I’ve been doing the Mayor’s Column for a while now, helping out Mayor Collier where I can while she goes through her treatment. If you’ve read my column before you will have gotten a little insight into who I am, not just the tall guy who works in the Co-op! My column this week delves a little deeper into who I am and why I stood for office:
Why did I want to become a councillor?
Well, it all started out as an ongoing joke in the Co-op about feeling like the Mayor because I felt like I knew everyone in this town! Little did I know some of the councillors of that time were people I was having a laugh with and they started to take it seriously and I guess see some potential in me. I’m smart enough to know when a door opens for me, to walk through it, even when it’s intimidating or a little scary. I’m a firm believer that exiting your comfort zone is the only way to achieve growth of any kind. I’m fairly good at this but I could definitely take my own advice a little more!
Once I started running for election, getting a first-hand education on local government (especially Frome’s radical independent council) I realised just what a serious and complex responsibility I was taking on. I’m still learning all the time, playing to my strengths where possible and being ready to soak up new things all the time.
What interests me outside of council life?
I’m always working on something. I’m currently the very proud owner of roughly 2,000 cd’s and untold amounts of vinyl. I’ve been collecting music since my early teens and have no plans to stop.
I also host my own Podcast ‘The Giant Pod with Andy Wrintmore’ that’s available on all major streaming networks. I talk to people of all walks of life. Artists, musicians, authors, intellectuals, people from the TV and film worlds, scientists and more. It’s about celebrating my own curiosity and chatting to the people I find most fascinating; I love lives that are being or have been lived to the fullest, the successes and failures that come with those stories. I’d recommend checking out a recent episode with Jeremy Wade from the global smash hit show ‘River Monsters’.
Music is obviously important to you – tell us about your journey.
Music has always been an obsession and has the power to harness my obsessive streak better than almost anything. I’ve feverishly collected and archived it, shared it hosting numerous radio shows and I’ve been very fortunate to play it all over the UK, Europe, and America with my band SickOnes enjoying a modest global fan base thanks to our dedicated DIY ethos, music videos and radio support from the BBC and others.
If you had a magic wand, what’s the one thing you would do for the people of Frome?
There are so many answers that would make me sound like a cliché Miss World contestant!
I’m really proud of our youth. This pandemic has been so hard on them in numerous ways. They are inheriting a world that has many different wounds that they are not responsible for creating. They have sacrificed an awful lot of precious time in their young lives largely to keep the older generations shielded and protected and they will never see that time again. I think that cannot be underestimated or easily forgotten. We have all paid a price of varying degrees but the disruption of their lives and in some cases development and education absolutely needs to be acknowledged and respected by us adults.
To quote David Bowie: “These children that you spit on as they try to change their worlds. They’re immune to your consultations, they’re quite aware of what they’re going through.”
Let’s say less and listen more. They have earned that courtesy at the very least.
So, a new Maverick skatepark would be a good place to start…..
