Openings

I've had a thoroughly enjoyable morning attending two openings that meant a lot to me personally.

First, I went to Cove Infants School, where the Mayor of Rushmoor, Cllr Alex Crawford, formally opened our new Discovery Centre. A wonderful range of activities had been set up on the topic of 'Bones', with archaeological digs, real skulls to explore, games and quizzes. The whole school gathered and sang a song, then the Mayor talked about his own interest in science and exploring things before cutting the ribbon and declaring the centre open. He invited the children to ask him questions, and when asked, "How much does your chain weigh?" called for scales to weigh the badge of office, much to the children's delight. He then posed for photos with Charlie, the skeleton, which they also loved. The children then returned to their classrooms singing another song. They had behaved wonderfully well throughout, and I felt incredibly proud of them and of the staff, who had done a marvellous job.

Afterwards, I went along to Barclay's Bank for their grand re-opening following a major refurbishment. They have selected Parity as their charity for the year and invited students and trustees along to see Gerald Howarth, MP, cut the ribbon. I arrived just in time for a brilliant dance routine by some pretty flamboyant 'soldiers', with everything from break dancing to ballet. Adam, one of the students, was absolutely squealing with laughter and it was terrific to see him having such fun. The event will continue till 4.00pm and as many students as possible will be taken along to see further performances of the dance, scheduled to take place throughout the day. No doubt they will all return to the day centre with huge bunches of balloons. Inside the bank, a young man was peddling madly on a stationery bike to raise money for Parity. Like the rest of the trustees and staff, I really appreciate what he's doing for us.