Mayor of Thetford; Speech to Civic Reception
(10.06.16)
Ladies and Gentleman,
distinguished guests, may I thank you for taking the time to join us here this
evening at our Civic Reception.
I’m delighted to be able to welcome you to the
Charles Burrell Centre. As some of you will know, this is where aged 11 I
started High School and finished aged 18 after completing A-Levels at the Sixth
Form Centre. If you had told me that that I would voluntarily choose to come
back here on such a regular basis then I would not have believed you – I seem
to be on permanent detention!
But it was beyond comprehension to anyone back
then that Charles Burrell High School would close – there’s been a school on
this site since the 1950’s but in July 2013 the students left for the last
time. Everybody assumed the worst – a site left to become derelict, an eyesore
for years to follow. Perhaps most grave of all, a community resource lost and an
opportunity not grasped. But… in an example what for me represents the
potential of what local Government and the community working together can
achieve – this did not materialise. A window of opportunity led to the site
being leased to Thetford Town Council for 30 years who now in turn lease the
site to the independent charity that now runs what we now know as the Charles
Burrell Centre – an organisation who’s board on which I am delighted to serve
as Chairman.
I decided to hold my reception here in a change
from the norm to highlight what Charles Burrell has become in the hope that we may
learn further from its example.
And what
an example. A total
of 33 permanent tenants on site – ranging from national corporate organisations
such as Hertz the car rental business, to West Suffolk College whom we are
delighted to have in Thetford providing literally hundreds of courses. Charles
Burrell Centre also hosts the local MPs constituency office and there’s a
national Portuguese newspaper based here. All sharing space with groups such as
Thetford Foodbank, the Toy Library and there’s even room for the local Model
Railway Society. 17 of those 33 tenants are brand new organisations – allowed
to flourish thanks to the Centre’s existence. In total, there’s 85,000 square
feet of building on 12 acres of land.
Seeing an old science classroom with bunsen
burners in situ be transformed into a warm and welcoming space for a pre-school
nursery was certainly something to behold, so to was seeing Mrs Howards old
maths room become a pilates studio – oh how I hated that room but nice that its
still being used to make people sweat.
There’s a further 11 regular organisations
using the site on a weekly basis – so if you over indulge on the food and drink
this evening and want to, you could attend Keep Fit on a Tuesday, Kettlebells
on a Wednesday or Slimming World on a Thursday – they have it all. There’s been
5 full-time jobs created for by CBC Ltd alone – all people from Thetford and approx.
100 jobs created or safeguarded across the whole Centre, 20 regular volunteers
recruited for CBC directly and many, many more across all organisations based
here. Training courses completed, qualifications gained, disadvantaged people
supported – a community much more enriched by its existence.
If Charles Burrell Centre
were a school assignment I think an A* would be in order.
There’s a number of CBC staff
and volunteers here this evening so feel free to talk to them about the Centre
and I am sure if you ask they’ll show you round if you have time at all.
But there’s another reason
why I wanted to hold my reception here;
What better place than an old
school to launch my theme for the year; Inspiring young people.
As many of you will know, I’m
believed to be the youngest Mayor of Thetford in its more than 800 years of a
Mayoralty. Something I’m incredibly proud of and grateful for the support of
colleagues for putting me here.
I intend to use my year as an
opportunity to inspire young people locally. Barriers still exist to young
people realising their potential – many of them are physical barriers but there
are psychological ones as well. Young people locally often do not have
confidence in their own abilities. I remember being told as a teenager myself that
young people from Thetford don’t excel in life and we’re not meant to do well.
I remember as a youth worker seeking to encourage young people to grasp
opportunities before them but they were paralysed by fear of failure. Life
tends to highlight when things go wrong, when what we need to be doing,
particularly for younger people who can be so impressionable, is recognise when
things go right and provide those flashes of inspiration when possible.
So, with this in mind, I’m
delighted that some people here this evening have agreed to work alongside me
in the year ahead, we will be visiting local schools and youth groups,
explaining what it was like for them to grow up in Thetford and what they do
now in their careers and life generally. There’s some impressive stories to
tell.
Now, I’ve asked each of them
to provide me with a few words about themselves, what they don’t know however
is that as I call their names, I’d like them to join me on stage:
1.
Ricky Bowers; Ricky moved to Thetford aged 12 in 1999 and went to Charles
Burrell High School. At 16 he joined the Royal Air Force – during his career he
has cooked and served dinner to both Gordon Brown and President Bush. He’s
cooked lunch for the Queen and he clearly didn’t do a bad job as we’re
celebrating her 90th birthday here in Thetford tomorrow. He’s
travelled across the world including Norway, Germany and Kenya and was deployed
for 5 months in Afghanistan. He has helped raise money for local charities and
the Make a Wish Foundation
2.
Kimberley Fox; Kimberley was born in Thetford and recently
graduated with a Masters in Law following the completion of her undergraduate
law degree at the University of Leicester. She’s recently secured an exciting
legal role at a top national law firm in Cambridge. She attended Charles
Burrell High School and has worked and volunteered at numerous places in
Thetford.
