At Merstham Park School Park, members of the School Council were given the opportunity to meet the Mayor of Reigate and Banstead.
After a short trip in the minibus, we entered the Town Hall and were led into the old council chambers, which was ornately decorated. This is where we met the current Mayor, Councillor Jill Bray, Mayor of Reigate and Banstead. Her official title is ‘The Worshipful the Mayor of the Borough of Reigate and Banstead’.
She taught us lots of information on what being the Mayor is like. We found out that the Mayor is the first citizen of the borough and that they are elected for a term of office for one year. They only do it for a year, as it would get very tiring doing it year after year.
The Mayor has lots of duties in the council and the community, like dealing with housing, they also represent the borough by doing lots of different roles going to formal receptions. The two local charities that the current Mayor supports are Age Concern Banstead and YMCA East Surrey. These charities will benefit from the Mayor’s fundraising activities.
We got to ask questions, for example about the Mayoral Chain of Office, which are links of gold that the mayor wears, with the badge, which had the crest of Reigate and Banstead on it, since Banstead joined Reigate.
“She was really well organised and well informed.” - Ewan Price, Deputy Head Boy at MPS.
We then had a quick break, and they gave us delicious brownies to eat and a glass of juice. After, the Mayor showed us what she wears on civic occasions, like Remembrance day and ceremonies. The Mayoral robes are red with synthetic fur on the edges. They have really long pockets because traditionally, one side would be filled with coins and the other would carry the mace.
We also learnt about the ceremonial mace, which used to be a weapon, but is now ceremonial, so it is carried upside down. The macebearer carries the mace before the Mayor enters and leaves the Council Chamber. During the meeting, it sits horizontally in front of the mayor.
We were also given a tour of the Mayor’s office, where one to one meetings happen and we got to see the Council Chamber that gets used today. It was explained that originally the town hall held the Council, Firefighters and the Police. The tall tower was used by firefighters for water, and the reason why the town hall is situated on a hill is so that the horses could quickly get to an emergency. The police were located, where the new Council Chamber is, and you can see a clear difference. Where the Council Chamber used to be there were marble floors and the rooms were luxuriously decorated, and when it got to the police side, with the court it became a lot more simple, with basic tiles on the floor.
I really enjoyed visiting the town hall and meeting the Mayor, as I felt like I learnt a lot. I found out what the Mayor does in the council and I got to learn a lot of fascinating history about the Town Hall that I never knew before. It was an incredible opportunity.
By Isobel Dearlove
