Mayor's column: Happy new year and a look forward at 2026

I would say about the middle of January, but my wife thinks the whole of January. Who am I to disagree with her! Therefore, “Happy New Year!” I hope 2026 has started well for you all – for me, it’s certainly been a lot quieter this month than the lead into Christmas, although I still have a Carol ‘earworm’ that pops up occasionally. Last year this lasted until sometime in March.

My last official duty of 2025 was the Leighton-Linslade Rotary Club’s Carols in the High Street. What an amazing evening and weren’t those home-made lanterns magnificent as they came down the High Street towards the stage. I certainly hope we’ll be doing that again. I love events which bring our amazing community together and what better way to get the Christmas party started.

Apart from lots of regular Town Council and committee meetings, I also attended the Leighton-Linslade Sports’ Council meeting. If you’re a member of a local sport’s club that isn’t already a member of the Council, please join it as it will give you access to grant-funding and its annual awards.

As Mayor, so far this month I have attended the ninth birthday party of Spectrum Community Arts – a lovely afternoon of silly games, tea and cake. It was great fun and I hope they raised lots of money and awareness for their various performance projects. I also visited the Riverside Scouts who have been extremely busy rebuilding their ‘hut’ following the devastating flooding of Clipstone Brook in September 2024. The building has literally risen from the mud and is progressing very well. The group are hoping to open up by the end of March. I know they still need some funding to get them over the line, so please help them if you can.

As I write this, I am greatly looking forward to my Annual Quiz this Friday (30th) at the LB Rugby Club. At this I will be supporting the Leighton Buzzard Voluntary Patient Transport Group who, because of our inadequate local outpatient services, carry up to 200 residents, who would be unable to get there themselves, to 40, or so, venues, sometimes up to 30 miles away for various health treatments, tests and consultations. Amazingly, the event has completely sold-out, so it should be a brilliant evening.

Apart from this, planning is under way for a number of events including my Civic Service which will be held at All Saints Church on Sunday, 8 March. I will be presenting the Community Service Awards at this, so please come along if you can.

My next fundraising event will be dinner at LB Golf Club on Monday, 30 March, in support of Yes we Can. Our guest speaker will be Neil Hart, CEO of the MK Dons Group Ltd and formerly of both Luton Town and Watford football clubs, amongst others. If you would like to come to this, full details can be found on the Town Council’s website or App, or contact Julie Murphy at the White House.

I hope to see you all soon.