1. Tricia Thomas - Bench Talk with Jo Hilditch
In our first episode of Bench Talk, Jo Hilditch talks to Patricia Thomas who was High Sheriff of Herefordshire from March 2020 to March 2021. A challenging year to take on such a role, they discuss the role of High Sheriff, what a High Sheriff can do during a year of national lockdown as well as her thoughts and aspirations for Herefordshire. As with all the Bench Talk podcasts, and in keeping with intended authenticity, this transmission takes place on a bench in Hereford Cathedral Gardens on a rather windy afternoon, so apart from the bells, the seagulls and the birds, please excuse the wind noise throughout the recording. We hope this doesn’t diminish your enjoyment of what is an informative and entertaining conversation with Tricia.
The role of High Sheriff is a little known, completely unfunded, ambassadorial and ceremonial position that is the oldest Royal appointment in the UK. It is a yearly position that has become an opportunity and a platform for individuals to raise profile of others in areas of crime prevention, emergency services, charitable, judicial and the services sector, and to promote community cohesion. The first recorded Herefordshire High Sheriff was in around 1060 – we’ve come a long way! Listen to this podcast to discover more, and hear Jo and Tricia myth-bust the position, talk about the balancing of such a role as a working woman, particularly in light of the pandemic, about her affiliations to charities she has been able to support and her love of Herefordshire.
During this year Jo will be talking to some volunteers of note, and high-profile personalities in the county, as well as some less well-known but similarly amazing unsung heroes, people who head local charities and others who hold public office. As a first podcast, a chat to the preceding High Sheriff seems wholly apposite.
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