Town Mayor, Cllr Neil Marshall, hosted the Mayor’s Annual Reception in the Shelley Theatre, Court Garden, on 14th June 2008. This was his first major event since being elected to Mayor on 6th May.

In his speech, Cllr Marshall said that he was looking forward to his mayoral year and learning more about the various voluntary organisations that contribute so much towards the wellbeing of the community. He went on to mention the town twinning links between Marly-le-Roi and Budavar District 1 and hoped to further the link between Marlow and these two towns.

Cllr Marshall announced that the two chosen charities that he will support during his mayoral year are the British Heart Foundation and the local charity, Active Hearts. Cllr Marshall has had first hand experience of the benefits of heart research and support and wished to help these two very worthy causes.

He announced that Anna Humphrey was the Marlow Town Council Sports Personality for 2007. Anna is a member of Great Marlow School Rowing Club and Marlow Rowing Club. She is very much a rising star in the national rowing scene, winning several Gold medals. This year she was selected for the Home Counties Regatta held in Cork and became the youngest member of the England Rowing Team. Sir Steve Redgrave, CBE, who was attending the reception, agreed readily to present the award to Anna who was delighted to receive her award from Sir Steve.

For the first time a Community Award was presented. This went to Graeme Paskins. Graeme is a prominent sportsman, having been a regular member of Marlow’s 1st Eleven Cricket Club and is currently Captain. He was given this award for his dedication and the reorganisation of the Colt Section of the Club. Since taking over in 2004 the membership has risen from around 35 to its current level of 120. His dedication demands that he is at the ground most weekday evenings and Sunday mornings coaching and running the Colts Section.