New Year; New Citizens: Chairman's Diary January 2026

As Chairman of West Berkshire Council, before Christmas I thought I'd approach several emergency services to arrange a visit to thank them for working through the festive season to keep the rest us safe and well. So it was a real pleasure to be invited to our Community Hospital on 7 January.

Ifor Sheldon organised a very full and interesting visit for Martha and me. We met almost all the support staff, including kitchen, cleaning, maintenance and porters. Probably the highlight was the radiotherapy department, where a great deal of sophisticated equipment has been installed and more is coming soon. This will enable many more serious health conditions to be identified early on and in many cases, it will save time for consultants as well as patients in our area, who would otherwise have to make a trip to Royal Berks Hospital.

We couldn't visit the wards because there was concern about spreading infection. We did hear that a phased maintenance programme in the wards was ongoing, meaning beds were kept vacant in rotation. But altogether very impressive and obviously high morale among staff.

Citizenship

Martha also accompanied me to the first citizenship ceremony of the year. These occasions are quite humbling for me because, unlike the recipients at the ceremony, I became officially British by birthright. Most of us did, which meant we may know less about what makes our United Kingdom special than those who must pass a citizenship exam and possibly attend interviews to acquire that British passport - for a substantial fee.

Until recently the ceremonies in Shaw House were bi-monthly. However, we now expect between 8 and 20 or more new candidates each month. We've even had US citizens who have been resident in our area for many years, or have recently returned with British spouses from the US, acquiring dual citizenship.

There have also been changes in our own rules, threatened by certain politicians, that result in longstanding (mainly European) foreign residents in established careers in West Berkshire deciding to fully embrace citizenship to avoid being "sent home" in future.

Whereas the main dignitary officiating is the Lord Lieutenant of Berkshire (or one of his many deputies) as representative of the monarch to whom citizens take an oath of loyalty, the Chairman of West Berkshire Council takes the role of welcoming the new citizens to their full role in the local democracy and community of our district.

Volunteer Fair

We next both attended the West Berkshire Volunteer Bureau's annual "Volunteer Fair" in Newbury's Corn Exchange. Some 50 volunteering organisations were there to advertise the precious roles they play in supporting many good causes locally, hoping to persuade others to help maintain the services they provide.

In a previous life I worked for the National Centre for Volunteering in London and recall being told their research claims that volunteering - the gift of time - offers more pleasure to the givers than anything except dancing!

Marking Genocides

There followed two weeks with no engagements until we reached Holocaust Memorial Day on 27. Officially launched by the UN in 1950 "HMD" marks the day in 1945 when the Auschwitz-Birkenau concentration camp was relieved by the advancing Soviet Army to reveal that genocide in its full horror to the world.

This year the theme was "Connecting Generations", recognising that few survivors of the slaughter of Europe's Jews and other minorities remain to tell their story. It is therefore up to their children, grandchildren and the rest of us to pass on the message.

Since World War II it is accepted that there have been other genocides, such as in Bosnia and Darfur. Sadly there are still ongoing conflicts driven by hatred by (and of) whole groups of humans for "others" that - by the haters - have been dehumanised.

For this reason, the "public" gathering that I had the honour to oversee in the Council's Chamber was not widely publicised, on police advice. We heard a moving reflection on the theme by Cllr Gary Norman, a Newbury town councillor and former mayor who had met Holocaust survivors recently. Rabbi Zvi Solomons led a candle lighting ceremony in which residents of Winchcombe Care Home and Winchcombe primary school participated.

2040

This Council has declared "Emergencies" in both Climate and Biodiversity and I, like many, am very aware that there really is a need to act accordingly. We'd heard that this film was shown by Thatcham Town Council and that its message was upbeat: we know what needs doing, we can already take the necessary action to "Save The Planet". So I offered to sponsor a showing in Newbury Town Hall as it seemed to be in accord with my Chairman's Theme: "Have Faith in Our Future". 

The film was a sellout. I recommend it to anyone who feels a need to be reassured that humanity has the tools to tackle this existential challenge. There is no Planet B!

Our Indian Community

At very short notice (Thursday afternoon for that Saturday 31 Jan) I was invited to launch a "Consular Camp" for the "West Berkshire Indian Society", which I didn't know existed! As I have strong personal connections with India, I was keen to accept.

The event was actually just outside our district, in Green Park Reading. There was an impressive turnout of over 1000 from an area much wider than Berkshire. The Indian High Commission sends officials to regional centres to provide accessible consular services (passports, visas etc.) to Indian citizens resident in Britain, many of whom have dual British citizenship.

For the first time, local West Berkshire members of the British Indian community had come together to form a Society to organise a cultural festival on the same day. It was a really delightful event to celebrate the many aspects of Indian life in our area: business, education, culture, volunteering.

I have since put the organisers in touch with relevant Council departments and made them aware of the kinds of help - and newsletters - that we provide online and face-to-face for residents who have chosen to make their homes in our beautiful area.