Martin Saunders
Appearances
The Planet Reigate Podcast
58: Horley in Bloom, art at The Belfry, an unusual happy 40th… and more
I'm Martin Saunders. I'm chairman of Hawley Town Council and I'm town mayor. It's a wonderful event. Hawley has some fantastic community groups. We have lots of volunteers that like to get the community together and do fun things. And Hawley and Bloom is a really lovely example of it. It's great to encourage our residents to do wonderful things in their gardens and in the front.
The Planet Reigate Podcast
58: Horley in Bloom, art at The Belfry, an unusual happy 40th… and more
It's obviously wonderful for them. It's great for mental health. It's great for the environment because of insects and everything else they enjoy. And it's wonderful for other people to be able to see it as well. It's a really lovely event and it's great for us to be able to give something back. and give some awards. So very proud people here.
The Planet Reigate Podcast
58: Horley in Bloom, art at The Belfry, an unusual happy 40th… and more
At the town council, we've said for a while that our dream is to be able to drive into Hawley and have a kind of sea of flowers and wildflowers and pots and gardens. It just makes everywhere look so much more pretty, even on the kind of darkest, rainiest of Surrey afternoons and evenings. It all helps.
The Planet Reigate Podcast
58: Horley in Bloom, art at The Belfry, an unusual happy 40th… and more
And it's not the most expensive thing to do, but it helps if you have volunteers that do something like this. So yeah, it's a lovely thing to do. Being mayor also, it's great to be able to see events like this, and Hawley has a lot of them. There's a lot going on in Hawley, isn't there?
The Planet Reigate Podcast
58: Horley in Bloom, art at The Belfry, an unusual happy 40th… and more
Yeah. I work full-time and I've got three teenage boys as well. If I go to every single thing that I'm invited to, I don't think I would see either my work or my family, so I have to balance it. I do my best to try and do everything that happens in Hawley. And if I can support the borough, I'll try and do that. And we've got Christmas not that far away. It seems a bit early to say that.
The Planet Reigate Podcast
58: Horley in Bloom, art at The Belfry, an unusual happy 40th… and more
We've got some great community events coming up, Remembrance Service. It's always really, really well attended. Sometimes the weather is also good as well. And that's a parade through the town centre over to then the World Memorial and the lovely service there. As we go into Christmas, we then have things like the Christmas Tree Festival in the Holy Methodist Church, a councillor's reception.
The Planet Reigate Podcast
58: Horley in Bloom, art at The Belfry, an unusual happy 40th… and more
We have the Christmas Tree and we have carol services there. And obviously Hawley Lions do a great job of running their events. So we've got the fireworks coming up and they also then have the Santa sleigh going around the town raising funds for local charities. So yeah, always come to Hawley and you'll find something fun to do.
The Planet Reigate Podcast
41: The Light’s first birthday, a look back at Reigate’s Summer Festival and Horley carnival… and more.
Yeah, unfortunately, we don't always get the sunshine we want in the middle of British summer. But everyone seems to be quite happy. It's just a lovely event to have. And so many people put so much effort in. It's one of the things I think in Hawley we do really well. We've got a really strong community of volunteers.
The Planet Reigate Podcast
41: The Light’s first birthday, a look back at Reigate’s Summer Festival and Horley carnival… and more.
We love to do this kind of thing and get out and, you know, show what the town can do. So it's great to be part of it. I don't know what it is about Hawley, but there's something about the community. There's a very strong volunteer group here. People want to get involved. And when one group gets involved, more get involved in it, kind of. snowballs in a very positive way.
The Planet Reigate Podcast
41: The Light’s first birthday, a look back at Reigate’s Summer Festival and Horley carnival… and more.
So, yeah, despite the weather, we are going to have a wonderful time.
The Planet Reigate Podcast
41: The Light’s first birthday, a look back at Reigate’s Summer Festival and Horley carnival… and more.
I'm not sure for how long, but never mind. We were just looking at the rain radar, maybe for a few hours, so we'll take that. Fingers crossed. Good to see a lot of schools taking part in the event this year. The schools have always been a really strong...
The Planet Reigate Podcast
41: The Light’s first birthday, a look back at Reigate’s Summer Festival and Horley carnival… and more.
part of of the carnival they always put a great effort in we also have a number of care homes for sheltered accommodation and for young adults as well they always put a fantastic effort in And then there's a number of businesses, people like the Ball Pub, the Orly Business Guild and dance schools like Connect.
The Planet Reigate Podcast
41: The Light’s first birthday, a look back at Reigate’s Summer Festival and Horley carnival… and more.
So, yeah, it's a great mix of different community groups, businesses and schools and community groups.
The Planet Reigate Podcast
41: The Light’s first birthday, a look back at Reigate’s Summer Festival and Horley carnival… and more.
Yeah, and there's a number of, there's a few haulage firms that have very kindly donated their vans and trailers and what have you. And a lot of walking groups as well. I mean, I mustn't forget the walking groups. They're not in a big van, but they've all put great effort in as well.