Commonwealth Visit A Success

Yesterday was a real long day, but very good for Wolverhampton!

Secretary General of the Commonwealth Mr Don McKinnon made his first visit ever to Wolverhampton. This is the first time in all the city's history that this has happened, and I can report he really enjoyed his day with us!

I met him at the rail station at 9.36 the express train from London was smack on time. We travelled to the Mayor's Office where Mary and I got acquainted with the Commonwealth's top man!

He was charming and was very interested in Wolverhampton. During the course of the day he remarked how nice it was "not to be in a capital city". Mr McKinnon was a very down to earth practical man who was interested in the city history , the way we organised local government and how the city was faring economically.

We also spoke about the Commonwealth and their aims and the way that the organisation has developed. The Mayoress and I along with the Secretary General and Lainey Malkani fro the Commonwealth Secretariat then visited Coppice Performing Arts High School in Wednesfield.

There he met some young people, students at the school, and he took a question and answer session. Following that we were entertained by the cast of the schools 'Les Miserable who were rehearsing the play. We were all very impressed with the performance, and the Secretary General had some real warm words of praise for the individuals, whom he talked to after the performance, and later privately with me in the car back to the Civic Centre.

At the Civic Centre a small reception was held where a good cross section of the City's community was represented. Introduction was made and the Secretary General spoke to almost everyone present. He was very relaxed and was clearly enjoying himself. I made a few remarks about the importance of his visit and provided a small civic gift to remind him of the time he visited the great City of Wolverhampton.

The Secretary General then addressed the guests from the Council Chamber in a speech that lasted about 15 minutes explaining the relevance of the Commonwealth, the work that it was involved in, and how it had matured.

The theme was very much about democracy and the role that the Commonwealth played in extending that democracy and increasing the links between nations. He then took questions from those assembled.

A visit was then undertaken at the University where he was welcomed by a number of Deans, and he was then given a tour of the University. During this visit he met a group of Commonwealth students attending the University. They were from Malaysia, Cameroon,Nigeria, the UK, amongst others. This was a lively session as the Secretary General answered lots of detailed questions about the relevance of the Commonwealth in today's world. He clearly relished being challenged!

The visit finished where it started back at the rail station as the party caught their train back to London at 16.06.

So was the visit a success, well I think it was! We placed Wolverhampton firmly on the Commonwealth Map, and I intend to follow through with a number points I discussed with Mr McKinnon.

There is clearly opportunity for Wolverhampton to play a role in the Commonwealth's development and I am keen to explore how this can be achieved."

Photograph's in the Mayor's Parlour under the flags, and at Coppice high School with Head Teacher Rob Rossides.