Cllr Adrian Mather has been elected as the next Wokingham Borough Mayor, succeeding Cllr Beth Rowland after a year as her deputy.
The Mayor is officially the ‘first citizen’ of the borough with a civic role, representing the council and the people of the borough, as well as presiding over borough council meetings.
Unless His Majesty The King or his representative is in attendance, the Mayor takes precedence over any other dignitaries at events within Wokingham Borough.
The Deputy Mayor for the next civic year will be Cllr Carol Jewell.
Cllr Mather’s chosen charity for his year as Borough Mayor will be First Days Children’s Charity.
Based in Wokingham, the charity supports children and families living in poverty within Berkshire.
First Days provide everyday essential items to families who need them by distributing school uniforms, new baby essentials, toiletries, toys and more.
Cllr Mather said: “I was humbled to be asked to be the new Mayor of Wokingham Borough for the coming year.
“Cllr Rowland has performed the role of Borough Mayor excellently.
“As well as a strong work ethic, Beth has also brought great enthusiasm and wit to the role.
“On behalf of all residents, I would like to say thank you very much to her for all she has done in the last year.
“In addition, I would like to thank all the non-returning councillors for their many years of service to the council.
“Following this year’s local elections, we now have 27 new members. I hope we can all work together for the benefit of the residents and our local communities in the coming year.
“I also look forward to raising awareness for First Days Children’s Charity, a wonderful local charity that does so much good for families not just in our borough, but across Berkshire.”
Cllr Mather has sat on the borough council since 2019, representing Evendons Ward in Wokingham.
He has been a resident of Wokingham since 1999 and has three grown-up children, who were all born and educated locally.
In addition to the borough council, Cllr Mather also sits on Wokingham Town Council, again representing Evendons. Since 2005, he has worked for a large software company.
He was previously chair of the Wokingham Borough Health and Overviews Scrutiny Committee and also a partner governor of the Royal Berkshire NHS Foundation Trust, as well as being a representative on the joint Buckinghamshire, Oxfordshire and Berkshire Overview and Scrutiny Committee.
Cllr Jewell represents South Lake Ward in Woodley, where she has lived for nearly 20 years.
She has lived in Woodley for more than 50 years and her two daughters were educated locally. She also has two granddaughters.
First elected to Woodley Town Council in 1979, she served on the town council for 28 years and was Town Mayor three times. She temporarily left the council to take on an Open University degree, followed by a PhD in construction management. She was then re-elected to the town council in 2019, where she represents South Lake South Ward.
She is a governor at South Lake Primary School, a member of Friends of Bulmershe Open Space, a part of the Woodley Adopt-a-Street team and a volunteer gardener for the Wokingham Volunteer Centre.
In January, Cllr Jewell set up the Woodley Repair Café with the support of a team of fixers and volunteers, all with the aim of reducing the number of things that get thrown away.
In the last 12 months, there have been more than 150 mayoral engagements, with events including the Christmas Carol Concert, visits to charities and schools, citizenship ceremonies and much more.
During this time, Cllr Rowland was raising money for Woodley Foodbank as her chosen charity of the year.
Fundraising has taken place through various appeals and events, including the Reverse Advent Calendar and the carol concert, along with lots of donations of food to help the foodbank in its work to support those in need.
