Congratulations to SGRA Cllr Lorna Cross on becoming the new Town Mayor

SGRAs own Lorna Cross took over as mayor this week from the equally amazing Cllr Lesley Howes.

Lorna gave the following speech at her inauguration and pledged to concentrate her term on tackling loneliness:

Thank you to the Past Mayor, Councillor Lesley Howes for her services to Swanscombe and Greenhithe over the last eighteen months.

We are all aware that they were difficult times with the pandemic. So now that your term is over, enjoy your well deserved time off with your family and friends.

I want to thank my many friends who are here to support me and for that, I am very grateful.

With the pandemic, it has been a challenging period as Councillor Howes is aware. Not only for the Council but for the community on a whole.

Hurdles will always be put in our way whether man made or not but hopefully with the help of the community, we will be able to get to the top.

The Corvid 19 pandemic has affected everyone. It has made a difference to our lives and how we interact with our families and friends. Our local businesses have been affected. We have seen more people using our food banks. Our school children have been affected.

This is a good time to stop and reflect on our communities’ wellbeing, their physical and mental lives.

For the families of Swanscombe and Greenhithe who have lost loved ones through the pandemic, I pass on my condolences.

At this point, I want to congratulate, The Deputy Mayor, Councillor Peter Harman and his wife, Jo. I look forward to working with him in the forthcoming year.

As with my previous Mayoral terms, I will not have a specific charity BUT I will be concentrating on loneliness in our towns and believe me, there is a lot of it. I am not only talking about older people but young people of all ages as well.

Last but not least, we live in a multiracial, multicultural society. Let us be proud of it and learn from each other.

I strongly believe that TOGETHER WE ASPIRE, TOGETHER WE WILL ACHIEVE.

Let us work TOGETHER for our communities.

I want to leave you with this piece——

LONELINESS——

Look around you. What do you see?

Do we take time as we walk along the streets to acknowledge the person who passes next to us?

Giving someone the time of the day takes only a couple of words.

Those words or that smile may be the only human contact that individual may have for the day OR for the week.

So let us make it a point of greeting each other as we bustle along with our busy lives.

Thank you,

Councillor Lorna M. Cross

Mayor of Swanscombe and Greenhithe.