15 August 2025

I hope you all had a lovely weekend. I had a great time supporting colleagues in Darlington for their Pride event and on Sunday I spent a couple of hours at Merlinfest in Billingham where it was good to see some Council employees enjoying themselves in the sunshine.

This week is a short week for me as I will be on holiday from Thursday. As a result, my Monday was filled with catch ups with various councillors and colleagues before I go, including catching up with Mike Greene, Chief Executive, Cllr Paul Rowling, Deputy Leader and Tracey Carter, Director of Regeneration and Inclusive Growth. It's always good to have these catch ups and the team work really hard regenerating our Borough. There are so many exciting schemes going ahead. One of my favourite things to do is to pull back the blinds in my office and see the progress of the urban park. Every day the landscape changes and I always get a buzz looking out over it and I can't wait for it to open.

Midweek I attended a meeting of Tees Valley Leaders and MPs to discuss what is going on in our region. I was happy the meeting was in our fabulous Borough as it also gave me a chance to sing the praises of Stockton and our vision for transforming our Borough.

I then joined a meeting with Mike Greene, Geraldine Brown, Head of Policy, Development and Public Affairs and Tees Valley Combined Authority colleagues to discuss the Local Growth Plan. We were able to feed in our local priorities and influence the plan to reflect some of the local industries that lead the way from our Borough.

On Wednesday evening I attended a Board meeting for The Junction a charity for which I am a Trustee. The Junction is a charity based in Tees Valley supporting children, young people and families with additional challenges. Being on the Board gives me a chance to influence policies and delivery of services for children in the Tees Valley.

As mentioned, I am taking some time off this week to rest and recharge. Deputy Leader Cllr Paul Rowling will be covering some of the Leader duties for me. I am away for a week on holiday with my lovely Dad. Sadly, my Mam passed away around 18 months ago and I spend a lot of my time taking my Dad out for lunch, days away and holidays when my diary allows me to. I plan on reading a few books and recharging my batteries on a sun lounger!

I hope you all have a lovely weekend, and I will see you on my return!