Page 11 - Salamander News Letter September 2023

I was however still mindful of the fact that we had encountered a situation in China where our young interpreter known to us as Danny Wu, could not live with his wife in Beijing, following the birth of their first child because she could not speak English and instead had to return to her village thousands of miles away where she taught in a local school.
One of the first things the Guild arranged, as indeed it was actually being formed, was to assist me in meeting with both the British and Chinese Embassies to make arrangements to allow for
his wife to visit the UK for a six-month period. My wife Rose agreed that we would be pleased to have Danny's wife stay with our family and Rose arranged for her to attend a full-time training course at Southwark College to study English. We were all pleased that after six months she was able to return to China and be reunited as the family now were all living in Beijing.
One of the other highlights of our journey was when the Worshipful Company of Firefighters joined
with other Fire Service groups to mark the 60th Anniversary of the end of WW2 and entitled the "Home Front Recall", a week of wonderful events that included an impressive Home Front Recall exhibition at Guildhall, entitled the "Home Front Recall", a week of wonderful events that included an impressive Home Front Recall exhibition at Guildhall, which was graced with the presence of Her Royal Highness, The Princess Royal.
It was in May this year that I did not stand for re-election to Ashford Borough Council. I had by then served for 17 years, the last 10 of which were as the Executive Leader of the Council, and this will now allow me a little more time to support the Company. You may care to note that even during my time with Ashford we were still able to work with the City of London. We jointly worked with Guildhall to produce a moving joint Exhibition in June 2016, entitled "Fields of Battle - Lands of Peace" to remind us all about the First World War.
Fields of Battle - Lands of Peace Exhibition
The National Memorial Arboretum in Staffordshire
The Photographic Exhibition was held in Guildhall Yard, before moving to the Memorial Gardens in Ashford, Kent, and then on to a wider international exhibition circuit.
The future of the Company is always a serious consideration, and this has been more than ever highlighted with the tragic Covid Virus, the war in Ukraine and the economic impact this has all had on our economy. We need to all support the Master and the Wardens together with the Management Committee of the Company as we move forward on this continuing and exciting journey.
The Guildhall Yard
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