Seaford Town Council’s Civic Office

SeAFoRd Town CounCil’S CiViC oFFiCe ACHieVinG nATionAl AwARdS

Seaford Town Council has received national recognition for its work throughout the CovID-19 crisis

Seaford Town Council has received national recognition from the National Association of Civic Officers for its work throughout the COVID-19 crisis. The Town Council was awarded a ‘Commendation’ for part one of the award and a ‘Highly Commended Second Place’ for part two. There is a small award of £150 for the highly commended 2nd place, which will be split between the Mayor’s and Young Mayor’s charities. Part one of the award was ‘how the Civic Office responded to work during the national crisis of 2020’ and part two was ‘how the Civic Office is moving forward after the national crisis of 2020’. The submission detailed the hard work that had gone into the last year, including how the Civic Office (Mayor’s and Young Mayor’s office) reacted to the pandemic and how the Town Council adapted its approach and found new ways to work effectively. This included more hosting of virtual events and meetings; increased collaborations with local groups and speaking on regional and local radio. Seaford Town Clerk Adam Chugg is quoted as saying: ‘As a Civic Office, the pandemic highlighted the key role the Mayor and Young Mayor (and their deputies) play in engaging with the local community and listening to their needs. The Civic Heads are in a unique position of being able to bring people together (albeit digitally) for events, acts of remembrance or kindness and really harnessing the sense of community through a common theme: neighbourliness and pride in our Town.’ Highlights of the achievements of the Civic Office during the pandemic include: The Mayor of Seaford created the Mayor’s Charity Initiative, inviting all local charities and non-profit organisations to sign up to have their profiles raised throughout the year.

Civic Events were either pre-recorded, shared on social media or ticketed socially distanced and live streamed. This included a collaboration featuring the Lord Lieutenant, the High Sheriff, neighbouring Mayors and Council Chairs. This also enabled a greater audience than would normally be the case. National Commemorative days such as Remembrance Day were still respected and marked with private wreath laying. The Young Mayor of Seaford organised a sponsored cycle, and fundraising raffles for her chosen charity, the Kent Surrey Sussex Air Ambulance. The Mayor’s Garden Trail was changed into ‘Seaford’s Secret Gardens’. This revised format opened the event to lots more smaller gardening enthusiasts who would not normally have a large enough garden to be included in the annual garden trail, which were featured on social media.

Christmas continued in a limited way and included an electronic ‘Mayor’s Christmas Card competition’ with local schools. Despite the Christmas Magic event being cancelled, the Town Council and the Mayor supported the ‘Buy Local Campaign’. Other festive events also took place such as the Christmas lights switch on, Prayers for Seaford, and the Best Window Display Competition. At the start of 2021, the Mayor launched the COVID Hero Awards to recognise local individuals’ and organisations’ dedicated work throughout the pandemic. The virtual civic events can still be viewed via the Town Council’s YouTube channel: https://www.youtube.com/ channel/UCjAYAaMKgdv8ckENO9NsSjA/videos For more information see the Mayor’s Facebook Page: https://mtouch.facebook.com/pg/mayorofseaford/ posts/?ref=bookmarks&mt_nav=0

https://mtouch.facebook.com/seafordyoungmayor/ Photos l-r: Mayor of Seaford Cllr Rodney Reed; Seaford Young Mayor, Chanel Pritchard.

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