HearFromYourMP

Messages for this constituency

Nicky's news - November 2011

Posted by Nicky Morgan, MP for Loughborough, at 21:14, Mon 7 November 2011:

Welcome to my November e-news update.

Over the past month I have met with local speech and language therapist Clare Hazeldine in Westminster, delivered a speech in the House of Commons Debate on Planning, and, amongst several visits in Loughborough, joined the Charnwood Mental Health Team at their Loughborough Market stall for World Mental Health Day.

Clare Hazeldine travelled to Westminster with 150 speech therapists from across the UK as part of their Giving Voice Campaign, led by the Royal College of Speech and Language Therapists, highlighting how speech and language therapy transforms the lives of those with speech, language and communication needs.

Meeting with Clare has shown me what a critical role speech and language therapists play. I've been surprised to learn of the huge variety of people that speech and language therapists work with – children with autism to eating and drinking difficulties and learning disabilities. Thank you to Clare for travelling to London with all her colleagues.

In my speech during the Planning debate in the House of Commons I took the opportunity to pay tribute to several local groups for their work on planning issues, and mentioned some of the issues that have been raised with me, about our planning system, by those groups and constituents. You can find my full speech here.

I was delighted to join the Charnwood Mental Health volunteers and County Council staff on Saturday 8th October, at their 'awareness raising stall' for World Mental Health Day.

I take great pride in advocating for better mental health, and Charnwood Mental Health with Voluntary Action Charnwood do an amazing job in Loughborough tackling a lack of awareness of mental health issues, and also dedicating a large amount of time voluntarily to assist those suffering with mental ill health.

Out and About

Over the past few weeks I have made lots of visits throughout Loughborough, including community groups Shepshed Stroke Club and the Three Close Tenants Association.

I was delighted to have been invited to the opening ceremony for the brand new Great Central Railway turntable in Quorn. I would like to join GCR in thanking the hard work of the 3M Loughborough volunteers in restoring the turntable and making the project a success. I'm sure that this will be a great new feature for Quorn and Great Central Railway tourism.

In my visit to M Wright and Sons I was given a tour by George Wright, and was fascinated to learn about their new, one of a kind Bluetooth remote operated machine.

I also really enjoyed meeting with members of the Three Close Tenants Association following their great achievements in the In Bloom Competition.

The Three Close Tenants Association work alongside the Raglan Housing Association, developing community projects and initiatives such as their impressive gardening area. I met with residents Gina, Josie and Pete, to talk about some of the great projects going on in their community, which includes Orwell Close, Gallico Close, and Charteris Close in Central Loughborough.The Three Close Tenants Association has also recently developed a community meeting room opposite the Warwick Way estate, which they have paid for themselves, for use by the Three Close residents.

Last month I spoke to the Year 6 pupils at Boothwood Primary School about my work as an MP. It was lovely to see some familiar faces from their September visit to Parliament. I also attended the Loughborough Cricket Club Annual Dinner, the Charnwood Civic Service, the Prevent Conference on the very valuable contribution made by our Muslim community to life in Loughborough and Leicestershire, the opening of Advance Housing's new supported living flats in Loughborough and I had a meeting with some of our local farmers about the Government's proposals to stop the spread of bovine TB. Yesterday I joined some of the Loughborough Student Action Group who have opened a Sunday soup kitchen at the town's Salvation Army base. And this morning I gave a seminar on Parliament and how it legislates to the public services students at Loughborough College.

In Westminster as well as speaking about planning I was pleased to chair the first meeting of the All Party Group on Heritage Railways and to raise the issue of the Rawlins Academy conversion process in Education questions. The question did the trick and I'm pleased to report that Rawlins became an academy last week. Congratulations to them too for raising £1200 during their poppy evening last week. Tonight I will be leading a short debate on patient security in the mental health system.

Finally I continue to work on the issues of the withdrawal of free bus passes between Sileby and Mountsorrel and Humphrey Perkins in Barrow on Soar with our borough and county councillors in Barrow and Sileby and to work with Cllr Pauline Ranson on the recently launched consultation on the future model and location of Loughborough's Walk-in Centre (see below).

Consultation launched on Loughborough's Walk-in Centre

About three years ago Leicestershire & Rutland Primary Care Trust proposed moving Loughborough's walk-in centre from its town centre location to the site of Loughborough's hospital on Epinal Way.

