The best and worst of... Small market town... Big issues...
(And no that is not the real council's crest, this one even has 3 roast chickens on it)
The best and worst of... Small market town... Big issues...
(And no that is not the real council's crest, this one even has 3 roast chickens on it)
2nd August 2024
When Lady Gaga sang “I’ve got a hundred million reasons to walk away, but baby, I just need one good one to stay”, what was she musing about? Oooo, umm, love? (Urrrrrgh! Yuck say 6 year old boys, shuuut uuuuuuppp!), but come on what else could it be - could it be she was drawing her inspiration from Ross Town Council?
Don’t be stupid :)
Hang on, no, sticking with this, could the one-time Super Bowl half-time performance artist be getting her subject matter from a sleepy little market town nestled in the Wye Valley next the to the… STOP. Why is it that every time anyone writes describing Ross-on-Wye they have to use the word ‘nestled’? Pause. Deep breath.
Look in the charts and there will always be love songs describing tears falling as a result of heartbreak, but tears fall for many other reasons; pain, grief, physical injury, exhaustion, mistreatment, bullying - and most of all, gravity. (Oh, and onions)
The ‘healthy workplace’. We hear a lot about it, including in politics! Just ask Conservative MPs Gavin Williamson and Dominic Raab - actually, don’t ask them as they might not like it and god knows what they might do - here’s a reminder.
Of course, Ross-on-Wye Town Council is only small, it only has 18 councillors and a handful of staff, so the councillors have a fantastic opportunity like similarly sized small businesses do, to really ensure their environment is a positive and supportive one.
Sadly in the past it’s said there have been people in Ross-on-Wye Town Council who have been moved to tears by some of their experiences, and unfortunately it’s said it is more than just one or two.
Was there any upset and distress behind councillors who in recent years have seen it fit to abandon their Liberal Democrat allegiance and go independent? It would certainly be interesting to ask them.
Another councillor in recent years simply left, why? Oh, and didn’t an amenities employee walk away from their street cleaning cart never to come back in a sort of ’stuff this!’ moment?
Let’s hope it has all been addressed now with Ross-on-Wye Town Councillors reflecting on it all.
Businesses and organisations across the country are behind the cause that in healthy workplaces nobody should ever have to feel marginalised, ignored, or worse.
A message of support goes out to anyone in any walk of life who gives up their time for others and then suffers distress. You are appreciated by the people you help.
Lady Gaga, (yes, of course it was a tenuous connection) is actually a champion for supporting young people that suffer from distress or mistreatment, so it’s just a touch more on topic that it might have looked. On her foundation’s website it talks about people that have “found their inner strength, prevailed in the face of bullies, started their own social movements…” and talks about “the power of kindness”.
Oh, and here’s that Super Bowl Half-time Show.