YEOVIL NEWS: School in a Bag and St Margaret’s Hospice to benefit from new Mayor’s year in office

THE new Mayor of Yeovil, Cllr Darren Shutler, has named St Margaret’s Somerset Hospice and the Piers Simon Appeal’s School in a Bag initiative as his dedicated charities for 2016-17.

Cllr Shutler was elected as the new civic head of the town at tonight’s (Tuesday, May 3, 2016) annual meeting which was held at The Sanctuary at the Baptist Church in South Street, Yeovil.

He announced during his acceptance speech that St Margaret’s Hospice had become very dear to him and his wife, Anna, for personal reasons on three occasions in recent years in 2008, 2013 and 2014.

Cllr Shutler said that the care and compassion the hospice had showed him and his family during their difficult times was second to none and that it was a pleasure for him to have St Margaret’s as one of his chosen charities for the forthcoming year.

The School in a Bag project has developed from the Piers Simon Appeal  which was set up following the death of former Preston School and Yeovil College student Piers Simon during the catastrophic Asian tsunami while on holiday in Thailand on Boxing Day 2004.

PHOTO - TOP: The Mayor and Mayoress of Yeovil, Cllr Darren Shutler and his wife Anna, with Mark Flower (left), of St Margaret's Somerset Hospice, and Luke Simon, of School in a Bag.

PHOTO - RIGHT: Cllr Darren Shutler with his own School in a Bag.

Thousands of rucksacks – containing everyday school items such as books and pens – have been distributed to poor and orphaned children around the globe.

“I believe every child should have an education and I look back to the day in 2004 and thank God that the tsunami didn’t happen two years before because I was standing on the same beach in Thaliand along with 36,000 Scouts,” he said.

Cllr Shutler, who has with his wife a combined total of 40 years service with the Scouts and Guides, added: “I’m sure we can make a difference.”

Mark Flower, of St Margaret’s Somerset Hospice, thanked the Mayor for selecting them as one of charities of the year.

“We run on the generosity of the people of Somerset and we have 1,200 volunteers helping us. It costs £10m a year to run – that works out at £27,000 a day,” he said.

Luke Simon, of the School in a Bag charity, said he was looking forward to a fun year of fundraising with the Mayor and working in partnership with the hospice.

Each school bag distributed by the charity is numbered and records are kept as to where it is distributed and – if possible – which child around the globe receives it.

Luke presented Cllr Shutler with School in a Bag numbered 37,054 and said he would give the Mayor a second bag at the end of his term of office.

Cllr Shutler has taken over the Mayoral duties from Cllr Mike Lock who stepped down tonight after two years in the role.

During that time he raised a whopping total of £57,171.53 for the Yeovil Hospital charity which included the Flying Colours Appeal, Yeovil Heartbeat group and the Macmillan Cancer Unit.

Cllr Shutler, who was Deputy Mayor for the previous year years, will now be supported by Cllr David Recardo, who was elected as the new Deputy Mayor.

More photos from tonight’s annual meeting of Yeovil Town Council can be found on this link: http://www.yeovilpress.co.uk/blog/2016/05/03/yeovil-town-council-annual-meeting-may-3-2016/ .

PHOTO - ABOVE: Mark Flower (left), of St Margaret's Somerset Hospice, with the new Mayor of Yeovil, Cllr Darren Shutler, and the Mayoress, Anna Shutler.

PHOTO - ABOVE: Luke Simon, of School in a Bag, with the Mayor of Yeovil, Cllr Darren Shutler, and the Mayoress, Anna Shutler.

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