New Camden mayor Cllr Jenny Headlam-Wells with outgoing mayor, Cllr Richard Cotton

• I LOOK forward to serving as Mayor of Camden for 2018-19. I should like to thank everyone who contributed to my mayor-making in the town hall.

I was pleased to be able to invite community leaders from my Kentish Town ward, as well as family and friends.

My chosen charity is the Camden Music Trust. In Camden we believe that “every child deserves the chance to shine”. But almost 32 per cent of our children live below the poverty line.

The charity raises funds to provide:

• four-year scholarships for talented children facing barriers to accessing music;

• inclusive musical events such as the Camden Schools’ Music Festival at the Royal Albert Hall;

• Saturday music centres, holiday courses and over 35 music groups;

• and musical instruments for loan to our children and young people.

The charity works with the Camden Music Service to enhance the opportunities available to our children. In my speech at mayor-making I quoted the words of the writer Philip Pullman: “Children need art and stories and poems and music as much as they need love and food and fresh air and play”.

I was pleased to see that Philip Pullman tweeted in reply, “Good for Camden!”

It is also timely to remember that music is more than a pastime in Britain. The country’s music industry is worth £4.4billion a year. Three of the five biggest-selling artists in 2016 were British – David Bowie, Coldplay and Adele.

Many of our Camden students go on to careers in music, most recently Mark Crown, trumpeter with group Rudimental, who says, “There’s no way I’d be doing what I do now without the Camden Music Service and the Camden Music Trust”.

During the coming year we will be running a number of fund-raising events showcasing Camden’s young musicians. Please support the charity!

CLLR JENNY HEADLAM-WELLS
Mayor of Camden 2018-19