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New Cambridge mayor keen to support city




The new mayor of Cambridge, Cllr Jenny Gawthrope Wood, was sworn in during a ceremony on Thursday, May 25, at the city’s Guildhall.

New mayor, Cllr Jenny Gawthrope Wood, receives the chain from outgoing mayor, Cllr Mark Ashton (right) as the outgoing mayoress hands over the chain to consort, Nick Gawthorpe. Picture: Keith Heppell
New mayor, Cllr Jenny Gawthrope Wood, receives the chain from outgoing mayor, Cllr Mark Ashton (right) as the outgoing mayoress hands over the chain to consort, Nick Gawthorpe. Picture: Keith Heppell

Cllr Gawthrope Wood, who is taking over the role from Cllr Mark Ashton, was deputy mayor last year and is the widow of the late Nigel Gawthrope, who died eight months into his term as mayor in 2019.

Cllr Gawthrope said: “I’ve had a year as deputy mayor already and that’s been a busy year, with the jubilee and the proclamation and then the coronation, so lots of events to go to.

“This year might be a more traditional year and of course post-Covid a lot of events last year were revived and I expect that to continue.”

Cllr Gawthrope Wood, whose deputy mayor is Cllr Baiju Thittala Varkey, plans to be “out and about” in the city and hopes to engage more with charities during her year-long term, particularly the Cambridge branch of Parkinson’s UK and the Red Hen Project.

She also wants to draw attention to the fact that “we no longer have Sure Start centres”, adding: “They disappeared about 13 years ago, so with that and with cuts in children’s services, it has made the work of charities such as Red Hen much more important.”

New mayor, Cllr Jenny Gawthrope Wood, receives the chain from outgoing mayor, Cllr Mark Ashton. Picture: Keith Heppell
New mayor, Cllr Jenny Gawthrope Wood, receives the chain from outgoing mayor, Cllr Mark Ashton. Picture: Keith Heppell

The new mayor also wants a haircut – and she plans to donate her locks to a charity that makes wigs for children or adults.

“My hair is rather grey so the Little Princess Trust may no longer accept it!” she noted. “Cutting my hair does mean I will be able to get the mayor’s tricorne hat on, which I can’t at the moment. So I’m hoping to have a sponsored haircut and will be donating my hair – which is waist-length – to one of the charities that makes wigs.”

Cllr Gawthrope Wood has already attended a few events in her role as mayor, including the annual Memorial Day at the American Cemetery on Monday (May 29) and on Saturday, she will be at Strawberry Fair.

“Being Nigel’s widow, I spent a year as mayoress so I know the sort of things that mayors normally attend,” she said, “and I’m very keen to be supporting all the organisations and charities that have worked so hard over the last few years to support all different communities in the city.

“We’ve got a wonderful city, a lot going on, and I want people to really engage with everything the city has to offer, so it’s about trying to engage and make everybody feel part of a community.

“We’re quite diverse, we’re an international city, we’ve had huge growth in business – that’s happened really since the mid-’80s – very different from when I first moved here. There’s a lot more going on.

“The age structure of the city has changed; people don’t just come here to be students and then leave to get a job. They come here to get a job, and really I want those people to be a part of our community – and those who have always been here, make them feel less left out.

“That’s what I’m hoping to do over the coming year. I’ve got some ideas but they need working on with lots of different partners.”

Cllr Gawthrope Wood says she is “very keen” to take on her late husband’s projects and further them, and she wants to be a “mayor for the community”, as he was.



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