I was delighted to be asked to write for the Bucks Free Press.

It’s a great honour to be the Mayor of High Wycombe, I have met so many amazing and inspiring people, seen some really dedicated community work and absolutely loved meeting some of our young people and teachers in the local schools. It’s a wonderful opportunity to talk about our town’s heritage and history which along with English Literature was my favourite subject at school when I was a pupil at Holmer Green Secondary several decades ago.

I love talking and meeting people; as my long suffering family and friends will testify and I like to hope that I was elected Mayor for some of the work I had done as a Councillor as well as within the community.

It’s very interesting however to see how much attention my hair gets - eg if I have had my roots done and whether I have brushed it before an Official Engagement (the general answer to these questions is no). I must ask some of my male predecessors if they were asked similar questions....

Being the 14th female Mayor in over 700 years is a good incentive for wanting to talk to young women about becoming involved in local politics and community work and activities. With the great support team we have with the Mayor’s Secretary, Sarah, and Joe the Town Clerk it is possible to combine Mayoral duties with having a family, an increasing number of pets who seem to be moved into the house in my absence as well as working as a ward councillor and my “day job”- a big shout out to the fabulous maternity staff of High Wycombe and Stoke Mandeville - who since last June insist on calling me “Your Worship” on the ward.

Of all the events I want to attend whilst being Mayor, and it’s going extremely quickly, I want to continue meeting some of our young people.

Although in some ways I think life is easier than it was when I was a teenager (we didn’t have the internet, iPhones or Primark and meal deals were the stuff of dreams) there are many ways in which my teenage years in the 80s were much less stressful. Saturday jobs were gained by walking into a shop and asking, rather than having to apply on line, last buses were after 11.00pm and moreover there was no social media.

The pressure felt by some young people is immense - the pressure to look a certain way affects both boys and girls and eating disorders are on the rise. My role models were women like Patti Smith, Siouxsie Sioux, Hazel O’Connor, Poly Styrene and Pauline Black. Can you imagine the retort you’d get if you asked them if they had brushed their hair?

We spent Saturdays touring the charity shops in Wycombe in order to find clothes to alter and adapt - men’s suit jackets, waistcoats and collarless shirts were a big hit. Then in the evening off to see a local band in one of the many pubs and venues around town. Nowadays we are really lucky as we still have some of these places albeit I’m usually too tired to stay out too late and it’s back home for a cup of tea and a recorded Midsomer Murders.

Cllr Andrea Baughan, High Wycombe Mayor