Hello All

I am pleased to report that last night this campaign was honoured with a 'Mayor's Award' from Gerard Hargreaves, the Mayor of the Royal Borough of Kensington & Chelsea.

I attended a ceremony at the impressively grand council chamber at the Town Hall in Kensington, where I was presented with a certificate for 'Individual Contribution'.

I must say, it was a nice moment, not least because this was my first award since 'The English Prize'...when I was 12 in 1978! Thankfully, yesterday's historic landmark was livestreamed to the world (16mins in, folks).

I was one of 14 people to receive an Individual Contribution Award. There were 26 winners in total, including multiple organisations from across the borough. All these groups and individuals do fantastic work and give generously of their time and energies to help others. It was an honour to be amongst so many people who really care about their communities.

I greatly support the Mayor's Awards and applaud the Council for recognising contributions made by individuals. If anything helps encourage people to weigh in and help out with matters that directly affect their community, then that is a great thing and it has my wholehearted support. 

I'd like to thank Christopher Lenon, treasurer of The Chelsea Society, who nominated me. We had never met before, but Chris organised four seconders to support the nomination. Members of The Chelsea Society were among the earliest supporters of the petition. I was able to raise a glass with Chris and others from the Society at the reception. 

My sincere thanks also go to Mayor Hargreaves and the staff at RBKC who work so hard on the awards every year. (RM: 11/3/22)