Rachel Lyons looks forward to her year ahead as Lord Mayor of Exeter
Labour City Councillor Rachel Lyons (Polsloe ward), will today (14 May) officially take over from Councillor Rob Newby as the Lord Mayor of Exeter at the Annual General Meeting of the City Council.
Cllr Lyons, a previous Deputy Lord Mayor, will be assisted in the role by Deputy Lord Mayor and fellow Labour councillor Rob Hannaford, who serves as both City Councillor for St Thomas and County Councillor for Exwick/St Thomas and is the present City Council portfolio holder for Housing and Community Involvement.
The Exeter Daily caught up with Cllr Lyons in between official engagements to talk to her about the year ahead. For anyone uninitiated into the world of Lord Mayors, the role alternates between political parties within City Council, and this year it was the turn of the Labour Party to put forward a suitable candidate. Cllr Lyons said, "It's all very democratic. I was chosen to represent the party because of seniority, as I am the longest serving Labour City Councillor who has not yet been Lord Mayor and was able and willing to undertake the role."
So what is Cllr Lyons most looking forward to as the next Lord Mayor? "First and foremost I wanted to raise the profile of the charity I have chosen, Ataxia UK. Having suffered from breast cancer, I could have gone down the route of supporting a cancer charity, however I wanted to support Ataxia UK as it is very dear to my heart and a relatively small charity that does not always get the recognition of other larger organisations."
Ataxia UK aims to support everyone affected by Ataxia - the name given to a group of neurological disorders that affect balance, coordination, and speech - as well as their families, carers and friends. Ataxia is usually caused by damage to a part of the brain called the cerebellum, but it may also result from damage to other parts of the nervous system.
Rachel continues, "I also wanted to raise awareness of the condition locally. Based in Exeter, Ant Brown and Bex Downing are doing excellent work for the charity regionally. I believe we can make a real difference to people's lives locally who are suffering from Ataxia and in doing so, work with other organisations to improve the facilities for wheelchair users across the city."
Ant Brown, aged 35, a member of the Exeter support group who was diagnosed with Ataxia at the age of 13 before showing any symptoms, says "It is fantastic that Cllr Lyons has chosen to raise the profile of the condition". Another vital member of the local Ataxia support team is 28-year-old chairperson Rebecca Downing, who was diagnosed with Friedreich's Ataxia when she was 16 years old and has been using a wheelchair for the last six years. An inspiration to other Ataxia sufferers, Rebecca is an artist in her spare time, she achieved distinction in her associate degree in psychology in Hong Kong in 2006, and is also a model with Model Mayhem.
Cllr Lyons also says, "One of the projects I will continue to work on will be a new brochure to show how accessible Exeter is as a city. We currently have a logo being designed that shops and venues will be able to place in their windows to highlight their accessibility to wheelchair users, which will benefit Ataxia sufferers as well as other less physically able bodied people."
The Lord Mayor has an extremely busy engagement calendar, attending in excess of 600 functions during the year from opening community halls to presenting 100-year-olds with a birthday card from the Queen! How does Rachel feel she will be able to cope with the pressure. "It's going to be a busy schedule for me, but that is the best way to be. I can draw on my experience as a nurse, when I had to be organised and learnt not to put things off until tomorrow what you can get done today… as you never know what tomorrow will bring.
"I am really looking forward to representing the City of Exeter and promoting it to the outside world and to meeting so many new people at the wide variety of functions I will attend. In particular, though, I look forward to the various events that will help to raise funds for Ataxia, such as quizzes, meals out, a barbecue and not to mention the very exciting Vampire Ball in November."
Cllr Lyons has chosen Saxon Spence as her female consort for the duration of her mayorship. Saxon, a stalwart of the Exeter Labour Party, has recently retired as County Councillor for Pinhoe and Mincinglake after 30 years serving as a Labour Councillor. Cllr Lyons hopes that Saxon's new role as consort to the Lord Mayor will help to fill the void that her retirement will have left.
Until 2002, Exeter was the oldest 'Right Worshipful' Mayoralty in England and many ancient traditions and ceremonies are maintained. Now it holds the title Lord Mayor which was awarded as part of the Queen's Golden Jubilee celebrations.
A brief history of Ataxia
Ataxia UK began life modestly back in 1963, when Dr R L Hewer and Dr Norman Robinson ('Robbie') encouraged a group of parents whose children had Friedreich's ataxia to get together for mutual support. In 1965, the organisation became a registered charity, the Friedreich's Ataxia Group. The first Annual General Meeting was in 1966. From the beginning, the Group’s members were passionately committed to raising funds for research into treatments and a cure.
In 1988, the constitution was changed. The Group now welcomed people affected by all of the cerebellar ataxias, not just Friedreich’s. The research agenda broadened accordingly. The year was also significant because the research team led by Sue Chamberlain and funded by the Group finally located the gene responsible for Friedreich’s ataxia, on chromosome 9. The original Friedreich’s Ataxia Group became The Ataxia Group of Great Britain and Northern Ireland in 1997, but the charity had unofficially adopted the shorter ‘Ataxia UK’ back in 1992. Ataxia UK became the charity's legally recognised name on 1 April 2004, when the it incorporated and received a new registration number.
The charity's ultimate goal remains to find a cure for ataxia.
