Last week I was pleased to meet with Simon Lightwood, the minister for local transport, to discuss improving transport connections into Fleetwood and Thornton. I pressed the minister on the inadequacy of the current situation, and the need for a solution – including looking at the reinstatement of the rail line. I will keep residents updated on these discussions and continue to fight for investment.
I was also glad to attend the League Against Cruel Sport’s annual reception, as well as the Dogs Trust event on the Fireworks Bill which will be coming to Parliament in the New Year. I can confirm I will be supporting the law change.
I took part in the annual ‘Parliamentarians for Peace event to celebrate the anniversary of the Universal Declaration of Human Rights. We live in such a dangerous world, and I will use my voice as an MP to champion human rights and peace. In that vein, I was also glad to attend Save the Children’s annual Christmas Jumper Day event. Save the Children undertake so much important work both in the UK and abroad for children facing conflict and difficulty.
On Friday I met with the Blackpool Schools Nursing team to hear about the important work they are doing delivering critical early intervention services for 0 to19-year-olds across Blackpool. They were all so passionate about their jobs but there are significant challenges and I will look at what I can do to help.
Then I went across to Fleetwood High School to meet with students and teachers. A highlight of that was sitting down with the school council and fielding questions from students about my role as an MP. They asked some extremely insightful questions and, as always when I’m meeting children in our area, I was so impressed with their knowledge and level of engagement.
I then met with the leadership of the Lancashire Careers Hub. One of the things I’m most passionate about is improving the life chances of constituents and the best way to do that is by increasing the supply of high quality and well-paid jobs. Hearing from the Careers Hub about the issues they face to help people was useful for me and I will take what I learnt forward with me.
I then went back to Fleetwood, this time to the Methodist Church. They have an annual Christmas Tree Festival and I was delighted to be invited to judge this. The winner was entered by the Fleetwood Museum which had a beautiful poem attached about memories. It really resonated with me, particularly after the year of loss I have had, and I found it quite emotional.
After that I popped into the Enchanted Forest Nursery for their Christmas Market. It was a lovely event and to raise money for a community defibrillator – a really good cause!
On Saturday I met with some residents in Fleetwood and the local police to discuss some issues they have been having with houses of multiple occupancy in the area. I have some actions to take forward from that which I will raise with Wyre Council. We need to improve the way we regulate houses of multiple occupancy overall and I will look at how we can improve this.
I then popped over to the Trinity Baptist Church for their Christmas Fayre. The event was held to raise funds for a local cancer support group, so again a really good cause. Local charities and volunteers do so much in our community and I’m always so pleased to be able to do what I can to support them.
Finally on Sunday I attended the Lost Trawler memorial service, again at the Trinity Baptist Church. The Goth was lost at sea in December 1948 and the Red Falcon was lost at sea in December 1959. Overall, 40 men lost their lives, 21 on the Goth and 19 on the Red Falcon. It’s an important and sombre local event. A wreath was laid at the Goth funnel on Dock Street and another at The Trawler Memorial on the promenade.