After an 18 month campaign during which it was made clear that local residents did not want to see the centre moved from the middle of Loughborough the plan was dropped. Well, its back again and Cllr Pauline Ranson and I both think there are still a lot more questions which need to be asked and answered – as we said at a meeting we had with the Co-Chairs of the West Leicestershire Commissioning Group on Friday.

For more information and to find both the link to the consultation document and the dates of the public meetings please see www.nickymorgan.com

There will be a lot more for us – and everyone else- to say about this proposal over the next few months.

Stop Press: London 2012 Torch Relay Visits Loughborough

The London 2012 Organising Committee today annouced over 1,000 villages, towns and cities through which the Olympic Flame will be carried by Torchbearers during the London 2012 Olympic Torch Relay.

It is fantastic that the Olympic Flame will be within a 1 hour journey of 95% of the UK population and that 95% of the UK population will be less than 10 miles from the Flame. Nearly 350 local authorities will support hosting the Torch Relay and it will visit every county in England on its journey.

I am delighted to let you know that on Tuesday 3 July 2012, The Olympic Torch Relay will travel from Leicester to Loughborough, also passing through Quorn, Hoton and Wymeswold.

From today, a full interactive map of the Torch Relay route will be available on the London 2012 website, where you can see all of theEast Midlands communities that will host the relay.

Finally, if you know of people in your community that are ideally placed to help plan community events to celebrate the Olympic Torch Relay and London 2012, please encourage them to register via the website here, where there will be a range of materials available to help.

Mary Cort Cervical Cancer Screening Petition I would once again like to call for urgently needed signatures for a local petition started by Mary Cort. Mary lost her much loved niece Maryann Makepeace to cervical cancer at the age of 23. Maryann was a mum of two young daughters. I recently took part in the race for life with Mary and her daughter Shannon to help raise awareness of this cause but we need your support to get 100,000 signatures so that this issue can be debated in Parliament. Launch of the Money for Life Challenge I am delighted to announce the launch of the Money for Life Challenge, and am writing to outline how organisations and further education colleges in Loughborough can enter - with a chance to win significant prizes.

The Challenge is a national competition for 16–24 year old students of further education, work-based learning or adult community learning partner organisations. It provides a fun way to learn vital money management skills, whilst also positively impacting on the financial education of communities.

Money for Life is a £4m financial capability and personal money skills programme, funded by Lloyds Banking Group and delivered by the NSA for Financial Services, Scotland's Colleges, Colleges Wales and the Educational Guidance Service for Adults (in Northern Ireland). The programme seeks to embed vital money management skills in Further Education (FE) sector institutions or community groups. In addition to the Challenge, Lloyds Banking Group is also providing 1,400 free training places this year leading to two qualifications in financial education called 'Teach Me' and 'Teach Others'. Organisations in your constituency are eligible for these training places. Please click here for full information and to apply.

101 – the national police non-emergency number

Communities across Leicester, Leicestershire and Rutland now have access to 101, the national non-emergency telephone number for the police service in England and Wales.

While 999 is a well-recognised number used to report emergencies, the 2010 British Crime Survey found that only 54% of the public know how to contact their local police if they want to talk to them about policing, crime or anti-social behaviour. The introduction of the 101 number will help communities to keep their neighbourhoods safe by giving them one easy way to contact their local police force to report nonemergency crime and disorder or to speak to their local officers.

Further information can be found here.

Calls to 101 will cost 15 pence per call, no matter how long you are on the phone – this applies to both landlines and mobile phones. For the first time, everyone calling the police for non-emergency matters will know exactly how much the call will cost them and will be assured of equal access whether they are on a pay-as-you-go mobile or a home landline. In an emergency the public should continue to call 999, such as when a crime is in progress, when there is danger to life or when violence is being used or threatened.

Energy FactSheets - Important Info - Keeping on top of your energy bills, and how to switch providers

Energy bills will no doubt be a big concern for many constituents this winter. Research shows that over a quarter of households (28%) are already struggling to afford their energy bills and that last winter, despite it being the coldest in 100 years, over three quarters of people (76%) cut down or rationed their energy use because of cost.

