If truth be told AGMs can sometimes be very dry and one might say that sometimes they can be boring.
However, this was not the case with the AGM I attended this week. It was at Bewbush Community Nursery. They were also celebrating their first anniversary of being set up and run by the community for the community instead of being run by the County Council. It was a joy to hear the story of the progress the nursery has made since its start. The nursery is forward looking, over-subscribed and a valuable community asset playing a vital role in making Bewbush a vibrant place with child focused staff who are committed to doing all they can to help the children make progress.
The celebration birthday cake was delicious too!
Earlier in the week I had the privilege of representing the Lord Lieutenant at a Citizenship Ceremony at the Registrar’s Office in Crawley.
37 people from many countries as far afield as New Zealand, Russia and Morocco and many other places in between formally became British citizens.
All had made a positive choice.
They wanted to become citizens of what is a great country.
I spoke to some new citizens after the ceremony.
All of them were thrilled that they are now formally recognised as being British and we welcome them to our growing British family.
K2 hosted an Expo where over 100 local companies both large and small were represented.
A great opportunity for businesses to network.
Two of the exhibitors were Sam who makes bespoke gingerbread men and Henry of Hot Iron who makes, among other things, roses from old baked bean cans.
And what is the link between Sam and Henry?
They are both young entrepreneurs who have started out on the adventure that is business.
I wish them both well.
Saturday morning saw the planting of poppy seeds alongside the main path in the Memorial Gardens.
During my relatively short visit over 100 people both young and old took part in the planting.
When the plants blossom the effect should be stunning and a worthy memorial to our heroes who fought in WW1 whether or not they returned.
On the same evening the Mayoress. and I took part in a quiz held by the Matthew Russo Foundation.
This charity, set up in memory of Matthew who died in a tragic accident, has raised over £40000 in only three years to support children with learning difficulties.
To date almost 300 have been helped.
You can find out more about the work of the Foundation by reading their regular newspaper column.
For the record, the team we were in came a very creditable third. Believe it or not our best round was on Children’s TV where we scored maximum marks due in particular to one member of our team.
Perhaps that is a sign that they spent too much time watching TV as their children were growing up!
The Mayor of Crawley, Cllr Bob Burgess