Bicester new mayor Cllr Nicholas Mawer plans to spend the next 12 months finding ways to support the town as it moves to recover from the coronavirus pandemic.
Cllr Mawer was sworn in on Monday, May 17, at the council’s first face-to-face meeting for more than a year. His wife Rebecca will be his consort and Cllr Alex Thrupp has become Deputy Mayor.
Cllr Mawer, a town and Cherwell district councillor, said he was “honoured” to be elected as Bicester’s mayor and was “proud” to take on the role.
Father-of-two Cllr Mawer has pledged to support three charities over the next year. They are ARCh Oxfordshire, assisted reading for children, The Countess of Jersey Educational Foundation, and 1st Bicester Intrepid Scout Group.
He wanted to focus on educational charities both in memory of his father, a former deputy head teacher, who died last year before the pandemic, and his own firm belief in the power of education.
He said: “I firmly believe that reading is the most critical thing that we can teach children as it is the basis for pretty much all learning. So I’m supporting ARCh as they are directly helping to improve children’s life chances.
“At the other end of the learning spectrum, both of my daughters benefitted from grants from the Countess of Jersey Educational Foundation, which helps students with the cost of university and apprenticeships.
“Finally, 1st Bicester Intrepid Scouts is a great organisation with a strong civic sense of duty and are very active. I hope to be able to do some sponsored activities with them to aid in the fundraising efforts.”
Cllr Mawer works in marketing for an Aylesbury based audio visual company and in his spare time he can been seen walking his dog around north Bicester, as well as hill walking and scrambling. His biggest passion – white water kayaking – has been put on hold due to lack of time and growing responsibilities. But he has previously paddled all over the UK, and in Norway, Austria, the French Alps, the Spanish Pyrenees and Slovenia.
Originally from Surrey, Cllr Mawer became interested in politics as a child after neighbour, who worked for the Government, would regale his family with stories from Westminster. He moved to Bicester in 2002 and a few years later got involved in local politics and was first elected in 2007.