The Mayor informed the Council:-

I wanted to take this opportunity to address the awful event taking place in Ukraine.  I hope that I speak on behalf of Councillors, officers and the residents of the Borough to say that we condemn the illegal invasion of Ukraine by Putin, and as the Mayor, first citizen of the Borough, we endorse this position on behalf of the Council, alongside a minute’s silence for the victims of this invasion.

We, as Brentwood Borough Council, stand together with our residents of Ukrainian heritage and will support them in their hour of need.

We have residents of Ukrainian heritage in our Borough. They are understandably fearing for the lives of their loved ones in Ukraine. The Borough has already demonstrated our solidarity with the Ukrainian community by lighting up the Town Hall in the colours of Ukraine and we are flying the flag of Ukraine.

We welcome the actions of Brentwood Mutual Aid and other groups in bringing the community together to support the people of Ukraine.

We acknowledge this is an act of aggression by Putin, not by residents of Russian heritage living and working in Brentwood.  We must support all of our residents here to live peaceful lives without fear or anxiety.

We pride ourselves in welcoming residents from all over the world. We will warmly welcome Ukrainians to our Borough as part of any national refugee effort.

We urge:

•         Peace

•         Residents to come together in difficult times and support each other when the burden can seem heavy.

•         People to support the Ukrainian communities across Essex who are mobilising in support of Ukraine by donating to funds which they have set up to provide critical support for Ukraine at this time.

•         The Government to do everything possible to support the Ukrainian people who are being displaced from their homeland including welcoming them into this country.

Please can we take this opportunity to take a minute’s silence for the victims of the invasion. 

Since the last Ordinary Council meeting, I was delighted to hold a charity Afternoon Tea and Tour of Ingatestone Hall by Lord Petre and his son Dominic.  This was a lovely afternoon and raised over £500 for my chosen charities. 

Just last week, I took part in a tree planting at King Georges Playing Fields in honour of the Queens Green Canopy – an initiative of tree planting across the Country for the Queens Platinum Jubilee.  I also got the opportunity to open the new soft play and Tag Active at the Pavilion within King Georges which will be a great asset to the Borough – and was lot of fun!

On Monday of this week, I raised the flag to celebrate Commonwealth Day The theme for Commonwealth Day 2022 centres around “Delivering a Common Future” and how the 54 member countries in the Commonwealth family are ‘innovating, connecting and transforming’ to help achieve goals like fighting climate change, promoting good governance and boosting trade.It was lovely to be joined by schoolchildren from the borough to read the Commonwealth Day message from the Secretary General of the Commonwealth. 

Lastly, I look forward to welcoming many of you to my upcoming Civic Dinner on Friday 8^th April – there is still time to purchase your tickets if you wish to attend.