Mayor of the Borough
A Mayor and Deputy Mayor of the Borough are elected every May, to represent the Council at civic functions and raise money for local good causes.
The current Mayor is Councillor Penny Frost, and the current Deputy Mayor is Councillor Clare Vollum.
Penny Frost has served as a Liberal Democrat Councillor for the Ham, Petersham and Richmond Riverside Ward since her election in 2014. She has lived in Ham for over four decades with husband Gerry until his death in 2021. Her daughter Rebecca, who teaches French in Richmond, is her consort. Penny’s eight-year-old granddaughter is called Margot. Penny’s son Stephen is a professional musician who lives in Berlin.
Professionally, Penny has taught in several of our borough secondary schools. Her specialism is working with children and young people who have additional learning needs, and Penny has held advisory roles in special needs with the National Association for Special Educational Needs (nasen) and the Independent Schools Association (ISA). Penny has also held visiting lecturer positions with St Mary’s University and the University of West London on their professional development MA programmes for serving teachers. She is a governor of Meadlands School in Ham.
As well as serving for seven years as the borough’s Lead Member for Education and Children’s Services, Penny chairs the Standing Advisory Council for Religious Education (SACRE). Penny is a Trustee of the borough’s charity, the Richmond Voluntary Fund, and also serves as a Director for her local environmental Community Interest Company, Ham United Group.
Penny has been a volunteer swimming and water safety teacher for many years at Richmond Swimming Club, and has been their President for over 10 years – she cannot count the number of children, including her own, whom she has taught to swim!
Penny was born in Lyndhurst in Hampshire and graduated from the University of Essex in 1972. She undertook her teacher training in Sussex before moving to London and settling in our borough. Penny is often to be seen locally on her bicycle, which she maintains is still the best way to get around.
Clare Vollum was elected as a Liberal Democrat Councillor for Kew in 2022.
She moved to Kew in 1999 with her husband Robert and has a son and daughter who are both in their 20s. She is a member of the Barn church where she is an active member of the events and fundraising team.
Professionally Clare has spent the most of her career in the NHS starting with nurse training in 1982. She currently works part time as a Health Visitor in Hounslow supporting families with children under 5. Earlier in her career she held senior management roles in Community Health Services in Hammersmith and Fulham. Following this she worked for RNID on a national programme working with the NHS to implement digital hearing aids. After that she joined Age Concern England just before it merged with Help the Aged and Age Uk. It was an exciting opportunity to work in a new organisation leading on support for service development in local organisations.
Clare has been practicing yoga since 1990 and hosts a weekly yoga and supper group. She combines this with a passion for travel - the most recent workshop she attended was in Epidavros Greece. She took up Couch to 5k during lockdown and has kept up running ever since. She also loves walking especially along the river.
The Mayor’s charities
The Mayor's charities for 2025/2026 are:
Small Steps
Small Steps supports children aged from birth to 5 years who have cerebral palsy or other forms of motor impairment, syndromes or sensory impairment. They run free weekly structured sessions based on the principles of Conductive Education, from their centre in Richmond. Small Steps helps children develop everyday skills that are more challenging for them to achieve than for some children, such as sitting, balancing, standing and taking their first steps. They provide a much-needed support network for parents and carers too, whilst also helping them learn valuable skills to help their child.
Crossroads Care
Crossroads Care Richmond and Kingston upon Thames provides specialist, high-quality bespoke home and community respite care and support services to unpaid carers and the people they care for, of all ages and disabilities, including behavioural, emotional and/or medical needs, as well as dementia, complex and palliative care.
Charity events
The Mayor holds a number of events to raise funds for their chosen charities.
Competitions
The Mayor regularly runs competitions for residents to enter. Find out more about the Mayor's competitions.
Other fundraising
'A Dozen Free Range Poems' is a collection of twelve poems published by local author James Haydn. All proceeds will go to the Mayor's charities.
Copies can be purchased for a minimum donation of £5 at The Open Book at 10 King Street, Richmond TW9 1ND (cash only), or by making a donation to the Mayor's appeal fund..
Make a donation
You can make a donation to the Mayor's appeal fund.
You can also support the Mayor’s charities by attending one of our Mayor's charity events or entering a competition.
Arrange a visit
If you want the Mayor or the Deputy Mayor to attend your event, you will need to submit a request at least 14 days before the date of the function.
Keep up to date
There are a number of ways to find out what the Mayor is doing.
Freedom of the Borough
The Freedom of the Borough is the highest award that we can give and is an honour bestowed on very few people.
Contact
The Mayor's Office
London Borough of Richmond upon Thames
York House
Richmond Road
Twickenham
TW1 3AA
Telephone: 020 8891 7123
Email: mayors.office@richmond.gov.uk
Up to: Councillors
Updated: 14 May 2025