Record-breaking mayor hands over £29,000 to good causes

June 2014

May 2012

Which comes around more frequently -

a Royal Diamond Jubilee or a Mayor from Groby?

Groby Councillor takes over as Hinckley mayor

It may sound rather like a question in a pub quiz, but most will have no difficulty with the answer, even though there's been 115 years between the two diamond jubilees. To be fair the two institutions of the monarchy and the Borough Council are hardly comparable in terms of ages and looking to the future hopefully we won't have to wait 115 years to send another Mayor to Hinckley.

Although Councillor Martin Cartwright is the first to accept the post it seems we could have had a Groby Mayor much sooner, but no-one has accepted. This should, perhaps, come as no surprise as there are all sorts of appointments which people decline. The usual reason is lack of time and there can be no doubt that time is something the role of Mayor demands. Martin has had a taste of what is to come during his year as Deputy Mayor and will clearly have assessed what impact it will have have on his life, his wife Susan, and the local washing machine repair business he has run for 25 years.

“Obviously, this is going to be a very busy year for me,” he said “and from what I have seen as Deputy Mayor this was just a mere run up for what is to come. I am not deluded enough to think that this will be an easy year for either of us, as work will often encroach on the business of the civic office. I understand that my business will sometimes have to take second place during my Mayoral year, and obviously my wife will have to continue to work as normally as possible. Many Mayors choose to take up office after retirement, but I have thought long and hard about this and decided I would take the civic office a little younger than that. Mind you from what I have already witnessed, I will probably wish I had retired by the end of it!”

Charity fund raising

Martin feels that his decision to be Mayor was helped by the fact that the Diamond Jubilee and the London Olympics make it a special year. He is looking forward to his duties and the fund raising opportunities it raises for charity.

“I have decided that, rather than support a single charity in my Mayoral Year I want to support a number of very worthy causes,” he said. “I will therefore, do my utmost to raise funds to support as many organisations and or individuals as possible to the benefit of our whole community.”

When Martin found that no animal based charities had been supported in the past he decided that this provided an opportunity and one of his nominated charities will be the People’s Dispensary for Sick Animals. In 2011, the PDSA treated for free nearly 1,500 pets specifically from the Hinckley & Bosworth Borough Council area at the PDSA PetAid hospital. These free treatments did not include paid-for preventive treatments, such as neutering and vaccinations. He also intends supporting Hearing Dogs for the Deaf, which trains dogs to make real life-changing differences to deaf people in their own homes, alerting their owners to everyday situations such as alarm clock, telephone and doorbell ringing - all things that we take for granted. This year is the 30th anniversary of the charity. The Cats Protection League and Dogs for the Disabled are the other animal based charities to be supported.

Martin will also be supporting other well know good causes – the British Heart Foundation, Macmillan Nurses and the Leicester Children’s Holiday Centre at Mablethorpe, which has been providing free seaside holidays for any child in need in the Leicestershire and Hinckley area for over a century. Eligible Children in need of a holiday can benefit from the holiday home, which provides accommodation for up to 64 children at a time at the Mablethorpe home.

Twin sister remembered

There is something very personal about Martin's last choice of charity, as there was someone who was not there to see him accept his chain of office, his twin sister who only survived for a few hours after birth. “ My parents called her Alison and I would particularly like to raise money for this our local neonatal unit in memory of my twin sister and for my parents in the hope that others do not have to go through what they did,” he explained. His aim is to raise funds towards a new specialist cot for the unit.

Donations will be welcomed throughout the year. Cheques should be made payable to 'The Mayor's Charity Appeal Fund' and sent to Rebecca Owen at the Borough Council offices.

If you are able to offer support by donating raffle prizes or if you wish to discuss the Mayor's charities, please get in touch with Martin directly by telephone or email. Contact details are available on the Borough Council website.

Busy diary

The Mayor, as the First Citizen of the borough, distances himself from the political arena during his term of office and in so doing is politically neutral. Whilst in office, the Mayor's key role is to establish and maintain links with people in the local community and promote the interests of the borough and the people living and working in it. He attends a variety of engagements during his civic year such as formal ceremonies, awards presentations, galas, church services, opening new premises, visiting schools and local businesses, as well as hosting a number of civic functions.

The new Mayor's diary is filling up but if you would like to invite him to an event you can either email your request, complete the online pro forma or ring the Mayor's Secretary, preferably six weeks before the event. All invitations to the Mayor must be sent via the Mayoral Office. You can invite the Mayor to take part in your event, such as a competition, presenting prizes or certificates, drawing a raffle, making an opening or closing speech. When thinking about what information you need to include with your invitation, the initial details needed are:

• • What the event is

  • Where and when it's taking place

  • How you'd like the Mayor to be involved

The easiest way to access the pro forma request form is to use this link or Google event pro forma hinckley as it comes up as the first result.