THE new mayor of Rhuddlan has taken over the chains of office. 

Rhuddlan's new mayor is cllr Mike Kermode. He was made mayor at the town council's annual general meeting last Thursday. 

Cllr Kermode is married to Sue who has become mayoress.

The couple have been married for nearly 54 years and have two children and four grand-children.

Rhyl Journal: Rhuddlan mayor, cllr Mike Kermode, with mayoress Sue.Rhuddlan mayor, cllr Mike Kermode, with mayoress Sue. (Image: Submitted.)

Cllr Kermode has been a town councillor for nearly 10 years.

NEWSLETTER

Get the latest stories from the Rhyl, Prestatyn and Abergele area sent straight to your inbox by signing up here

“One of the themes for my year as mayor will be to support and encourage local volunteering and community service," cllr Kermode said.

"Local volunteers have such a positive impact on our town – we saw this over the coronation weekend where there were events in St Mary’s Church, in the Community Centre, on Admiral’s Playing field, at the bowling green and the allotments. The Town Council sponsored the costs of these events but they couldn’t run without all of the work by the volunteers who worked hard to make it such a memorable weekend.

"They [These events] don’t just happen on special weekends, volunteers make a difference in Rhuddlan throughout the year on a range of activities. Some are environmental which improve the look of our High Street and other areas, others are more focussed on supporting the more vulnerable members of the community, such as at the Stroke Club, the Lunch Club and our Dementia Group and there are many other voluntary activities that benefit the local community.”

RELATED STORIES

Cllr Kermode and his family have lived in Rhuddlan for more than 50 years.

Cllr Kermode was a member of the small voluntary group that established the Rhuddlan Gwledd-Fest food and craft event in the town. The town council has now taken on the role of running this annual event and the next one will be Saturday, May 20. 

Rhuddlan Town Council’s new deputy mayor is cllr Val Simmons. Cllr Simmons has lived in Rhuddlan for the last 12 years.

She is married with two sons and two grandsons and became a councillor after the elections last May.

Cllr Simmons said “I am honoured and privileged to have been asked to become the deputy mayor of our wonderful town. I am always inspired by the volunteers who run the community groups and our community centre, I will do my best to support them all."

Cllr Simmons is the Volunteer Group Coordinator for the Conwy & Denbighshire MS (Multiple Sclerosis) Group.

She also sits on the MS Cymru Council for Wales.