As you can imagine November and December have been busy months, with a good selection of carol services!
November began with a return to the Curve theatre to see a great performance by children from Leicestershire special schools, with 180 children remembering events from the First and Second World Wars.
As well as the annual remembrance services in November there was also a trip to Hugglescote to plant fifty trees – to commemorate the fifty soldiers from the village who died in the First World War.
Many people were involved in the production of The Road to War, a concert held at All Saints parish church in Loughborough. This included the talented singer Madeleine Coburn who, we later found out, was a former pupil at Loughborough High School. A good night was had by all, assisted by Madeleine walking around offering the Quality Street!
We have also supported two charity quiz evenings in the run up to Christmas and although we weren’t too hot on answering questions, we thoroughly enjoyed both evenings. These events supported two worthy charities: Crohns and Colitis (Leicestershire and Rutland) and Mablethorpe Children’s Home. Both events will also be fondly remembered by Linda, who dropped her two week old smart phone which was run over by a car. Then she ate a toffee at the other event, which removed one of her fillings! That aside, they were both well organised and great fun evenings!
Lady Gretton and I walked a very muddy two miles into a wood at Normanton Le Heath to plant trees in the National Forest and also viewed two pieces of land artwork. It was an interesting experience.
A memorable occasion towards the end of November was hosting a dinner for HM armed forces. Ladies looked radiant in their dresses and it was a very relaxed evening. It was a great atmosphere to thank those who attended for their dedication to the country. The pictures of the event can be seen on the Leicestershire County Council website www.leics.gov.uk/civic
HM armed forces dinner
In December we saw on several occasions a very talented family who perform in the Musical Village Chorale. Mum, Dad and their three children participated in the Hinckley and Bosworth carol service, Blaby carol service and their own Christmas concert at Brockington College, under the leadership of Lesia Smaditch – the “mum” of the family. We learnt a lot about the Disney film Frozen that afternoon! There is no end to this family’s talents and the last time we saw them at Blaby carol service, mum produced a violin and dad an accordion which they both excelled with!
Also in December I had the pleasure of meeting Michael Palin who came from London to unveil a plaque in memory of the Monty Python star Graham Chapman.
Lord Lieutenant, Chairman LCC, Nick Rushton and Michael Palin
The county council again supported the Toys on the Table appeal and I was delighted to go along to meet the volunteers who work so hard in the run-up to Christmas. I also got stuck in with the wrapping of presents.
Toys on the Table appeal
Finally we enjoyed the last couple of days leading up to Christmas visiting patients in community hospitals. It was lovely to share some of the patients’ plans for Christmas Day and we were given an extremely warm welcome by Matron Linda, who oversees the Coalville and Loughborough Hospitals.
Finally I would like to wish you all a happy and healthy New Year.
leicestershirechairman 