We’ve been away in Germany over Easter, visiting family and eating chocolate, but the week before was fairly busy, even by my standards!
It was a great pleasure to open the exciting and thought-provoking festival of photography that is Photo|Frome. Photo|Frome is now in its third edition and we are delighted to see this event, showcasing the work of photographers, nationally and internationally known, added to Frome’s calendar of cultural events. It’s one of the things that gives our small town such a great reputation, a varied cultural life and helps us punch well above our weight on the national stage. This year’s theme of inequality reminds us all of the problems here and around the globe, which affect disadvantaged people and communities. Many of us have been upset and angry to see Britain’s budget for overseas aid drastically cut, and the US has done the same. We congratulate Photo|Frome for choosing to highlight the problems of inequality as seen through the eyes of its featured photographers.
I also attended the Black Swan for the opening of the related Water Aid exhibition The remarkable photos depict the struggle people in many countries and communities face each and every day of their lives. They also show us what can be achieved, often with basic and simple technology, to improve health, hygiene, mortality rates and especially infant and maternal mortality.
On a much lighter note, I joined the regular volunteers from the Discover Frome Information Point for tea and hot cross buns in the Town Hall. It’s always great to recognise the work our volunteers do, but also it’s a really good way to hear what’s worrying local people and visitors. Without doubt, the lack of access to cash at weekends is now high one the agenda, so the sooner we can get the banking hub into its permanent new home the better. We’re also looking forward to the launch of the new version of the Discover Frome website to make it even easier for people to find out what’s happening locally.
Our new homeware store The Range invited me to cut the ribbon at the opening ceremony, and people were literally queuing round the block to get a first look at what’s on offer. The next day I popped into Fair Frome to visit their new garden and meet the volunteers who are starting to grow produce there to supplement what’s available in the Food Bank, and later that morning I joined a group of interested people for the first of this season’s Walk & Talk sessions at the Dissenters Cemetery. Jim Parsons has a detailed knowledge of the burials on the site and shared that information as we wandered around the tranquil resting place of so many people, including many war graves among more than 6,000 burials. Volunteers there have created a Nature Trail lined with fruit trees and the site has just been awarded a Wilder Churches and Burial Grounds plaque from Somerset Team Wilder!
