Busy busy busy

Sir Robin unveils his new ‘Every Child a Chess Player’ initiative

It looks like Newham council’s PR machine is going into overdrive to promote the mayor ahead of May’s elections.

Of the ten news stories published on the council website this week eight prominently feature Sir Robin.

On Sunday – this is a seven-day-a-week operation! – they reported that

Sir Robin Wales and Madani Sow, Chairman of Bouygues UK and Bouygues Development, marked [the completion of the first concrete structure for Hallsville Quarter, the new centre for Canning Town] by placing a time capsule in cement on the site. They were joined by representatives from partners One Housing Group, Mountain Capital and Morrisons.

On Monday

Mayor Sir Robin Wales joined more than 160 children from 13 schools across the borough to launch the Newham Primary Schools’ Team Chess Tournament at the Old Town Hall in Stratford…

…Sir Robin said: “Chess is another skill that young people can learn. It improves their concentration and we believe it improves their cognitive skills. Giving children opportunities to find the things they enjoy builds their resilience, and that’s what we’re about.”

The start of a new ‘Every child a chess player’ campaign, perhaps?

Then on Tuesday ‘Every child a Chinese lion dancer’ took centre stage:

Mayor of Newham Sir Robin Wales joined students at Beckton’s Kingsford Community School who got some expert lessons in traditional Chinese lion dancing thanks to Royal Albert Dock developer ABP… Sir Robin visited the school with ABP vice chairman Nancy Xu and London Executive Director John Miu to present a lion’s costume and some Mandarin books.

Later the same day

Mayor Sir Robin Wales helped launch an initiative that will see girls at Sarah Bonnell School in Stratford be able to choose their perfect prom dress thanks to a leading bridal and special occasion retailer.

The diary was packed on Tuesday, as our leader took inspiration for the soon-to-be-unveiled ‘Every child a cheerleader’ programme:

Mayor of Newham Sir Robin Wales gave a big cheer to more than 350 young people from the Ascension Eagles cheerleading squads as they put on a show at their annual Spring Showcase event.The Mayor visited the ExCeL exhibition centre in the Royal Docks to applaud teams from 15 primary and secondary schools from across the borough, and children with special educational needs, who receive cheerleading and dance coaching from the Eagles funded by the council.

Wednesday rolled around and Newham PR kicked off with news about Workplace, claiming that it has now “secured employment for more than 20,000 Newham residents.”

Sir Robin Wales Mayor of Newham said: “We’re extremely proud of our highly successful employment service, Workplace. It has done an amazing job in supporting so many Newham residents into sustainable employment.”

Not letting the grass grow under his feet, the mayor went tree planting in Canning Town

Mayor of Newham Sir Robin Wales joined Ian Sutcliffe, executive director of Countryside Properties, head teacher Violet Otieno, and 15 pupils to plant a tree in the new rooftop garden [at Keir Hardie Primary School]…

…[he] said: “We’re committed to providing our residents with great homes, excellent schools and new and exciting neighbourhoods as part of the Canning Town and Custom House regeneration programme.”

Despite it being the first week of the Easter holidays, this was followed by a report on visits to no fewer than four other schools in the borough

to see how the [building] works were progressing, meet head teachers and pupils and to perform topping out ceremonies…

… ”It was great to meet the teachers and pupils at these schools and see the breadth on teaching on offer. Our primary schools already provide a wealth of learning opportunities to inspire our young people and help them achieve their potential.”

It was of course simply a happy coincidence that this bustle of activity occurred just before the start of the election campaign and that the council’s slick PR team could report it all in such gushing terms.

Tags: elections, sirrobinwales