Shropshire Lord-Lieutenant looks back on an eventful and rewarding year

Christmas is arriving faster than we all care to think about and ready or not, it will arrive surrounded with a mixture of emotions.

My inner Scrooge dominates and so my family has a Secret Santa system – only one present, worth £25 or less, save for grandchildren who escape the humbug.

It is a dangerous time because I can vary from being the super-efficient little red hen to the stroppy little red hen that says “I’ll do it myself then”, as everybody shoots outside on a mission to find duties other than clearing and washing up.

The past 19 months have all blended together in a mixture of learning to cope with online life and trying to get back to normal and it seems we have to cope with a backward step thanks to Omicron.

I look back over the year and know that the Shropshire Lieutenancy team worked extremely hard at making sure Her Majesty The Queen and her Government are kept informed of possible nominations for honours. We are delighted to receive possible names from members of the public and hope to reflect what good goes on in the entire county within the voluntary sector, businesses or for individuals.

There are different categories for all these sectors. Deputy-Lieutenants, my husband and I all laid wreaths on Remembrance Sunday in many towns and all have reported back saying how welcome they were made and how appreciative people were of our attendance whilst representing Her Majesty.

For myself in Madeley I was delighted to hear The Last Post being played quite beautifully by an Abraham Darby student and also glad to have been assisted in laying a wreath by one of my cadets, Cadet Warrant Officer Harriet Simmonds, who is about to embark on a career that I am certain she will make a success of, she exudes confidence in the most charming humble way.

We have been honoured to welcome Her Royal Highness Princess Anne to Oswestry on a visit too. She paid tribute to Aico Ltd and recognised the impact it has as a business in Shropshire. The visit was a huge success and left us in awe of the amount of work she completes each year and we grateful of the morale boost her attendance gives.

The Queen’s Green Canopy is an exciting initiative which encourages communities as well as individuals to plant trees for Her Majesty’s forthcoming Platinum Jubilee and to support the nation’s efforts towards Zero Carbon. Trees can be planted over a two year period from autumn 2021 to spring 2023.

The location of trees are being marked with a commemorative plaque which is then entered onto a map recording all plantings in the whole country. I enjoyed helping CCF cadets at Moreton Hall School to plant a tree.

The Shropshire Lieutenancy is now embracing the power of social media to link into and support communities. We are committed to promoting industry and people of the county and are using social media to do this. We are regularly posting every week with details of events, Royal visits, Lieutenancy visits, and sharing the successes of our people, business, schools and organisations far and wide. Please do share, where appropriate, your news through our own platforms. Facebook, Twitter and Instagram. www.lordlieutenantofshropshire.org.uk.

Finally, I would like to wish everyone the sort of Christmas they are hoping for, be it quiet or outrageous, normal and also a prosperous 2022.