On Monday February 4, the Mayor and Mayoress were in Liverpool where they met with the Lord Mayor of Liverpool Councillor Christine Banks.

Councillor Christine Banks was born and brought up in Thurlow House, Gerard Crescent, the eldest of seven children to Fredrick and Esther Barton. Her father served in the Royal Navy, Merchant Navy and then worked as a Steel Erector. Her mother was a tailoress who then went onto work in the family business. Her grandmother, aunts and mother were barrow women, or street traders as they are known today.

She was educated at St Joseph’s Primary School and the Bishop Goss Senior School, before going on to Liverpool College to study Maths and English. She then graduated, completing her Youth and Social Studies at Liverpool John Moore’s University.

She is married to Brian and they have been together for thirty seven years. They have four children Jennifer, Michael, Gerrard and Chelsea. They also have three grandchildren Liliahbel, Emilia and Mason.

Aged fifteen, she worked at Vernon’s Pools, the baths and washhouses. For thirty years, she was a volunteer play worker, she then went on to be a part-time Youth Worker, eventually becoming a full time Youth and Community Manager in the Marybone Youth and Community Centre. Since then, she has been a community activist for more than thirty years setting up projects across the City of Liverpool.

Councillor Banks was elected to represent Central Ward in 2008 and is a member of the Port Health and Audit and Governance Select Committees. For ten years she has been part of the Licensing Committee, and over the past seven years has been Chair of Licensing.

In her spare time she enjoys traveling, swimming, going to the gym and listening to music; mostly blues singers Ella Fitzgerald, Billie Holiday and Sara Vaughan.