Letter From Daventry Mayor Mike Arnold: Week 7

Hope everyone has a happy and healthy bank holiday week/weekend and enjoyed safe VE Day festivities.

It's been a celebratory week in my household; with it being my birthday, then my son's, with a bank holiday between them. Thank goodness for the internet and delivery services, enabling us to still send and receive presents and cards.

Full marks to the staff at Daventry Town Council and the Retail Forum for their wonderful VE Day Anniversary tributes and uniting the town to join in celebrations staying safe at home. In the Town Councils case I was delighted to see that the team continued to run the Council services from home and did so whilst joining in by dressing up in 1940's style.

The sunny weather we enjoyed also motivated me to repair my tricycle and service it for a ride, which I'm still recovering from. It's also good news that cycling will play its part in living with the pandemic as is great for helping me and many others stay both mentally and physically healthy during this time. Its lovely to see more families out cycling enjoying the Town and the open green space it has to offer.

Following last nights Government announcement explaining where we go from here and the continuation of lockdown it's important we stick together as a nation. Whatever we think of the changes implemented it is clear that it is the number of future COVID-19 cases that will determine what relaxations of lock down will continue to be applied. So whatever our own personal opinion, we do need to take notice of what is being asked to keep 'R' numbers down. If we start to ignore social distancing boundaries, cases may increase and then tighter controls will be implemented once again.

On that note look forward to the changes. Let's take care and look out for one another. Being neighbourly and maintaining community spirit will help enormously as well as our British sense of humour!.

As always well done Daventry and have a good week.