Over the last six weeks, schools have away for summer and Parliament has been in recess. This has been a particularly exciting time for me as it means I can escape the corridors of Westminster and spend more of my time in Stoke-on-Trent. As well as being able to spend more family time with my wife and two children, the summer recess always gives me the chance to do more locally and spend time with my constituents.
Stoke-on-Trent has been very lively this summer with various events around the city, such as the music and dance in the city centre as part of The Big Feast, and Longton’s Food and Drink Festival. Stoke-on-Trent also congratulated our students for their fantastic exam results, with Stoke-on-Trent Sixth Form College seeing a 97% pass rate across A Level subjects. Also our city’s support for the Lionesses who made it to the World Cup final. They did us proud!
As mentioned, the recess period for me allows time away from Westminster to meet with constituents. One of the things I have enjoyed most has been visiting our amazing local businesses and hearing their stories on starting up their new businesses here in the city or what more we can do to help them to continue to succeed. Recently, I visited Sarah at So Very Dog following their launch at Longton Exchange Shopping Centre. It was great to see lots of people visiting and buying the excellent goods being sold, several of which are handmade. I wish you the very best for the opening of your new business and thank you for welcoming me to your store.
Also, I visited TEGIWA IMPORTS in Stoke-on-Trent to meet with their team. They kindly showed me around their facilities and gave me an insight into the operations of the business supplying specialist performance and motorsport parts. This was also a useful opportunity to discuss some of the current challenges faced by businesses in Stoke-on-Trent, which I will be raising with Ministers to hopefully help employers like this to overcome the challenges faced and build on their success.
One very interesting visit was to meet Sammy and her team in Longton at the Wildlife and Birdcare Nature Recovery Project Centre to see the incredible work they are doing. The Wildlife and Birdcare Nature Recovery Project are a Stoke-on-Trent manufacturer of habitat homes for wildlife which are helping restore the natural environment across the whole country. Alongside this they are making a range of fantastic craft products which you can also buy from their factory shop which has recently opened opposite Gladstone Pottery Museum. Working alongside Strathmore college, they are also hoping to bring more employment opportunities to young people with learning disabilities and autism, gaining skills in ecology and crafts. I want to wish them all the best with this exciting new opportunity and the success of their Centre.
Summer can also be a busy time for families, which is why activities and groups are so important. I have visited a whole range of groups running free Holiday Activity & Food Programme sessions throughout the summer supported in partnership with The Hubb Foundation and through funding from the DFE. More sessions with more young people than ever before have taken place in Stoke-on-Trent this year. It has been great to see the positive impact and I would like to thank all those organisations and people who have made this possible. It was wonderful to see the incredible dedicated work the organisations are doing to help families across Stoke-on-Trent and Staffordshire. It was particularly good to visit The Yard in Meir and see it reopened with young people enjoying the facility again. I commend the work Ben and IN2Health & Wellbeing have been doing and I will be doing all I can to support them in seeing this important local youth facility fully restored.
Lastly, I would like to thank the Department for Health and Social Care and NHS for some big news. It was recently announced The Royal Stoke Hospital will get additional government investment of £13.4 million to help reduce delays and free up beds. The investment will be used to provide a new unit at the emergency department to help ambulance transfers and assessments for surgery, helping increase the number of patients who can receive treatment and be discharged on the same day. This is part of a £250 million investment that will deliver 900 new hospital beds across England to help treat patients more quickly this winter.
For many returning to school the six weeks will have gone all too quickly, but I want to wish all our young people and teachers the best for the new academic year ahead. From this week I am back in Westminster each week carrying out my duties voting in parliament and representing Stoke-on-Trent South. The many visits and conversations have given me lots to raise with colleagues and ministers, and I intend on making sure our local voices are heard. My team has been very busy over the summer in helping me support any constituents who have approached me for assistance. If there is anything I can do for you, as your local Member of Parliament, please feel free to contact my team and me at [email protected] We are here to help!
First published in the Sentinel 04/09/23
