What an enthusiastic city!

A marathon effort

Well the marathon was a triumph. In its sixth year it has become the second biggest marathon event in the UK and 1700 people volunteered to make that happen and to create the unique community involvement vibe that we experienced on the day.  It was a particular delight for me to see the women's front runner, Pennina, zip past me. How do they do it? Thanks to everybody who volunteered, I know many of them work for us and their unstinting enthusiasm and preparedness for a long day is truly commendable.

Pennina zipping along

Volunteers on a water station

Young volunteers waiting for the action

Volunteering

Thanks to Carol Grant for the pictures, they are better than mine! 

The magical weekend weather didn’t hold and I took some eerie pictures on Monday as I walked home through a misty Hove. 

An eerie seafront

And later in the week, I managed to get a beautiful picture of the West Pier from the top of the Grand Hotel.

Looking out from the Grand Hotel

On air

Happily, by Tuesday and an early stint on BBC Sussex radio first thing in the morning the sun had re-emerged.  I was there to talk about how we ensure that everybody has the opportunity to vote and particularly those with a disability. I was delighted to have the chance to explain all that we are doing to make the election known about to everyone so that they can register their votes and then exercise their democratic right.  In terms of disability all polling stations will have disabled access and there is special provision for those with a visual impairment.  Despite all of the practical arrangements that we have in place, for me the most important safeguard for us is the quality of our staff and the training that they receive, so that the whole of the election team will be committed to ensuring that everyone can exercise their vote.

At the radio studio

Out with the RNLI

A highlight of my week and continuing the theme of volunteering came on Tuesday night when I was taken by Richard Pearce to meet the RNLI Lifeboat crew on their Tuesday training night and to have a go out on the lifeboat.  What I discovered was that we have a squad of volunteers who are available to crew the lifeboat 24/7 and who train twice a week.  These enthusiastic people come from all walks of life and are part of a voluntary organisation which is extremely professional in the way that it goes about its business. I am deeply grateful to Richard, Malcolm and all those whom I met on the night for the work they voluntary do every day and for giving me such an enjoyable evening.  The fact that it was calm and a beautiful sunset in the marina only added to the delights.

Preparing to go out with the crew

A screenshot from a previous search

Back at base with the crew

Me with Mark ( Rusty) Steel at the helm, Roland Farrar, Nick Clamp, Nigel Horn 

Be the Change

Returning to the theme of voluntary work and citizen engagement, I was one of a number of senior managers invited to participate in the Be the Change event held at the Amex Stadium and sponsored by Brighton and Hove Jobs and run by an outfit called Humanutopia. The event was focussed on young people from Year 10, who for one reason or another, maybe disengaged from school or lacking confidence in their own abilities. The purpose of the event was to help these young people discover their unique qualities and to help them see that our personal qualities are very important, alongside and sometimes more important, than qualifications.  There was an impressive turnout of young people and adults and the facilitators certainly created a powerful event.

At the Be the Change event

All of the people from business and public services who attended came because they want to do something positive to ensure the best of opportunities for all our young people. Certainly that was the reason that I came, and with our commitment to providing civic leadership for wellbeing and aspiration this is the sort of event we should support.  

Ofsted inspection

I dashed back from the Amex to meet an inspector from Ofsted and enjoyed our discussion. Ofsted will be inspecting us over the next four weeks, evaluating the way we safeguard and look after young people. I am very grateful to all of the staff and managers from the council and our partner agencies for the extra efforts that they will have to make to ensure that we meet the expectations of the inspection process. I very much hope that our commitment to young people and programme of improvement will be recognised and I am sure that we will learn from valuable feedback.  

The Dance Space

I thought that volunteering and citizen engagement might be the theme of this week’s blog but it is beginning to look as though enthusiasm might be the joining quality of all the events and tasks that I have been involved in this week. Particularly because last night I, my partner and a number of colleagues including Paula Murray, assistant chief executive, and Nick Hibberd, head of city regeneration, were part of an intriguing evening to launch South East Dance Circus Space fundraising push. 

At the launch

Nick Hibberd and other guests at the launch

The launch moved to the Emporium on London Road

Artistic director, Charlotte Vincent

This project has been a very long time in the planning but we are now at the stage where the Circus Street development, involving the university, the council and South East Dance, is taking shape and physical building will start later in the year. The council has been very supportive of the development of a dedicated and unique dance space in Brighton and this was acknowledged yesterday as South East Dance launched the push for their final fundraising. I know Paula Murray, who has been associated with this initiative for more than six years, was particularly moved by the acknowledgement of progress and the reality that we will soon see a dance space in our city.  The work that she and Nick have led has been very much behind the scenes but hugely important and I thank them for it.

A clean and sparkling city

Finally, I was struck by the commitment and enthusiasm this morning of Nick James on Hove seafront.
 

Nick James

Along with his chargehand colleague Max and some passing residents, we discussed how we could try to change the behaviour of people so that less litter is thoughtlessly discarded. We all agreed that we need to do something. I hope that we are all proactive ambassadors for a clean and sparkling Brighton & Hove and that we all model the behaviours that we would like to see from other citizens and visitors alike.  I will be taking my litter picker home with me tonight!

All the best
Penny

PS 

I'm just back from an inspiring visit to Stanmer Park to see some of the work that we will be doing funded by our Heritage Lottery Bid. I had the pleasure of meeting John Gapper, gardener, who was one of the first two Cityparks apprentices and has worked for the council for 56 years. He is also one of our most enthusiastic volunteers. We have John to thank for the growing and promotion of wild flower planting across the city.

John and me at Stanmer