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I’m pleased there’s been lots of overlap between my work in parliament what I do in my constituency

Posted by Kate Green, MP for Stretford and Urmston, at 10:21, Fri 21 March 2014:

I always really enjoy getting back to the constituency on a Friday, back to normality after a week in the Westminster "village". Last Friday was particularly special because I went to visit some fabulous disabled residents of Eden Square in Urmston who are living independently in their own homes, supported by the Leonard Cheshire charity.

I was given such a warm welcome, invited into people's flats, and heard about their lives. Everyone I met was just delighted to have their own home, some had previously been in residential homes or sharing flats, and now they felt they'd got the independence we all take for granted. It was a lovely visit.

I also met the amazing organisation Forever Manchester last Friday. This gives small grants (£50-£250) to community groups who've got original and amazing ideas. They supported the breakfast club that ran over Christmas in Victoria Park, and an amazing craft and activity club for parents and children at Barton Clough school last summer. They're always on the lookout for good ideas. I asked them how they find them, and they said they just hang out where people are, and listen to what's going on in the community.

I attended the first meeting of the Greater Manchester Poverty Action Group, and on Friday evening I was in Manchester to join campaigners calling for dignity and care for asylum seekers, many of whom live in near destitution. I can't imagine what it must be like to have to flee your home because you fear violence and persecution, give up your family, friends and personal history. Yet we offer such a poor welcome to asylum seekers, many living precarious lives, when what they most need is security after the appalling treatment they've suffered in their own country. I came away from the event determined to speak up more for these people.

On Monday, I was back in London to attend a conference of gap year providers. I take a real interest in safety issues for overseas adventure activities, following the tragic death of Luke Molnar from Stretford, who died on an expedition to Fiji in 2006. I've been campaigning with his parents, Steve and Gill, to improve safety standards in the companies who arrange these trips. It was very interesting to meet companies from other countries, and hear about their different systems. I came away with some good ideas to think about for companies who are based in the UK.

Then it was on to Westminster to take part as the lead opposition spokesperson in a debate on mesothelioma - something else I do a lot of work on, partly as the shadow minister responsible, and partly because it's an issue that directly affects my constituents: many victims of this disease contracted it in industries based in the North West. On Monday, we were debating regulations to implement some of the operational details of the scheme we've recently passed through parliament to compensate people who contracted this terrible, fatal disease as a result of exposure to asbestos at work, but who can't trace their former employer.

Normally, we would debate regulations (so called secondary legislation, to differentiate it from bills which become acts of parliament) in a smaller committee room, with just a few MPs attending. But there isn't much business going on in parliament at the moment (the government is running out of steam), so we held the debate in the main chamber instead. But that was good, because it gave more profile to the issue, and some of the continuing concerns.

Tuesday I was in the chamber to ask a question of Justice Ministers about support and supervision of women prisoners on release, another of my interests. I've visited Styal Prison a couple of times since I became an MP, and I know how complicated the lives of these women can be, and how important it is for the probation service to maintain contact with them once they're released back home to prevent further reoffending. I'm very worried that the government's privatisation of the probation service will fragment this support.

Then I met representatives of the Big Lottery to hear about the grants programmes they have available to support charities in Stretford and Urmston, met up with the director of the Webb Memorial Trust, of which I'm a trustee, to discuss our work on poverty and deprivation, and then went along to a discussion of Labour policy on immigration and asylum (I took the opportunity to raise some of the concerns I'd heard about on Friday night). In the evening I hosted a reception for new members of the Fabian Society, the country's oldest think tank (we are 130 this year), of which I'm a Vice Chair.

Wednesday was a big day in parliament: Budget day. The chamber is always packed. I listened with interest to George Osborne's announcements. Sure, they were great for people who have £15,000 a year to save, or large personal pension funds. But there wasn't much for ordinary households in Stretford and Urmston, especially families with children on low incomes. Later that afternoon, I made a speech in the chamber in the debate on the Budget to highlight the lack of measures to help these families, many in low paid, insecure jobs.

That evening, I was hugely privileged to host a reception in parliament for Marie Curie Care. The charity was launching an important and very poignant report produced as a result of talking to people about the end of life care they want. The room was packed full of carers, volunteers, families of people who'd supported their relatives through terminal illness, and Jon Culshaw, who is one of the charity's ambassadors. One lady, Carol, who'd cared for her partner at the end of her life, gave a moving and forceful speech. I was very glad to have been part of the event, and met representatives of the charity the next day to discuss how I can continue to support their work.

Thursday also saw me meet the head of corporate responsibility for the company that owns the Trafford Centre, to discuss how they can help charities who support local people, including, I hope, some of the Eden Square residents, supported by Leonard Cheshire who I met in Urmston last Friday. Plus a meeting with a charity that provides parents of disabled children with special equipment and aids, and finally back into the chamber for the second day of the Budget debate.

Looking back, there have been lots of examples this week of how much overlap there is between what I see and hear in the constituency and the work I do in parliament. And that's exactly how it should be. MPs' work in parliament needs to be grounded in what we see in the real world back home.