The Civic Mayor of Croydon

Organisers are asked to note that the Civic Mayor attends as the First Citizen of the Borough. He/She does not attend as a representative of the council or any section of it. Consequently, matters of policy or opinion should not be raised when he/she is present as a guest but taken up separately through the appropriate council officer.

Arrival of the Civic Mayor

The Civic Mayor will plan to arrive at the arrival time requested and should be met on arrival at the main entrance to the building by a responsible official of the organisation who should act as escort. If the escort is not the senior member of the organisation, the escort should take the Civic Mayor without delay to the President, Chairman or senior member and introduce him. The Civic Mayor should be accompanied throughout the function until he is safely back in his car. The Civic Mayor will normally be accompanied by an Assistant Mace Bearer/ Chauffeur.

Correct form of address

The Civic Mayor is styled:

• The Worshipful the Civic Mayor of Croydon

In a speech the Civic Mayor would be addressed as:

• Mr Civic Mayor/Madam Civic Mayor (where a female Civic Mayor has opted to use that title).

Letters should be addressed to:

• The Worshipful the Civic Mayor of Croydon's Parlour
  Bridge Room
  Town Hall
  Katharine Street
  Croydon
  CR0 1NX and would commence:
• Dear Mr Civic Mayor/Madam Civic Mayor

The Deputy Civic Mayor is styled:

• Deputy Civic Mayor

Seating

The Civic Mayor, as senior guest, as provided by Section 3(a) of the Local Government Act of 1972, should always be seated on the immediate right of the host at meetings and also at social events such as lunches or dinners. The Civic Mayoress/Consort should be seated next to the Civic Mayor.

Church Services

If the Civic Mayor is attending a church service, the Civic Mayoral Party should be met at the entrance to the church and conducted to the front pew in the nave on the right of the centre aisle with the Civic Mayor seated nearest the aisle. If there is no centre aisle, the Civic Mayor should be seated in the middle of the front pew. The only exception to this practice is at a funeral service when the Civic Mayor takes the front pew on the left to allow the family mourners to sit on the right.
It is important to remember that when you invite the Civic Mayor to attend an event in Croydon that he is the principal guest and has a clearly defined role to perform, either this or there is a specific purpose for the Civic Mayor's visit.

Speeches

At formal functions such as lunch or dinner within the borough, the Civic Mayor's presence as principal guest is acknowledged as follows:

• If the Civic Mayor is not to make a speech and there are to be toasts, a formal toast should be made to the "London Borough of Croydon" immediately after the "Loyal Toast". The Civic Mayor will then respond formally with a toast to the organisation.
• If the Civic Mayor is to speak, he should be invited to propose or respond to the first toast after the “Loyal Toast". The formal toast to the borough may be omitted in this case.

Procedure

If the function is in the nature of a luncheon a copy of the proposed toast list should be sent to the Civic Mayor's Office with the completed pro-forma. If this is not possible, it should be sent to reach the Civic Mayor's Office no later than two weeks prior to the engagement. In the case of a public meeting or other similar events, a copy of the agenda and any relevant papers should be forwarded with the pro-forma or as soon as they are available.

Deputy Civic Mayor

The above procedures apply for the Deputy Civic Mayor when attending as the Civic Mayor's representative.

Changes

It is emphasised that variation to the above practices should be made only with the express agreement of the Civic Mayor obtained, through the Mayor's Office, in advance of the date of the function.

From time to time the Civic Mayor may be called upon to attend a civic function at very short notice. This is regrettable, but civic functions take precedence. If this should happen, the PA to the Civic Mayoralty will contact you and will arrange for the Civic Mayor to be represented either by the Deputy Civic Mayor or by the immediate Past Civic Mayor.

Related information from other websites

• Civic Mayoral Facebook Page