5 December 2025

Hello everyone, I hope you have all had a lovely week. My blog is a lot shorter this week as I have had some time off due to being unwell.

I had a good weekend and had my family to visit for food and a catch up on Saturday afternoon. Saturday night I had my lovely nephew Leo sleeping over. He is 11 years old but loves 1980s and 1990s music. We just had a sing along all night including The Bangles, Walk Like an Egyptian and Queen, Killer Queen. It amazes me that he knows every word!

I started off my week by catching up with our wonderful graduates, who are currently completing their placements with the Council as part of the Local Government Graduate Scheme Programme. I like to meet them every few months to see how they are doing, and I'm pleased that they are really enjoying working with us.

I then joined Mike Greene, Chief Executive for our regular catch up.

Later in the day I attended my quarterly catch up with Matt Storey, Police and Crime Commissioner (PCC), and Lisa Oldroyd, Chief Executive and Monitoring Officer for the Office for the Police and Crime Commissioner. Marc Stephenson and Tracey Carter joined me in the meeting.

On Tuesday, I met with Tom Bryant the Chief Executive of Tees Valley Combined Authority (TVCA) to discuss my portfolio. Later in the day, I attended a Cabinet briefing, however my day was cut short due to illness.

This week has been a lot quieter for me as unfortunately I have not been feeling well and had to cancel a lot of appointments.

Today I have returned to work and met with Council officers this morning.

This afternoon, I am continuing my regular volunteering and doing a stint with the Volunteer Drivers Scheme. I am looking forward to taking a local resident to the LiveWell Hub in Thornaby and spending some time there with the dementia group. It was great to see Nigel Jessop the Volunteer Driver Co-ordinator. The scheme is really busy, and they are always looking for volunteer drivers. If you are interested, I am sure Nigel would love to hear from you. You can find contact details for Nigel on the Stockton Information Directory.

This weekend, I am visiting Preston Park Museum to see the nationally significant paintings 'Gateway to the World' before the exhibition ends this Sunday. I will also be visiting the activities at Stockton Sparkles.

Whatever you are doing, I hope you have a great weekend.