New mayor for Raunds elected during Zoom meeting

Cllr Sylvia Hughes has been elected town mayor for 2020/21
New mayor of Raunds Cllr Sylvia Hughes with her consort Cllr Dudley HughesNew mayor of Raunds Cllr Sylvia Hughes with her consort Cllr Dudley Hughes
New mayor of Raunds Cllr Sylvia Hughes with her consort Cllr Dudley Hughes

The new mayor for Raunds has been elected during the town council's annual meeting held via Zoom.

Cllr Sylvia Hughes was elected as town mayor for the 2020/21 civic year at Raunds Town Council's annual meeting on May 12.

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Her consort for the mayoral year will be Cllr Dudley Hughes.

Cllr Lee Wilkes was elected as deputy mayor and his consort will be Cllr Helen Howell.

Although the annual meeting of the council was held via Zoom, members of the public were still able to join the meeting and watch proceedings.

The chains of office were presented to the new mayor and deputy by their consorts as they are members of the respective households.

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Cllr Sylvia Hughes said: “I am delighted and honoured to have been elected mayor of Raunds.

"These are unprecedented times and my year as mayor may be very different to that of past mayors.

"The year will bring many challenges, social distancing will mean I am not able to attend functions in person, at least for the first few months of my term, however I am committed to engaging with our residents, businesses and the wider community as much as possible.

"In the coming weeks I am going to launch a series of podcasts, these will take a look at what the town council is doing to support the community and adapt to the current climate and we will talk to schools and businesses about the changes they have made, full details of these will be posted on our website social media."

Her chosen charity for the year is Family Support Link.

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And she said: "Family Support Link's mission is to provide accessible and non-judgemental support across Northamptonshire, they aim to reduce the physical, psychological and emotional harm caused to families and individuals living with or caring for someone who is addicted to drugs and/or alcohol.

"In 2021 in the year I will be running a number of fundraising activities to support the charity, including a Burns Night celebration in January and a Mardi Gras event in February."

And the new mayor is keen to stay in touch with local groups despite not being able to meet them in person due to social distancing.

Cllr Hughes said: "Is your group meeting via Zoom or MS Teams?

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"If so and you would like the mayor to Zoom into your meeting please contact the town council office and we will be happy to arrange this for you.

"Schools, care homes and local societies please do also contact us if you would like the mayor to join any of your online activities."

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