Annual Council

It's the Annual Council meeting tonight, when I hand over the chairmanship to my successor. After the usual apologies and declarations of interest, I ask members to rise for a minute's silence in memory of the fourth serving councillor to have died during the year, Cllr Greg Peck. Then I give my Review of my year in office; and for the first time I use a PowerPoint presentation to give people a glimpse of what I've done during the year.

Then it's time to call for nominations for my successor. It's been thoroughly enjoyable, but I'm quite content to hand over to someone else, and return to the political fray of the backbenches after a year of civic responsibility.

If you've been a regular reader of this online diary, thank you. I hope it's provided something of an insight into what it means to be Chairman of a local authority like Harlow; and that it's been a useful exercise in openness and accountability.

Best wishes for a happy and prosperous future.

Switch off

From Friday morning, the link to my Chairman's Diary will no longer be visible from the Harlow Council web site, as I'll no longer be Chairman.

The direct address of the diary, should you ever wish to look at it again in the future, is http://chairman-of-harlow-council.blogspot.com

Raising aspirations report

Tonight I present the final report of my Raising Aspirations project to an invited audience of councillors, members of Harlow 2020 committees and action groups, a number of headteachers, and others. Jackie Sully, Chair of the Harlow 2020 Partnership, has kindly agreed to chair the meeting.

With the support of my advisory group, we've developed a list of seven key issues, and a 'priority focus' for each one. I give a summary of our findings and suggestions for future works; there's a chance for questions and comments; and then a lively discussion over some light refreshments afterwards.

After tomorrow, I won't be in post to have anything more to do with the work of the past year; I hope the ideas and thoughts that went into the project are of some use in helping raise the aspirations of our children and young people for the future.

Pretty as a picture

I've been asked by Kelly, the council's arts officer, to be part of the team of judges selecting pieces of art for the Open exhibition to take place shortly in the Gibberd Gallery.

I arrive at two, and meet my fellow judges - Julian from the Harlow Art Trust, Colin from GlaxoSmithKline (sponsors of the Gibberd Gallery) and Roman, the artist working on the Market Quarter redevelopment.

There are a lot of submissions, all propped up against the walls of the gallery. Kelly gives us two colours of post-it notes (yellow for yes, pink for no) and we all wander round casting our votes for each piece. The unanimous yes-es are included, the unanimous no-es excluded, and we have a lively debate about the pieces on which our opinions are split.

Every artist can submit up to three pieces of work, and we try not to select all the pieces of any one artist, to give as many local artists as possible the chance to be included. The range is wonderful - amateurs, professionals, abstracts, still lifes (or should that be 'still lives'?), portraits, landscapes, drawings, oils, acrylics, fabrics, and a small collection of sculpture.

It's a wonderful way to spend an afternoon, and a real credit to the artistic talent of Harlow and its residents. Do pop in and have a look at the exhibition when it opens for four weeks on 31 May.

Breathe Easy launch plans

Earlier in my year as Chairman, I held a meeting with Dennis Ramshaw from the Epping Breathe Easy group.

Dennis has now written to say that the group is now ready to establish its first presence in Harlow - a drop-in centre for patients and carers, with tea, coffee, and perhaps some gentle exercise to music. This will give the respiratory nurse specialists the chance to have informal contact with patients and carers they might not otherwise meet.

The drop-in will run once a month for three months, and the group will then review how it is going. My successor as Chairman will be invited to attend the launch on Tuesday 3 June at Purford Green Community Centre.

The Langley with the Lamp

Twelve thirty (or a little after - it took me a bit longer than I'd planned to get home after my first engagement of the day) sees me at the Florence Nightingale Health Centre at Church Langley, for the official opening of the health centre extension.

We stand in the baking heat outside, while we're addressed by speakers including Harlow Health Centres Trust chairman Martin Lawn, and a representative from the hospital's Child Development Centre, which is also located here. A plaque is unveiled inside the building, and then we all troop in for a buffet, fruit juice (with ice - luxury!) and a chance for a chat.

I spend a little time talking to a group of health visitors, who tell me that they're about to be reorganised into teams onto a more geographic basis, which should help improve the service to the clients on their caseloads. I also chat to some of the trustees of the Health Centres Trust, and its business manager. We discuss the idea of setting up a meeting for all councillors with the Trust, which would be really useful. The Trust owns seven of the health centres in Harlow, and therefore it's a key organisation in the health sector in the town.

There's also a scale model on display, of a sculpture by a local artist which will be placed outside the health centre at Church Langley. The artist is on hand, to explain the elements of the sculpture, which reflects some of the architecture and built environment of the town, from Bishopsfield's podium to the old town hall and the new build to the east of the town.

Fibromyalgia coffee morning

It's a fine day, so once again I've dug the tricycle out, to cycle to my first engagement of the day - a coffee morning at Wych Elm organised by the local group for people with fibromyalgia. I arrive at about eleven, and the event is in full swing.

