It may be the weekend but we are still working hard.
This morning Keith was at a meeting of the Royal Orthopaedic Hospital Foundation Trust Members Council whilst Sue was invited to the opening of the new stand at Kings Norton Rugby Club, which just happens to be in Bromsgrove. Julie Kirkbride MP performed the opening, Cllr Roger the Leader of Bromsgrove District Council was also there. Julie has been a huge help to us in the past and we see Roger frequently at the Joint meetings with Northfield and Longbridge Councillors. Keith was supposed to join Sue but the meeting went on until after 2pm by which time the ceremonies were over. Still, good luck to the club. They have been here for 25 years and our son remembers playing there for the Old Salts.
On Wednesday evening Keith did a round of local police stations in his role as a Custody Visitor. He has been doing this for about 5 years and has just had his term extended by a further 3 years. The custody suite at Bournville Lane was packed and they started to divert new detainees to other stations. It seemed that Mr Blair's "Tough on crime, tough on the causes of crime" soundbite was just that.
We are now being contacted by parents who are worried because their child has not got their first choice of school. We have 2 very good schools in the area. Colmers is excellent but one parent told me that she sent her son to Frankley and not Colmers because of bullying. Another wanted to get her child in to Colmers and not Frankley because of , yes, you guessed it....bullying.
Frankley has improved immensely over the last few years but it can be difficult to lose a bad reputation. We will keep working with the school to make it even better and make sure everyone knows about it.
On Friday there was another sad occasion with the funeral of Hon Alderman Don Wilson.
We met him for the first time at a Mayoral dinner. He was always immaculately dressed and a marvellous raconteur. He spent a lifetime devoted to public duty and his sudden passing was a shock for us all. Our condolences to Dereen.
