I was delighted to be asked to be the honorary Toastmaster to the Lord Mayor of Liverpool in September 2015 and have since then been very fortunate to attend some very prestigious events, the culminating moment being the visit by Her Majesty the Queen and HRH Price Phillip in June last year.
The cenotaph service at St Georges Hall on Remembrance Sunday calls for very tight time keeping to ensure everyone is out of the Hall and on to the steps in time for the 2 minutes silence at 11 O’clock. St Georges Hall also hosted the Hillsborough parade and also the presentation to the families of the 96, the posthumous Freedom of The City, followed by a dinner in their honour. A very moving event and one I was immensely proud to play a small part in.
Other people and organisations to be honoured with the Freedom of the City or to be included on to the roll of Citizens of Honour include the Liverpool Male Voice Choir, Brian Lawless MBE, Kwong Ngan, Roger O’Hara, Dr Chris Wells FRCA, Allan Williams and Bishop James Jones KBE. The following were honoured, St. Vincent’s School, The Whitechapel Centre, KIND, Vasily Petrenko and the presentation of the Ordre National De La Légion d’Honneur to 17 veterans who took part in the liberation of France in 1944/5. These were presented by both the French Ambassador and the Honorary French Consul for Liverpool.
If you have never visited the Town Hall do have a look at the website (Click Here) and they offer tours of the building once or twice a month.