Tonight marked a very special occasion at King Alfred District Scout HQ, where we gathered to celebrate the achievements of this year’s challengers in the Stuart Rae Challenge. It was a wonderful evening of warmth and community, complete with excellent tea and cake, and it was particularly good to see Iain Cameron, the Mayor of…
This morning, staff and students gathered together at City of Oxford College to mark Remembrance. The atmosphere was one of solemnity, yet beneath that stillness there was a current of hope — a reminder that remembering is not simply about mourning, but about learning, looking forward, and working for peace. The turnout of young people…
Tuesday evening took me to Abingdon, where I joined the 11th Abingdon Squirrels to celebrate their very first birthday. For those who haven’t yet met a Squirrel, they’re the youngest members of the Scout family – four- to six-year-olds taking their first steps in early years Scouting. Introduced nationally in 2021, Squirrels are all about…
Yesterday afternoon, I had the great pleasure of joining members of the Oxfordshire Record Society for their Annual General Meeting and lecture, held in the Officers’ Mess at RAF Benson. As one of the Society’s Vice Presidents, it was a real joy to be among people who share my fascination with local history — those…
On Friday night, Mark and I joined Kev from Thames Valley Police’s Roads Policing Unit for a late shift across Oxfordshire. It turned out to be a very quiet evening — more than 150 miles of driving on Halloween, under clear autumn skies and with remarkably little trouble to be found. Early in the evening,…
This evening I joined the opening of Inspire Sounds’ new premises in the heart of Oxford. It was a joy to catch up with Kingsley, Sam and the team – and to see the space heaving with music-makers, youth workers, teachers, social prescribers and industry professionals. The buzz was real. A highlight of the night…
Imagine arriving in a strange city, speaking little or none of the language, with almost nothing but the clothes you are wearing – and finding yourself caught in a tangle of bureaucracy, fear, and uncertainty. It is a situation faced by hundreds of people every year in Oxfordshire, and for many, the first door that…
Last night, in the beautiful surroundings of the University Church of St Mary the Virgin, I had the privilege of attending — and saying a few words before — a quite extraordinary concert by the Polish pianist and composer Marcin Masecki. The event formed part of this year’s Oxford Science and Ideas Festival, and it…
This evening, I had the enormous pleasure of joining Oxfordshire Scouts for their annual Adult Awards Dinner, held at the beautifully appointed Bicester Hotel and Spa. Nestled just outside Chesterton, it’s a rather lovely setting – part country retreat, part hive of activity – and it proved the perfect venue for a night of celebration,…
Every now and again, a social media storm comes along that makes you stop and think about identity — what it means to belong, to be from somewhere, or of somewhere. The recent one that caught my attention involved the writer Michael Rosen, who found himself being told by strangers on the internet that he…