Mayor of Worthing Receives New Community-Funded Robe

The Mayor of Worthing, Councillor Ibsha Choudhury, debuted a new mayoral robe at the town’s remembrance services thanks to fundraising led by the local community.

Residents worked together to fund the creation of a new animal-friendly mayoral robe after concerns that the town’s historic robes were not appropriate for all wearers.

Worthing’s original mayoral robe dates back to 1890 and has been worn by successive first citizens for special civic occasions. The original scarlet robe is lined with Russian sable fur and worn with white gloves, lace cuffs and a lace jabot.

To ensure the tradition of the town’s mayoral robes remains accessible to mayors of all beliefs and backgrounds, former Mayor of Worthing Lionel Harman, an alderman of the borough, launched a fundraiser this summer to create a new and inclusive robe for future Worthing mayors.

More than £2,300 was raised by members of the public for the appeal, which was supported by Paul Holden, the editor of The Worthing Journal. Once the target had been met, Mr Harman used the funds to order the new robe.

Councillor Sophie Cox, the leader of Worthing Borough Council, said: “It’s great that the council now has a mayoral robe that can be worn by people of any background for many years to come.

The new animal-friendly robe was worn for the first time by Cllr Choudhury at Worthing’s Remembrance Sunday and Armistice Day services on 10th and 11th November respectively.