THE position of town mayor is one which has been held by many individuals over the years. Most of these have risen to the challenge of this honorary position, and carried out the mayoral duties with the dignity required.

Our outgoing mayor, Councillor Taft, has claimed to have raised in excess of £10,000 during her year in office. If correct, this certainly deserves recognition, and her charities will receive a much-needed cash injection.

Recently, she has been keen to publicise herself, and was even seen parading around the town in full ceremonial gowns! Barely a week has passed without her being linked to some high profile local campaign, be it the rebuilding of the Guide headquarters or saving the lido.

However, she has not been so keen to publish that her intervention, together with the efforts of some members of the Friends of Guiding, endangered the existence of BOTH Droitwich Scout Groups. Keen to secure a lease extension for the Guides, Cllr Taft was quite happy to sacrifice both Scout buildings in favour of new Guide premises.

Fortunately the officers and executive board of Wychavon District Council recognised the work which has gone into rebuilding both Scout headquarters and chose not to redevelop these sites, leaving the Guides to finance and build their new building themselves.

While I hope the Guides sort themselves out, and get the building they deserve, I would urge our new mayor and all those who will follow, to make sure they do not champion their charities at the expense of other equally- deserving local organisations.

Colin Barratt

1st Droitwich Scout Group