It's a great privilege to have the opportunity to be Mayor for Yateley. My wife and I moved to Yateley 22 years ago and quickly felt at home. We are fortunate to live close to some great countryside and are in easy reach of good facilities. What makes Yateley special is that despite being quite large – with over 17,000 residents, there is still a village community feel. We have great schools, vibrant churches and a very wide range of active community groups catering for all ages.

One of the roles of mayor is to chair the Town Council meetings and I hope during the year to try some new ways of communicating the work of the council. We will be looking to hold the council meetings at different venues around the Town and introduce a "Mayors Blog" providing information about what is going on in a new way.

During the coming year I am looking forward to meeting as many people as possible and supporting, in whatever way I can, our schools and community groups. I am also hoping during the year to raise money for two charities one here in Yateley and one further a field.

• In 1924 Jessie Brown, an orthopaedic nurse from Yateley, went to Nepal to nurse the daughter of a Maharajah. On her return she began a project to combine the craft of hand block printing as seen in India, with aftercare for disabled girls. From this Yateley Industries grew which is now both a thriving organisation and a valuable part of our community. During the year I hope to raise money to help with some refurbishment costs of the bungalows. Further information is available at www.yateleyindustries.co.uk/index2.php



• For the past 8 years the Indlela Project has supported some of the most vulnerable people in the Amaoti Township in North Durban, South Africa. The projects include a programme that provides daily food to over 1,800 children, a home for abandoned babies and a schools based HIV Prevention initiative. During the year I hope to raise money to help with the ongoing running costs of these programmes. Further information is available at www.indlela.org.za/default.htm