I've read a little bit about the condition before going along, and it certainly sounds like something I wouldn't want to experience - muscle pain, fatigue, interrupted sleep patterns, poor concentration and memory, and irritable bowel syndrome.

In some ways, it seems similar to ME or lupus; and I've known people with both, and how wearing it is to have to struggle with a chronic condition, especially when some in the medical profession tell you there's nothing wrong with you.

The local group is small, but keen to reach out and help more people with the condition in and around Harlow. They're affiliated to the national Fibromyalgia Association UK but receive no local funding to support their activities, other than what they raise from their members - and they'd love to be able to hire a room once a month rather than meet in each other's houses. I tell them about some of the organisations they can approach either for funds, or for advice on where else to apply.

I'm given a very welcome cup of coffee, and have a brief opportunity to chat with some of the members of the group. Their stories are illuminating - one telling me she accidentally threw a knife across the kitchen during one of the muscle spasms that she gets; another that she has to follow a 'sleep hygiene' routine that requires her not to sleep in the day, however tired she feels, so that she doesn't have a disturbed night as well ('but it still doesn't work', she adds).

I draw the first ticket in the raffle, which is won by Tom - who, incidentally, tells me a very interesting story about the mayoral chain I'm wearing. I also have the unenviable task of awarding gold and silver medals to two little girls who've taken part in the colouring competition - they're sisters, so whichever I prefer as the overall winner there'll be tears before bedtime!

I'd have loved to have stayed, but I have to do some errands at Sainsbury's before heading home, as I have to be at Church Langley for half past twelve and there's no way I'm doing that journey on the tricycle, especially in this heat - you could already stop traffic with the colour of my face.

I really hope the group finds the funds it needs to provide the support it wants to offer to people with fibromyalgia. If you live in Harlow and you've got fibromyalgia, or care for someone who has, and want to find out more, do email the group - they'd be delighted to hear from you.

Hanging around

I've not really thought too much about what the abseil will be like - which is just as well, because if I had I probably wouldn't have done it.

Nick and Georgina come with me to spur me on - or laugh, I'm not sure which. When we arrive at the Church Langley Water Tower the event is in full swing, and I register and hand over my sponsorship forms for verification.

Once inside the fence round the water tower, we're shown how to put on the hard hat and the belt and strap it round our legs. Then it's into the water tower, and up to the top.

Everyone I've spoken to who has done the abseil says that the going up is the worst bit, especially the ladders at the top, and they're right. The metal mesh staircase is bad enough, with all those holes, but as the tower narrows, they're superseded by three long metal ladders, each with a small safety platform below. I'm afraid at this point I become a total wuss, and let myself be roped up for the final climb up the ladders to the top. I'm particularly embarrassed, as the photographer has managed to climb up ahead of me unaided, with her heavy camera slung over her shoulders.

Out on the top of the water tower, the view is stunning, but I need to concentrate on the next bit of the task. At the edge, I need to get hooked up, then climb through the barriers onto the outside of the ledge. Then I need to turn round, stand on the little ledge just below the rim, then lie on the piece of carpet draped over the lip of the tower. I'm shown how to stop and start the descent by squeezing or releasing the rope - and it's off I go.

It's an amazing feeling, dangling in space, looking round and out - over the motorway, the sprawl of Church Langley, the yellow fields stretching into the distance. It's almost a shame to come down - and the descent is over all too quickly.

I collect my sponsorship forms and certificates, and find the refreshment stall for a well-earned cup of tea and piece of cherry cake, secure in the knowledge that I've raised about £400 for Harlow Stroke Support Group.

Photograph exhibition

The East Anglian Federation of Photographic Societies launches its annual exhibition today in the Gibberd Gallery at a quarter to two. I'm there to say a few words, and open the event.

Malcolm Tinn reads out the roll call of winners and highly commendeds, all presented with their awards or certificates. I don't have much time to browse the display, but I vow to go back, as the quality of the photographs is stunning.

Down to earth with a bump

Now that the local council elections are over and the council publicity restrictions known in the trade as purdah have come to an end, I'm free to reopen my diary for the last three weeks of my chairmanship of the council.

It's a pity I couldn't report some of the things that have happened over the last few weeks, especially the St George's Day events on 23 April, including my first ever school dinner - at St James' School - afternoon tea at Harlowbury Chapel (amazing how many long-term residents of Harlow don't know it's there, when it's Harlow's oldest building), and the raising of an English pint at The Hare pub.

Anyway, this afternoon at 3:45 I shall be abseiling down Church Langley Water Tower in aid of my chosen charity, Harlow Stroke Support Group. Unfortunately, they don't yet have a JustGiving membership up and running, so you can't donate online, but if you'd like to make a contribution, I'm sure a cheque made out to Harlow Stroke Support Group and sent to me at the Civic Centre, Water Gardens, Harlow CM20 1WG will be much appreciated by a very worthwhile cause.