Mayor of Sandy Honours Members of Community at the Annual Town Meeting
Date Added: 15/05/2024
The Mayor of Sandy Cllr J. Hewitt hosted the Annual Town Meeting and Mayor's Awards on Monday 22nd April 2024 at the Theatre Hall, Sandy Secondary School, Medusa Way, Engayne Avenue.
The meeting was attended by Cllr J Hewitt (Town Mayor as Chairman of the meeting) together with Cllr Paul Sharman (Deputy Mayor), Mrs N Sewell (Town Clerk), together with 8 Town Councillors, 2 Council Administrators, 1 Central Bedfordshire Councillor, Ward Cllr Bell, and members of the public.
During the meeting, The Mayor, Cllr Hewitt highlighted the various events and projects that have taken place in Sandy during her tenure and how she has been able to work collaboratively with councillors, council staff, Central Bedfordshire Council and the community at large to ensure success. She advised that the progress on projects such as the EV charging points to be introduced in the Town Centre Car Park, the Cemetery Extension Project and Jenkins Pavilion Expansion, will be shared with the community as soon as there are updates available. Cllr Hewitt ended her submission calling on interested parties to apply for co-option to the Council as a councillor of the Fallowfield Ward where there is a vacancy.
Ward Cllr Bell also shared that in the eleven and a half months that she and Ward Cllr Robert Pashby have been elected, joining Cllr Simon Ford who was re-elected, they have collectively handled around 200 individual cases and managed numerous ward and authority-wide issues and initiatives. These cases have included tenancy issues, antisocial behaviour, planning matters, highways issues and flooding. Cllr Bell rounded off her submission encouraging community groups to apply for Ward Councillor Grants. She asked members of the community to reach out to ward councillors directly as their details are publicly available on the Central Bedfordshire Council website.
The Mayor of Sandy took the opportunity to present the Mayors Awards – in the categories of Young Person’s Award, Citizen’s Award & Community Group Award (at a later date)– to recognise the efforts of people making a positive difference to Sandy.
Eleanor Endersby won the Young Person’s Award in recognition of her enthusiasm and passion for encouraging and nurturing newcomers in the Girls Brigade and church-of which she was a long-standing member. The maturity and charisma she exudes at such a young age is commendable!
The Community Citizen’s Award was won by Mr Reynolds whose contribution to the community spans many years. He has served as a referee and coach for Sandy Albion Football Club, was an active member of Sandy Town Bowling Club and the very first chairman of the Village Hall. This year, Mr Reynolds decided to give back to the Community by installing a defibrillator at his home address in Middleham Close, Sandy, which is now fully operational 24 hours a day. Two others, Babara Dunn and Max O’Keefe were highly commended for their massive contribution to putting together crafts for the library and their commitment to raising funds for charities in Sandy and neighbouring towns respectively.
5th Sandy Brownies won the Community Group Award for their work in providing young girls with the opportunity to learn new skills by presenting them with challenges that motivate them to work towards earning badges.
In all, it was a successful event that reinforced The Mayor and The Council’s commitment to serving the people of Sandy.