Friday 23 August 2013

Firstly I’d like to say well done to all our hard-working young people who received their GCSE results this week. Wiltshire’s results have shown an improvement overall which is great news. I want to thank everyone who has supported the county’s young people throughout their studies.

On Tuesday I met with Nick Hurd MP Parliamentary Under-Secretary of State for Charities, Social Enterprise and Volunteering. He was very interested to hear about our youth services and also our work with volunteers and the opportunities available. Keeping central government updated on the work we are carrying out is important so our experiences can help shape government policy. An example of one of our many  achievements is how we have kept all our libraries open including our mobile services with the help of volunteers – this was a major success and one we should be proud to share.

On Wednesday evening I attended the Northern Area Planning Committee. I was pleased that approval was given to the application for an institute for education at Hartham Park in Corsham.  Some of you may not know that Bath Spa already has a postgraduate facility in Corsham and this development  means that 600 post graduates will be training as teachers in our county every year. It will be a wonderful resource for schools and I’m pleased that we’re able to support this.

I’d like to say well done to everyone who took part in this year’s Wiltshire Challenge. I have to admit that I signed up for the walking challenge but my pedometer went through the washing machine and broke – am I the only one who has done this?! On a serious note, the challenge, which is part of our A Legacy for Wiltshire programme, encouraged people of all ages to take part in a sporting challenge between June and July.  Like last year, we had lots of people taking part and an awards ceremony took place in the Atrium last night (Thursday) to celebrate their achievements. Aaron Moores,  London 2012 Paralympic silver medallist and 2013 World Champion bronze medallist presented the achievers with their medals and certificate.

I hope everyone has a lovely bank holiday Monday and, as ever, I’d like to say thanks to everyone in the council who is working on the Monday to deliver the vital services our communities rely on.

Jane