10 April 2026
Hello everyone. I hope you all had a lovely Easter break and enjoyed the bank holiday weekend.
I had a busy weekend, including the Middlesbrough match on Good Friday, Stockton Calling on Easter Saturday and making lunch for friends and family on Easter Sunday.
This week has been quite light for me as I haven't been well for most of the week, although I'm starting to feel better today.
On Tuesday, I had the pleasure of welcoming members from Bright Minds Big Futures (BMBF) and Lets Take Action as part of their Takeover Day.
Takeover Day gave young people the exciting opportunity to step into the roles of Council Officers and Leaders, offering a behind-the-scenes insight into the operations, responsibilities, and decision‑making involved in running local services.
After an initial introduction with the young people in the boardroom, I was then accompanied by Alexandria, one of the members taking over the council, to give her an insight into my role as Leader.
We then met with Councillor Stephenson for a tour of our OneCall service and CCTV building. Alexandria said that she felt like she was in a spy movie after the CCTV room! We then went to visit our enforcement team.
After this, we visited Stockton Central Library where there were many groups meeting for activities. We also visited a group of young people who were attending our Holidays are Fun scheme. The activity was Lego coding and the structures they were making were really impressive!
We then met with Councillor Nigel Cooke and Rob Lindsay, Deputy Operations and Events Manager at Stockton Globe. Alexandria had never been to our fabulous arts deco venue and was impressed by the tour we received and the history of the building. Whilst there, we also had a performance by the brilliant Globe Community Choir.
After this, I handed some meetings over to the Deputy Leader Cllr Paul Rowling and went home to bed feeling unwell.
The rest of the week was spent at home, but I was still speaking with colleagues, answering emails, and progressing lots of casework.
Yesterday I attended a workshop with colleagues at Tees Valley Combined Authority to discuss the Strategic Framework including the local growth plan, investment pipeline, and the single assurance framework.
I'm ending this week's blog with a big thank you to all staff, but I particularly want to mention our workers who have made a tremendous effort to implement the new waste and recycling service. It hasn't been without teething issues but the work at the kerbside and behind the scenes has been amazing.
Tomorrow I will again be at the Riverside Stadium with my daughter hoping for a Middlesbrough win! Whatever you are doing, have a great weekend.
Next week, the Deputy Leader will be covering some duties for me whilst I am away on holiday.
