Mayor's welcoming speech

On Friday 17th May 2024, Councillor Sidney Imafidon was elected as the new Mayor of Wisbech and Chairman of Wisbech Town Council for the municipal year 2024/25.

Following his election as Chairman/Mayor, Councillor Imafidon gave a short speech. Councillor Imafidon commented that he is honoured to have been elected as the Town Mayor and that he is looking forward to continuing to work together with councillors to serve the people of the town. He expressed the opinion that the council's focus must be on delivering the best services to the people of this great town. He commented that the current membership of Wisbech Town Council is probably the most diverse and inclusive that it has ever been; this comes at a time when people of the town are facing severe challenges.

The Mayor expressed the opinion that whatever we do today as a council will have an impact upon the lives of the younger generation. He calls upon everyone who reads or hears this message, now or in the future, if you claim to love Wisbech, to work with the Town Council to make it an even better place to live. Councillor Imafidon made the point that people will not always agree on things, but they must find ways of working together to achieve the best outcomes for the town. Be prepared to make mistakes, put differences aside and do not look to blame or point the finger if things go wrong.

Councillor Imafidon commented that during his time as a member of Wisbech Town Council he had served alongside three remarkable, but each very different, Mayors; those being Councillors Lynn, Wallwork and Human.

The Mayor paid tribute to the Outgoing Mayor, Councillor Human. The Mayor commented that it had been a great pleasure to have served, during the municipal year 2023/24, as Deputy to Councillor Human (during his second term of Mayoral office). The Mayor thanked Councillor Human for his service and dedication to the town. He mentioned that Councillor Human had attended, as Town Mayor, in excess of 300 events; always promoting and portraying the town positively.

The Mayor of Wisbech supports the local community. Part of the civic duties of the Wisbech Town Mayor is to attend events and functions, to promote the Town. The Mayor's duty and main responsibility is to chair the meetings of Full Council for the civic year.

The Mayor of Wisbech welcomes invitations to attend events and support the local community. Part of the civic duties of the Wisbech Town Mayor is to attend events and functions, to promote the Town, and to mark special occasions or events. This may involve opening an event, making a short speech, or presenting awards or prizes.

All invitations for a civic attendance at your event MUST be made in writing, giving full details. Please use the link below for a pro-forma for your convenience.

Please complete the form and return to the Town Council by email or post. Please give as much notice as possible. NB: the Mayor and Deputy are not based in the council office and time must be allowed for them to be contacted and check their civic, work and personal diaries. A response will be sent ASAP.

Some events are not appropriate for the Mayor (in chains of office) to attend.
These include;-

• overtly political functions/events,
• controversial events,
• anything likely to bring the Office of Mayor, or the Council, into disrepute
• being paid as an individual to attend
• commercial events where there is no obvious benefit to the people of the Town.

If in doubt, please contact the Town Clerk for advice.

Sometimes the Mayor/Deputy will have several commitments on the same day. In these circumstances, please do not be offended if they have to leave before the end of your event. Therefore; if there is a particular part of your event that you want the Mayor/Deputy to be present for, please make sure you note this on the form.

The Town Council/Mayor does not invite anyone else to, or inform others of, your event, including the Press. If you wish the Press or any other persons to attend you must organise this yourself.

It may be possible to ask the Mayor to invite other local authority dignitaries to an event on your behalf. However, you will need to discuss this in detail with the Mayor's office.