The Mayor of Woking

On Thursday 15 May, Cllr Peter Ankers was elected as Woking Borough's 35th Mayor at the official Mayor-Making Ceremony, which took place at the Civic Offices during the Annual Meeting of Woking Borough Council.

Woking's new Mayor has lived in Pyrford with his wife, Gill, for the last twenty-eight years but their roots are much further away in the north of England. Born in Liverpool in 1945, Cllr Ankers is of the same generation as The Beatles and he attended the same school as Sir Paul McCartney and George Harrison. He went on to get a degree from the University of Liverpool and later trained as an accountant before working with the oil company, Shell. During 26 years working for this company, he travelled all over the world including time spent living in Indonesia, Japan and Brunei.

After retiring from a long and fulfilling career with Shell, Cllr Ankers became a Conservative Councillor for Pyrford in 2000, determined to use his time to play a role in the local community. As a local politician, Cllr Ankers served on the Executive Committee for several years, holding several portfolios. He also held the position of Chairman of the former Social Overview and Scrutiny Committee and was the first Chairman of the new unified Overview and Scrutiny Committee, formed in 2006. In 2007-2008, he served as Chairman of the Planning Committee.

Cllr Ankers and his wife also hold other roles in their community. He is currently a Governor of Pyrford Primary School and a Trustee of Surrey Association for Visual Impairment. Gill is very much involved with the local church and last year stepped down from five years as Church Warden at St. Nicholas', the 12th century church, in Pyrford. But both of them agree that being Mayor and Mayoress will present some great opportunities to meet new people and they are very much looking forward to the coming year.

Cllr Ankers said: "One of the pleasures of being Mayor and Mayoress that we are most looking forward to in the next 12 months is the opportunity to see at first hand the valuable work that is being done in all four corners of our Borough by volunteers and voluntary organisations."

When not attending to his mayoral duties, Cllr Ankers enjoys reading, crosswords and playing bridge. Also, despite many years away from Merseyside, both Peter and Gill maintain their support for Liverpool Football Club.

The new Mayor and Mayoress have two grown-up children, Rachel who lives in Atlanta, USA, and James who lives in Putney. Both are married and each has two children whom the pair sees regularly - thanks to Woking's excellent transport links.

The Mayor's Charity

For the duration of his Mayoral year, Cllr Ankers has chosen to support the Friends of Woking Community Hospital. Talking about the charity, Cllr Ankers said: "The Community Hospital provides a wide range of easily accessible health-related services to the people of Woking and surrounding districts.

It has a popular walk-in centre and out-patient service as well as wards providing specialist services. It is a very well-used facility and the Friends seek to help provide additional equipment and facilities to support the excellent work of the staff."

Over recent years, the Friends have raised money to build conservatories attached to Alexandra and Victoria Wards, together with some very smart sun blinds, 80 new beds and specialist chairs for patients' day rooms. Many other items have been supplied to various departments for the benefit of the patients.

During his year, the new Mayor would like to assist the Friends to purchase a special ophthalmic camera to help assess the state of the retina and interior of a person's eye, electronic communication aids for the Bradley Unit which deals with brain injuries and complex neurological illnesses, new pressure mattresses for beds together with new bedside furniture.

Contact the Mayor

Any correspondence should be sent to the Mayor's Executive Assistant, Jackie Brooks at the Civic Offices, Gloucester Square, Woking, Surrey GU21 6YL, telephone 01483 743023 or email jackie.brooks@woking.gov.uk