While agreeing that volunteers have a vital role to play in social life, Lord Mayor of Newcastle Peter Arnold does not believe that they want to take on some of the services which are now performed by the City Council.

During an official tour of the Newcastle Community Green Festival the Mayor who is also the “Voluntary Sector Champion” said that none of the groups in Newcastle want to do that and the decision makers on the City Council must be so persuaded.

"One of the big challenges of the government is to get people in the third sector to take over large areas of work that the City Council normally does. Well, here in Newcastle many volunteer groups - small groups, charities community based groups - they don't want to get involved in that kind of activity, they are quite happy doing what they are accustomed to doing and so we have to make sure that that kind of information gets to the decision makers in the City Council so that we do not make the wrong decisions about the future of volunteering," he told the Green Festival Information Unit.

The Lord Mayor who has been involved in voluntary work during his life also firmly believed that volunteering must be part of the mix of getting unemployed people back to work. He said that in the normal scheme of things, unemployed people are sent to be retrained but for those who have not been working for long periods the thing they most require, he believed, was self-confidence; to that end he wanted to see volunteer work introduced as part of the process of retraining and getting people back into the work force.

PICTURED ABOVE: Wheelie bin of the future? Whether Lord Mayor Peter Arnold (left) and the Mayoress agree with Charlie Barton, Sales Manager of Straight PLC which built this compartmentalised domestic wheelie bin, is anyone's guess but it may be in the back of his mind as Newcastle's 20-year waste disposal strategy.

On the environment front, the Lord Mayor threw his support behind the G8 Leaders who agreed to a post-Kyoto pact which is yet to be defined and a pledge of aid to Africa to which Sir Bob Geldof said was a "farce". He said that by reducing energy and their carbon footprint the people of Newcastle can do their part to free up resources which are needed in Africa.

"I don't think I would go along with (Sir) Bob Geldof and say that everything that was done at the G8 was a complete waste of time. The fact that the most powerful leaders in the world are talking about it is an important step. It doesn't make any difference who you are or what kind of government it is, you will never please everybody. What is important is that people can see that they are trying to do something about it and if they think that it is worth committing £30 billion to help Africa that is an important statement and we need to persuade people here in Newcastle that there are small things we can do to make that possible by reducing our energy and carbon footprint so more resources can be released to help those people.  People in Newcastle are incredibly generous and Geordies will play their part do their bit.  It is an uphill task but we must make the first step ... if we don't there will be no life left on earth, it is as simple as that."

The Newcastle Community Green Festival opened Saturday June 9, 2023 and continues on Sunday June 10, 2023 in Leazes Park. It is the UK's biggest free environmental festival which showcases new and evolving practical, sensible and cost-effective lifestyles designed to safeguard the earth and its inhabitants. Sunday is the main festival day with five music stages, three bars with organic and locally produced ales. It culminates at 10 pm with a spectacular fire show accompanied by flamenco dancers.

PICTURED ABOVE:
Wheelie bin of the future? Whether Lord Mayor Peter Arnold (left) and the Mayoress agree with Charlie Barton, Sales Manager of Straight PLC which built this compartmentalised domestic wheelie bin, is anyone's guess but it may be in the back of his mind as Newcastle's 20-year waste disposal strategy.