Please find below links to two factsheets - One is about keeping on top of energy bills and the other is about switching suppliers, as this has become so high profile recently. If you would like any further information or have any questions about the factsheets or about uSwitch.com, please don't hesitate to get in touch.

Keeping on top of your energy bills - factsheet. Switching providers - factsheet.

Community Business Loan

A new Community Business Loan has recently been launched by NatWest and RBS. The new £5m fund will support community businesses, charities, social enterprises and community development finance institutions that often struggle to qualify for mainstream bank lending. Loans will be available on favourable terms for businesses located and trading in the UK with social or environmental aims and who reinvest their profits for a social purpose. All applicants must be investment ready in terms of management, governance and financial position. Start-ups as well as established businesses can apply.

Businesses can find out more information and make applications here.

National Lottery Funding

Five-time Olympic Gold medallist, Sir Steve Redgrave, has unveiled a new way for people to become sporting heroes in their local community. Sir Steve, our greatest Olympian, has joined forces with Sport England to launch Sport Makers, a programme for everyone who'd like to make sport happen for their friends, neighbours or colleagues. Sport Makers aims to inspire over 40,000 people to get involved, with each of them spending at least 10 hours organising or leading sporting activities. It is open to anyone aged 16 and over.

Backed by the British Olympic Association and £4 million of National Lottery funding, Sport Makers is part of the Places People Play legacy programme that is bringing the Olympic and Paralympic Games into communities across the country.

Every Sport Maker will be invited to an informal and interactive workshop where they'll gain the skills and opportunities to get involved in sport in their area. Sport Makers will be introduced to organisations that need their help, and join forces with others who want to make sport happen locally. There'll also be opportunities for them to meet top athletes and plenty of incentives to stay involved.

By taking part in Sport Makers, and completing 10 hours, individuals could secure tickets to the greatest show on earth: Sport Makers and London 2012 are working together to give people the once-in-a-lifetime opportunity to attend next year's Olympic and Paralympic Games. From November onwards Sport England will be hosting a number of workshops around the country, outlining how individuals will be able to become Sport Makers. Anyone who is interested should visit the website www.sportmakers.co.uk

Diana Awards - Last days for Nominations!

The Diana Award is taking nominations for UK Young People, and also recently partnered with HSBC to introduce the International Diana Award to reward young people who are working to improve the lives of others in the international community. To nominate an international young person, please click here.

To find our more and nominate a young person for the UK award, click here.

The next deadline for nominations is 18th November 2011. Silver Dreams Fund

BIG has committed to a multi million pound investment between now and 2015 to realise a strategy for older people. This strategy is founded on extensive dialogue and consultation with the 'age' related sector in England, older people, research/evidence, learning and expert views.

The strategy looks to empower older people and to unlock and mobilise resources to realise change and address challenges which we all potentially face as we grow older. As the first of its new initiatives under the older people strategy, BIG is launching the £10 million Silver Dreams Fund. This will be in the form of a challenge to test out a range of ideas about ways to support older people. The challenge is to pioneer approaches which help vulnerable older people better manage change in their lives. • Voice – giving older people a greater voice and promoting independence and control • Transition – supporting and strengthening older people through difficult changes in their lives, recognising that transitional phases are times when anyone can become particularly vulnerable but that older people often face specific challenges • Prevention/resilience – helping older people, particularly those deemed as 'at risk', prepare for future transitions, building resilience and capacity to cope with difficult life events • Testing new approaches - delivering either a completely new service or replicating a service which has been successfully delivered elsewhere • Not viewing older people in isolation – considering also their connections with the wider family, neighbourhood and community context The challenge will generate learning about what works so that this can inform future investments and also the ageing agenda in terms of both practice and policy. Find out more here.

My Youtube Channel

I'd like to point everyone to my newly updated youtube channel, as a one stop shop for access to all video of my speeches in Parliament. The Link is here, feel free to subscribe, or alternatively you can view my latest video on my website, www.nickymorgan.com.

Get in Touch!

As always you can also contact me through whistle.co.uk, digitaldemocracy.org.uk, Facebook, Twitter, or Email me from the 'Have Your Say' form on my website. Alternatively you can phone my constituency office on 01509 262 723.

Please do forward this newsletter to others living locally. Best wishes,

Nicky Morgan