It has been a very busy week, and a really good one for our City.
On Tuesday, I joined the Mayor and other councillors up in the House of Commons at a Made in Southend event – hosted by our two MPs. It was great to see so many of our City’s businesses, and such great variety too, including Rossi ice cream which proved very popular in the heat, to Olympus Keymed, Pig’s Bay Distillery and London Southend Airport, along with our own museums, culture and tourism and adult community college teams along with South Essex College and University of Essex. It was a great opportunity for Southend to promote itself in Westminster and was a very useful exercise.
The event also saw the formal launch of the partnership which is going to deliver the exciting Southend City Festival which will take place in a hangar at London Southend Airport from 2-4 September. DP World, London Southend Airport and the council have come together to back the event, which is going to be truly wonderful for our new City.
Fabio & Grooverider and the Outlook Orchestra, Africa Express, and The Music Man Project have been confirmed as the headline acts and it is sure to put Southend on the map and give a real boost to the local economy – tickets are just £20 for the Friday and Saturday and £10 for the Sunday and are available now.
The festival would not be possible without the commercial and public sector working together to make it happen, both logistically and financially and I was delighted to meet DP World and London Southend Airport colleagues.
At Full Council, it was also confirmed that Rob Polkinghorne will be the council’s new Chief Executive. Rob Polkinghorne is currently Chief Operating Officer at Aberdeen City Council having previously worked for West Hampshire Clinical Commissioning Group and North Yorkshire County Council. Rob will join us later in the year and I am looking forward to working with him.
This weekend sees the return of Southend Pride ‘in person’ for the first time since 2019, with the main Parade taking place on Saturday 16th July in the city centre. This year is especially significant for the LGBTQ+ community as 2022 marks 50 years since the first Pride event in the UK and the council is proud to have supported the committee this year.
Finally, with hot weather alerts being issued, please make sure that you are following NHS advice. Much of this seems obvious but perhaps the most important is to ensure we are looking out for anyone vulnerable or elderly – be they relatives, friends or neighbour. We have a great community spirit here in Southend-on-Sea and I am sure we will all do this. The UK Health Security Agency have written a great blog on this and it is available on their website.