Alnwick Town Mayor’s recent Civic Duties
One of the civic duties of a Mayor is to represent their council at the funerals of people who have made a significant contribution to the place where they live. Such was the case when Alnwick Town Mayor, Councillor Geoff Watson, attended the funeral of Alice Mason.
Alice was a well-known figure in the town, particularly in the area around Alnwick North Community Centre where she gave so much of her time to supporting local residents. At the last meeting of the Full Council, the Mayor’s colleague, Councillor Peter Broom, gave a fulsome tribute to Alice, acknowledging the many years of dedicated service she gave.
Together with the Deputy Mayor, Town Clerk and Cllr. Dianne Watson, the Mayor accepted an invitation from Mayor Jean Paul Michel to visit Alnwick’s twin town, Lagny-Sur-Marne.
The purpose of the visit was to meet international exchange students in Lagny and discuss student exchanges between our two towns and to examine ways to promote more exchange visits from other groups such as sports clubs and encourage an increase in tourism.
On arrival at Lagny, the Alnwick Council representatives were given a reception at the Town Hall during which the Mayors of both towns signed a declaration of friendship. They were then given a tour of the town and facilities of Lagny-Sur-Marne including the administrative headquarters, river attractions and the sports park facilities.
During the visit the Alnwick delegation were able to meet members of Lagny-Sur-Marne’s district Council and discuss the ways in which the Council operated and the comparison between the two towns. They also met a group of international exchange students including a group of Alnwick students.
The Mayor was delighted to report that the visit was a tremendous success saying; “We will continue to strengthen our ties with our twin town and examine ways in which we can encourage exchange visits of students and sports groups and achieve more tourists from the Lagny-Sur-Marne district to visit Alnwick.”
Other duties included chairing a meeting to discuss the refresh of the Alnwick and Denwick Neighbourhood Plan where good progress is being made and attending a meeting of the Royal British Legion at Alnwick Cricket Club.
Pictured: Mayor Cllr. Geoff Watson, Cllr Dianne Watson, Mayor Jean Paul Michel and Deputy Mayor Cllr John Humphries