3.
Kate Greenaway: Kate attended also went to Charles
Burrell High School and later furthered her studies in Bury St Edmunds. Following
this, Kate entered the graphic design industry working for a local marketing
and design agency called Toolbox Group. Later, Kate started her own design
company ‘Frontroom Creative’ and I’m told that ‘frontroom creative is a
creative hub to bring your marketing ideas to life.
4.
Andrew Fitchett; Andrew Fitchett is editor of the Thetford and Brandon Times
and he’s a senior reporter for the Eastern Daily Press in the Thetford area. Andrew was raised in Thetford,
attending Rosemary Musker High School. He went on to study
at Anglia Ruskin University, before training as a journalist
in London. He has been a journalist since 2010, first covering the
Thetford area for the Bury Free Press, before joining the EDP in 2013.
5.
Lindsay Dixon: Lindsey has lived in Thetford her whole life
and left school aged 16 in 2001 to have her daughter Abby, now aged 14. She
married her husband Jamie in 2008 and they also have a son Michael, now 8.
She’s been a mother and a housewife for the last 15 years and she tells me that
she has loved it. She’s studying English and Maths courses at the Charles
Burrell Centre and will be starting a Diploma in Art and Design come September.
After this she hopes to get a degree in Interior Design.
When I
first asked Lindsay to become an ‘Ambassador’ she said that I had the wrong
person as she had “not achieved anything”. I’m really pleased that Lindsay has
agreed to become an ambassador as raising a family is an achievement in itself.
6.
Kate
Snowdon: Kate
works as a sub editor for Discovery Education; part of the Discovery
Communications brand, which also houses the Discovery Channel. She works on
news bulletins, video broadcasts, mini documentaries and teacher resources for
use in the classroom. Outside of work Kate runs a blog about conservation,
which was Highly Commended in the UK Blog Awards 2016.
7.
Ryan
Windsor: Ryan
is an Entrepreneur and founder of Windsor Properties specialising in property
and financial investments. He Lecturers in Business and Enterprise Management,
writes for Archant and About Thetford magazine and is a Non-Executive Director
and Trustee at Keystone Development Trust, Charles Burrell Centre and Mentor at
both Thetford Academy and The Entrepreneurship Centre at Cambridge University.
Three people who have agreed
to be ambassadors but sadly cannot be here this evening. Firstly, Franko Fraize
– he’s an independent rapper and recently signed a major label deal with
Polydor records. He’s performed at the Radio 1 big weekend, Hyde Park and
Wembley Stadium. Secondly, Ian Henderson – he’s a professional footballer
playing for Rochdale. He has captained for his club on numerous occasions and
started his career with Norwich City. Ian is also somewhat of an entrepreneur
and has used his passion for health and fitness to progress rapidly through the
ranks with the franchise Herbalife. Lastly, Tony Cornwall – owener of the
Hideout – a music studio in Thetford which supports a host of musicians.
Over the year ahead, these
ambassadors will be working with me to visit local schools and youth groups.
Letting young people in Thetford know what it was like for them growing up in
Thetford – experiences which I am sure won’t be too dissimilar to what young
people experience now. But I want also for them to explain the careers that
they have achieved and the lives that they lead so that all young people in
Thetford can appreciate what is possible
and what opportunities could lay
before them.
Ambassadors invited to leave stage.
Lastly, some thank-you’s from me:
I want to thank those ex
pupils that are here tonight enabling this event to happen; You have James
Butler, CBHS pupil 1997 – 2001 - he’s providing the bar this evening – James
now runs the Old White Bell pub in Southery. Sarah Swift (CBHS (2000 – 2004) –
Sarah now runs her own photography business and took the photos for us here
this evening. We also have Mark Snowdon (CBHS 1999 – 2003), the Centre Manager
here at Charles Burrell who has worked very hard over the past few weeks along
with his team to get the Centre ready and we have Roger Stebbings – the Mayors
Officer and Sword Bearer (Staniforth Secondary Modern – dates confidential).
Also thanks to my Consort for
the year – Corinne Fulford. As somebody said to me recently – if you want a job
done, ask Corinne!
Thanks to the volunteers from
all three locals museums for being here this evening; the Dads Army Museum, the
Charles Burrell Museum and Ancient House Museum of Thetford Life including young
people from the Teenage History Club. Thanks to the Thetford Police Cadets for
assisting with car parking duties and my own Mayors Cadets for their duties.
And in keeping with the
theme, you will have noticed and perhaps wondered where the flowers are tonight
and why we have trees. Well, flowers have a short lifespan and as the outgoing
Chairman of the Town Council’s Finance Committee I wanted to get the most for
our money – so whilst these trees are here to decorate the hall this evening,
next week these trees will be planted up in local schools and at youth venues
across Thetford as a gift from the Mayor – and forgive the cliché but I hope over
the years to come we can watch these trees grow and flourish in the same way
that we hope our young people do as well.
