Cheltenham is rightly proud of its international links, including Annecy, Gottingen and Weihai. Yet beyond these established links we welcome thousands of international students to our town to study at local schools and colleges. They are so important to our economy, our reputation and our diversity.

Welcoming international students
I was delighted to welcome a party of Japanese students to the Council Chamber where we held a question and answer session and took lots of photographs. I asked what they loved about our town and the best response was ‘our lovely buildings’. Our heritage and our buildings are such an important part of who we are, so long may our policy of protecting and enhancing our heritage continue.

Cheltenham Town Community Trust
Readers may be aware of my long association with Cheltenham Town Football Club, so I was thrilled to welcome Trustees and employees of the Community Trust to join me in the Mayor’s Parlour to celebrate their achievement in generating £5.5m in social value to our community, delivering impactful programmes in mental and physical health, education and social inclusion. For every £1 invested, £14 goes back into the community, which is an incredible achievement and certainly something to be proud of. For more information visit www.ctfccp.com/support-us

Cheltenham Arts Council Awards
The arts play an important part in Cheltenham’s culture, from music to drama, from visual arts to heritage, and more. I was delighted to attend the Cheltenham Arts Council Awards held at the Playhouse Theatre where members of more than 50 societies gathered to celebrate individuals for outstanding achievement, long service, or both. There were too many awards to mention them all but congratulations to Stephen Belinfante who won the Joyner Cup for his huge contribution to musical life in Cheltenham as a conductor, orchestral player and as a singer. And to Sue Brown who received a commendation for her exceptional long-term service to the Cheltenham Local History Society.

Young Musicians Concert for Ukraine
I was delighted to attend the Young Musicians Concert for Ukraine at Pittville Pump Room organised by Cheltenham Music Festival Society. We were treated to some fabulous music from two Ukrainian students – Eva Kulikova from Solihull School and Kristina Zaitseva, who studies at Bournside School. They were joined by some very talented students from Cheltenham Ladies College. The event raised over £1,500 for Cheltenham Welcomes Refugees. Huge thanks go to Andrew Auster for all he does for classical music in Cheltenham.

Cheltenham Green Space Volunteer Recognition Event
Cheltenham is famous for so many things, including its parks and gardens, and we are very fortunate to have hundreds of local volunteers who have joined nearly 30 Friends Groups right across our town. These groups have contributed over 5,000 hours of volunteering to look after our parks and green spaces, including planting eight community orchards and 400 native trees, painting railings, removing Himalayan balsam from the River Chelt and gorse from Leckhampton Hill, and raising funds for park improvements such as lighting and equipment.

To thank all these wonderful local people I was delighted to attend the Cheltenham Green Space Volunteer Recognition Event attended by around 150 volunteers. It was a fabulous opportunity to chat and to hear what the different groups have been doing and to exchange ideas. Thank you to Lucy and Georgie of Cheltenham Borough Council for organising the event and for all your hard work in supporting all these groups.