They say that time flies when you are having fun and that has certainly been the case since I became Mayor in May!

I have chaired my first couple of Council meetings which went very smoothly I’m pleased to say, and have attended a very diverse range of events including professional wrestling at the Town Hall, which brought back memories of ‘Big Daddy’ and ‘Giant Haystacks’. This was a fabulous event enjoyed by many families, it was a thoroughly professional production, full of drama and no one was hurt either!

The Mayoress and I then attended the launch of the Cheltenham International Film Festival, one of the many festivals our town hosts every year and we were pleased to hear about the engagement with local schools. This theme was even more apparent following our visit to the Science Festival – thousands of local children from both primary and secondary schools attend every year and in addition it offers a fabulous outreach programme too.

One of Cheltenham’s key priorities is to enhance our reputation as the cyber capital of the UK and this festival helps promote that with significant involvement from GCHQ and local companies, such as Spirax Sarco and GE Aerospace. This exciting project will deliver thousands of fabulous jobs in years to come for our younger generations as well as thousands of new homes, many of which will be affordable, so there is certainly good reason for us to be positive and confident about the future here in Cheltenham.

A particularly enjoyable event was the Mock Trial Competition for primary schools, organised by Gloucestershire Magistrates in the Community. It was a fabulous opportunity for children to escape the class room environment and take part in and learn about the judiciary process taking on the roles of prosecution and defence and witnesses. The children were amazing and thoroughly enjoyed the experience. A big well done to the magistrates involved and the teachers for taking the time out from their busy timetables.

On the 6th June it was the 80th Anniversary of D-Day and I was honoured to attend the service of remembrance at the war memorial and to lay a wreath in memory of all those who gave their lives, including men of our local 2nd Battalion of the Gloucestershire Regiment. A truly humbling and emotional occasion.

A visit to Imjin Barracks for the Kings Birthday reception was our next engagement. Imjin is home to the Allied Rapid Reaction Corps and it was a great opportunity to chat to senior officers of many nationalities and to learn about the importance they place on having a strong relationship with nearby towns. The highlight, apart from the canapes, was to hear the Beating of the Retreat played by the British Army Band from Tidworth.

The volunteer sector in Cheltenham is huge and so I was delighted to attend the inaugural Gloucestershire Volunteer Awards and to present an award in the under 16 category to a young man from Pittville School, Alfie Lightstone. It was a truly inspiring evening – well done to everyone nominated, they are all winners.

I’ll conclude this month’s article with my visit to the dentist! Going to the dentist is rarely an event we look forward to but I did enjoy attending the launch of the new Leckhampton Dental Clinic in Leckhampton Road – it was far from painful! We will I am sure all be aware of the crisis in our dental sector so it was especially encouraging that this practice intends to run oral health education programmes for children at local schools, highlighting the importance of tooth brushing, sugar awareness and regular dental appointments. Sadly, tooth decay is the biggest primary cause of NHS admissions for children between 5 and 17.