Appraisal season is with us. If you’ve not had yours, please speak to your manager about it. As I mentioned last week I’ve had mine with cross-party councillors who have kindly allowed me to share my goals for the year ahead. Check them out here, as many of you will directly input into these as the year progresses. Among those goals is to promote the reputation of the council and Swansea as a whole. So on Tuesday it was a pleasure to team up with local people and organisations to showcase the transformation of Swansea and the council to visiting judges from the LGC Awards. We’re finalists for the top award – Council of the Year – and we’re the only Welsh council shortlisted. The visit was a walk-and-talk around the city centre and our guests saw and heard about many impressive developments, initiatives and partnerships helping in the area’s and Council’s fantastic transformation. The judges met frontline staff and officers from a range of other services as well, highlighting how their professional achievements contribute towards supporting our communities in so many different ways. They also met business leaders who were keen to highlight their backing for us and a city growing in confidence and reputation. Traders at our award-winning indoor market even treated the judges to lunch, including laverbread and cockles – it was a unique Swansea experience! I’m pleased to say the judges said they left with a powerful sense of local pride, passion and trust. My thanks to the many staff involved in making their visit such a positive experience, and to Andy Pearson and the corporate communications team for organising it. We’ll know on June 11 if we’ve won.
Part of our pitch to the LGC judges was the innovative action we’re taking to deal with practical challenges we face. One example of this is how we’ve revitalised city centre digital infrastructure for the benefit of businesses and visitors alike. You can find out how it happened here. But the results and impact impressed an influential audience of businesses and government at the latest Swansea Bay City Deal Digital Infrastructure Programme meeting, hosted by our Leader, Cllr Rob Stewart. My thanks to our digital champions Laura Jenkins and Claire Hughes (pictured) for their presentation at the event and their work alongside the highways team in getting this important initiative over the line.
Also, well done this week to our tourism team for supporting the sector to achieve record-breaking results in this year’s STEAM figures. For the first time income achieved in 2024 by our local tourism industry broke the £650m barrier. It could not have been achieved without our support, including our tourism team’s innovative approach to promoting Swansea to a growing UK audience of fans as a destination of choice. It’s yet another demonstration of how our work to promote Swansea’s reputation is having a practical and positive impact that benefits our businesses and communities.
This afternoon I’ll be attending the Lord Mayor’s inauguration at the Brangwyn Hall where current Lord Mayor Paxton Hood-Williams will be passing on the chains of office to his deputy, Cllr Cheryl Philpott. My thanks to Cllr Hood-Williams for his sterling work as our city’s ambassador over the last 12 months and my best wishes to Cllr Philpott for the year ahead.
This week has been Mental Health Awareness Week and our health and wellbeing team has developed some useful ideas and guidance about where to get help if you or someone you know needs it. Please take a few minutes to have a look; it could help make a difference. Our teams have also been working with colleagues across the Western Bay region, including Swansea Council for Voluntary Services to create valuble mental health and wellbeing resources for the public. You can find out more about them at these links: tidyMinds and Sorted Supported. We know they are valuable because when we mentioned them on social media this week, the post was seen more than 11,100 times and shared and liked almost 160 times. My thanks to all those involved.
It is farewell this week to Neil Llewellyn, who is retiring after 37 years with the council. Neil, who works for highways’ street lighting team based in Clydach, said he wanted to go quietly. Good luck with that, Neil, but I wish you well in retirement.
I’d like to finish this week with news of an appeal launched to support Rhys Delaney, one of our apprentice plumbers (pictured with nephew, Tate), who is having pioneering cancer treatment in London. His mum Toni works for economic regeneration and colleagues are fundraising to help pay for Rhys’ living costs for what will be a seven-week stay in the city. Find out more about the appeal and how you can help here.
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