Chair's Blog for August: The close of a beautiful summer!
Can you believe it’s September already? We’ll soon be on the countdown to Christmas!
For now though, let’s look back on what has been a beautiful Summer.
August has been a little quieter than the previous two summer months, with lots of people I’m sure enjoying family holidays.
Saying that, my Consort and friend, Sue Taylor and I have still had a great time, and it’s been lovely to be there to see my Vice Chair, Cllr Tilley in action too!
At the start of the month we were lucky enough to be invited along to the Woodville Women’s Institute, where we were made very welcome – and we even had our picture taken in front of their fantastic homemade patchwork quilt, that represents Woodville itself and the work of the WI.
This was soon followed a couple of days later with a trip to the brand-new toddler play area that has been created by South Derbyshire District Council in Melbourne. It’s a tiny little piece of heaven for the Under 4s! It might seem like a very small addition to the town, but areas like this make a real difference to parents and their little ones. The previous play equipment was minimal and starting to look very old and dated.
I believe we posted a story on our social media pages to say the playground has had a ‘glow up’, and that’s exactly what this is!
That very weekend I was back in Woodville for the Council’s big fun Friday! This was another fantastic FREE event, with lots of activities put on by the Active South Derbyshire team, and the weather held out so lots of fun was had by all!
Then of course we had all of our Music in the Park events, which are organised and managed so well by our wonderful Events Team at the Council.
On Sunday 10 August we thoroughly enjoyed all the amazing work done by so many groups to entertain us with Musicals in the Park. What a hot and sunny day, with some real talent on display!
This was followed by Wacky Wednesday, a big fun family event, with lots of activities to take part in, as well as some fantastic Live music to listen along to – and again, all this was put on by the Council for free! It was an ideal way to spend a sunny August afternoon.
To round off the Music in the Park series of events, I was able to attend the Proms in the Park event on Sunday 17 August as a civilian, and got to see my Vice Chair, Alistair Tilley, doing the official duties. He did another fantastic job, and we all had a really good time.
During the month, my fellow Councillor and former Chair, Cllr Sean Bambrick, presented a cheque to the Miles for Smiles charity, his chosen charity for 2024-2025. Through his fundraising, Sean and his wife Pat, were able to raise a fantastic £3,286.4!
To round off the month, I could not have been more excited to have been invited to open the newly refurbished Peacocks store in Swadlincote. I do love to shop, and I know having a store like this in our town is a real draw for local people, so I was so pleased when they invited me along. I even had some time behind the tills and was delighted to see all the happy customers with their vouchers – some had queued outside since the early hours of the morning!
What a summer it’s been! Roll on the Autumn months, as we look ahead to many more fantastic events and engagements around the District.
8 September 2025