I have never witnessed anything like it before! Twenty teenagers (and some were big lads) getting into a boxing ring to spar with the town’s beat bobby for two minutes with a one minute interval between rounds! And all in aid of charity!

P.C. Andy Whitehall has been in training for several months and today he surpassed every expectation. This man has been a hero of mine for a long while. He loves our town and has put so much into the community. He knows almost every young person by name and the youth of Stone have the greatest of respect for him. There can be no doubt that Andy’s commitment is a major factor in Stone having such a low level of youth crime.

When the idea of establishing a Youth Cafe in town was first mentioned,  Andy was one of the first to get involved and the Sparathon was his suggestion as a fund raising venture. Months of planning and training finally paid off this afternoon in the Fighting Fit gym on Mount Industrial estate. In a packed hall, Andy took on all twenty lads and created an absolutely fantastic afternoon’s entertainment. The lads all conducted themselves superbly and were a credit to the town. Colin Taylor acted as MC and, to loud musical accompaniment, introduced  each contender. The crowd roared on their favourites and, thank goodness, Andy survived all twenty rounds without a blemish! What respect that man has gained!

And after the prizes were handed to the best, the bravest and the most entertaining contenders, Andy announced that when all the sponsorship money is collected he expects to have raised well over two thousand pounds for the Youth Cafe. Fantastic!

Last night I attended a most unusual and enjoyable social event in the ballroom of the Crown Hotel. A few months ago some good friends of mine -  David Puxley, Ivan Forster and Alan Fernyhough - told me that had found an advert in a newspaper dated 1790 announcing that the Stone Association for the Prosecution of Felons was holding it’s annual dinner in the ballroom of the Crown Hotel! We are all familiar with Felons dinners in Hanley and Burslem but none of us had ever heard of a Stone Association. Local historian and fellow councillor Philip Leason was roped in and he too could find no further references to it.

So David et al  formed a small committee and set about arranging a ‘resurrection’ of the Association and it’s annual dinner. And what a success it was! A splendid meal, many bottles of wine on the table and three short but excellent speeches. President Ian Moxon formally announced that we were all appointed members of the Association and could henceforth be called Stone Felons!

These associations were formed before Robert Peel created the police force as we know it today. Local businessmen would subscribe to a fund in order to employ nightwatchmen to arrest burglars and thieves and to pay for the prosecution of local criminals. Since the advent of a proper police force, the only purpose of the Association is to hold an Annual Dinner. I’ll drink to that!

Grateful thanks to the organisers. A splendid evening which I’m sure will now become a tradition in the years to come

Last night I had the pleasure and honour of sitting next to Chris Sims, the new Chief Constable of Staffordshire. He was the guest speaker at the Supper Club organised by Stone’s Independent Voice - the group of independent councillors, of which I am a member from Stone Town Council. (I do not believe that party politics has any part to play in town council affairs - only to cause division and confrontation)

Chris has only been in post six weeks but his speech made it perfectly clear that he has ‘hit the ground running’. He has already been to Stone and walked around the town and it’s trouble spots. Yes - he explained that he was well aware of the issues with regard to young people hanging around St Michael’s churchyard at night and the ‘problems’ sometimes caused by our night time economy. The Chief Constable was telling us he’d been to see our trouble spots univited - and before he’d even settled into his new office!  I was amazed!

And he made it perfectly clear that he was not going to be a slave to government targets. He saw the future effectiveness of the force being based on building a relationship of trust and confidence with the public. Music to my ears!

I am in no doubt that Chris is conscious of Stone’s pride in being a safe and happy place to live and work. I’m sure the force in in safe hands.