledon Guild and The Vine Project. As for my own team, alas we came third, not bad considering we had sixteen teams and we only five points behind the winning team which came from The Wimbledon Guild. This will be the first of many charity events that I'm hosting throughout my year, next month I have a dogs nights at Wimbledon Stadium along with a Golf Day at Wimbledon Park Golf Club. Further details are available on the website www.merton.gov.uk/mayor and if interested e-mail mayor@merton.gov.uk