On Friday night, I am taking part in the King's Arms Project's 2012 'SleepOut 2012.' The King's Arms project is a Christian charity which supports homeless people in Bedford. It does fantastic work in support some of the most disadvantaged and vulnerable people in our community, and I am very pleased that it is one of the causes which will be benefitting from the fundraising activities of the Mayor's Charity throughout this year.
A short note to wish everyone a very Merry Christmas. This morning I am looking forward to visiting the maternity unit at Bedford Hospital, the Cygent Wing, and giving my best wishes to all staff, to new parents and possibly saying hello to any Christmas Day arrivals! Later on I'll be visiting Bedford Concern for the Homeless and Rootless's (BECHAR) Prebend Day Centre as its Christmas Lunch is prepared, before going on to Bedford Fire Station and saying thank you to those on duty.
It was an honour to talk to forces veterans after today's Remembrance Service in the town centre ...
Having written on here recently that 'Pints in the Parishes' is re-starting soon, I can now confirm a full, new schedule of these events at local village pubs around the Borough. I wrote out to all Parish Councils in July, asking if they would like to nominate a local pub which might be a suitable venue for me to visit one evening and give local residents the chance to talk to me directly about any issues they want to raise, in an informal environment. Once again I got an excellent response from the Parish Councils, and I must thank them for their suggestions. I then drew pub names out of a hat, after at first restricting the initial draw to those villages in which I have not yet held a Pints in the Parishes session. I then contacted the pubs to check that they are happy to have me, and can now confirm the full list of new dates and venues. Please have a look and see if I'm coming your way at all. It's always great to be able to talk to a good number of people and gather views on the issues of importance for
'Calm Maintained Across Bedfordshire Last Night.' That was the welcome headline on the website of Bedfordshire Police this morning after an extensive police operation on the streets in Bedford and elsewhere to prevent any of the sickening violence and destruction which has taken place elsewhere from happening here. I have spoken to the Divisional Commander today and congratulated the police on their efforts last night in being prepared and being out on the streets, offering a reassuring presence to local residents and businesses in our town. The Council has obviously been in close contact with the police, and we will continue to work closely together. While it was welcome that the scurrilous and unsubstantiated rumours about possible trouble in Bedford last night did not prove to be true, there can be no room for complacency. I know that the police are know this, and there will again be a major, prepared police presence out in Bedford again tonight.
It's Pints in the Parishes night once again tonight. I will be in Great Denham, which is obviously a growing community and one which is not served by a pub. As with all the pints in the parishes sessions, it came about after I wrote out to all rural parish councils about the events and inviting them to nominate a venue in their parish, if they wished. In the case of Great Denham, the Parish Council was kind enough to say that they would like to me to come and hold a session, and it proposed the public bar at The Bedford golf club. If you are local or happen to be in the area, why not pop along to talk about any issues affecting you or your community, or indeed anything at all you want to talk about? I will be in Bar 19 from around 7.30pm.
