Some of our Milton Keynes member parishes will be looking forward to Elections in May this year. Whoop Whoop I hear you cry! The Electoral Services team at Milton Keynes have already circulated this useful briefing note. Take a look also at our Elections Toolkit, and most useful of all, book now to attend Councillor Recruitment, Induction & Retention – Effective Strategies & Practices – In-Person Seminar March 8th – 10am To 1pm In-Person. If you aren’t facing elections this year, then I draw your attention to the fact that this year is going to gallop by and May 2025 is around the next corner! Start preparing early, we won’t be running another session on this topic again this year.
Buckinghamshire Council are currently reviewing their Community Board Boundaries, following the outcome of the electoral commission boundary review which is effective from 1 May 2025. The effectiveness of Community Boards has been inconsistent across our BC area. They need your feedback on the appropriate number of community boards from this date. Please take time to complete this short survey to seek your views to help inform the review: https://yourvoicebucks.citizenspace.com/corporate-services/6ff1cf0a/. This is an important opportunity to be heard. Please take part!
The campaign for this year’s The Big Lunch (1-2 June) has begun! The Big Lunch – which I know many local councils have been supporting for several years – helps create safer neighbourhoods and addresses social isolation. By bringing people together over shared meals, this initiative plays a crucial role in strengthening social bonds, promoting a sense of belonging, and enhancing civic pride within local communities. 1 in 5 of the UK population took part last year and local councils are once encouraged to get involved. The Eden Project will be hosting a free webinar on 26 February 2023 at 1 pm, offering guidance on how councils can support the Big Lunch campaign and their communities. More information on the webinar and how to register can be found here.
A D-Day 80 Flag of Peace, is being produced for the 80th Anniversary of D-Day. The Flags come in various sizes with the largest being 5′ x 3′ at a cost of £28.80 including vat post and packaging, with the smallest being a 3′ x 2’ at a cosy of £22.80 including vat post and packaging. Flags will be flying from 9am on 6th June, for up to a week. They can be purchased direct from Tracy Turner at Newton Newton Flags Limited – email tracy@newtonnewtonflags.com, the official suppliers of Flags for D-Day 80 – 6th June 2024.
Finally, thank you for your nominations for this year’s Garden Party tickets. We have received an amazing number of nominations this year and it becomes increasingly difficult to determine and forward just 2 nominations on to NALC. We have never divulged the names of those we forward and I continue that tradition. In the end it is The Palace who extend the invitations and we are not informed who is on that final list. However I urge you further to consider if your candidates and others in your community should be considered for the British Empire Medal which actively seeks to recognise those outstanding people in our community. We wish you a good and restful weekend and look forward to speaking to you next week.
