It’s the Mayor’s personal view time again, the fortnightly column I have two weeks to prepare for yet always find myself hammering out in the wee hours of deadline day. Guess that’s classic ADHD for you!
A few fun things to talk about this week. Firstly, I’d like to thank Callum Swift from Gracie Barra Frome, who invited me up to experience an evening of Brazilian Jiu-jitsu recently. Brazilian jiujitsu or BJJ for short, is a martial art based chiefly on tackling your opponent to the ground to neutralise any size and strength advantages, with grappling once on the floor becoming the focus. BJJ changed the face of cage fighting, this is where it gained its reputation and became a mainstream form of self-defence once the world started to see opponent after opponent dismantled time and time again by these techniques. It was a really great work out, social experience and nobody waltzing around giving it the biggun. My muscles have only just recovered but pain is temporary, ass-kicking glory is forever! Gracie Barra Frome have a free trial offer and they have a kid’s program too, not to mention the Yoga and Muay Thai sessions that are also available. Head to www.graciebarrafrome.comfor all the information you need.
If you’ve been a rock n’ roller, punk rocker, metalhead or goth queen at some point in your life (and I hope you still are) then you have probably picked up a copy of Kerrang! magazine along the way. I recently had the honour of having Kerrang! join me for a day in the life of ‘The Punk Rock Mayor’ which was a dream come true in many ways. When I was a teenager Kerrang! magazine and its music video TV channel were huge influences on finding new bands and learning about old legendary ones, so it was a lovely full circle moment to be recognised alongside some of my heroes by the magazine and its vast national and international readership, putting Frome firmly on the map again! Catch that article at www.kerrang.com
I got to spend part of my birthday up at Victoria Park visiting Frome Town Council’s Playday – it was a fun event full activities for the whole family, not just the kids. We’re trying to encourage everyone to embrace play more because it’s so important to children’s development and socialisation. I also think it’s healthy for us adults to indulge our inner child from time to time. Life is full of less than exciting responsibilities and it’s so easy to forget that it’s ok to muck around and be a little silly. A wise man once said, “All work and no play makes Jack a dull boy”. But don’t worry if you’ve missed it because there will be more! Please head to the Frome town council website and tell us how you like to spend your free time in our play audit: https://www.frometowncouncil.gov.uk/choose-play-in-frome/
