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- Community News April 2008
One of the duties I have undertaken as Member of Parliament is
to lead tributes to the men and women who served during the two
World Wars and helped secure victory for Britain. I have had
the privilege of presenting veterans badges to servicemen in my
constituency and what I always found when speaking to these brave
men is the sense of duty to their country which they still hold
today - sixty years after the end of World War Two. Last month the Prime Minister Gordon Brown held a ceremony at
Downing Street for another group of veterans. These men, who
have until now not...
- Community News January 2008
A belated Happy New Year to the readers of the Community
Newsletter. 2008 is going to be memorable year for the Askern
area with brand new facilities opening in Askern town centre which
I hope will improve the quality of life for the residents of the
area. The most visible addition to the town centre at the moment is
the Shakers building which will provide the young people of the
area a place to go and socialise. The idea for this project came
out of a visit to Campsmount Technology College when I wanted to
find out what young people wanted for our area. I have...
- Community News February 2008
The beginning of 2008 brought worrying times for many residents
as heavy rain in January threatened flooding in the Bentley area
and further a field. The memories of the summer floods are
for many people still very painful, and I know that many of those
who were affected by the floods spent Christmas out of their
homes. While the New Year may have presented a bleak picture, I believe
that our communities are on the road to recovery. But I know
that there remain many months of reconstruction and difficult times
for people putting their lives back together. One of the important messages I have...
- Community News March 2008
Doncaster North Young Person’s Awards I had the privilege of hosting the second annual Doncaster North
Young Person’s Awards at the end of February in Bentley
Pavilion. I hold these awards to celebrate the outstanding
achievements of the young people in my constituency. When I
was first elected in 2005 I made young peoples issues one of my key
priorities. The main reason I took the issue on is because
one of the messages I heard when I spoke to people on the doorstep
was about young people. The common perception of young people
that I heard was of a threatening group who often hung around with
nothing...
- Community News: November 2007
Community News
November 2007
Early in November we had the traditional occasion of the Queen's Speech ceremony in the Parliament.
It is a uniquely British event where the Queen reads out the Government's legislation for the Parliamentary session ahead and a lot of people put on their poshest clothes. It is a time for traditions that date back hundreds of years.
Beneath all the pomp and ceremony is the serious business of setting out the Labour Government’s agenda for the next year.
As a government, Labour's starting point is the concerns, the struggles and the hopes and ambitions of families...
- Community News: Autumn 2007
Community News
Autumn 2007
One of the issues that people talk to me about most is the bus service in Doncaster. During the local elections in 2006 I was talking to one of my constituents about the low number of people who vote these days. She said it wasn’t surprising. I thought she was going to say it was because people had lost faith in politics, but she actually said it was because the buses weren’t good enough.
When people use improvement the state of their bus services as an indicator of the value of voting, it just goes...
- Community News: April 2007
Community News
April 2007
I know from the two years that I have been the how pit traditions and sense of community are ingrained deep in the area. Nearby, developments at Hatfield pit are showing coal has a future as well.
Last month I had the chance to go down the pit, which is reopening. I was really pleased to see the progress being made. I felt it was important to see first hand the hard work that is being done to make Hatfield a success again.
For those that don't know the pit closed over 2 years ago but...
- Community News: Feb/March 2007
Community News
Feb/March 2007
It is not often politicians win Oscars. Glenda Jackson, the Labour MP, has won 2 Oscars back in the 1970s. Ronald Reagan was an actor before he became a politician but he never won an Oscar. But this year former US Vice-President Al Gore won an Oscar for his film An Inconvenient Truth.
In the film Gore lays out the case of why global warming is a problem and traces his concerns with this phenomenon, from his early days in politics through the aftermath of the 2000 Presidential election when he stood for President and lost...
- Community News: January 2007
One of the best parts of being MP for Doncaster North is to visit our children centres such as Bentley Sure Start. These centres are run by brilliant and inspiring local people in our community, offer childcare, nursery nurses, and skills training courses to parents. I’ve seen the difference these centres make in giving new parents practical skills, teaching pre-school children to read and helping parents into work that fits around family life. We know that work can be the most important way to escape poverty and that’s why our approach is about making sure all...
- Community News: August 2006
We owe our freedoms to the ex-servicemen and women who have fought to defend our country. Last month, I was pleased to visit the Waterside Festival in Stainforth and pay tribute to the many veterans that were in attendance. I enjoyed the opportunity to be able to recognise the incredible sacrifices made by Doncaster North veterans and thank all of them for their service to our nation. This year a new National Veterans’ Day has been launched and will be celebrated on 27 June every year. This is a special time in the memories of all those who remember...
- Community News: December 2006
My job as a Government Minister gives me responsibility for social enterprise. Like members of a growing cult, those in the know really believe it. But to most of the country, it remains unknown. Social enterprise – business formed for a social purpose, and reinvesting profits in the community or firm – has the potential to change people’s lives. I am pleased to say Doncaster is leading the way with social enterprises. Alive TV, Doncaster Kerbside Recycling and Another Byte for example show how well social enterprises are improving the way we do business in Doncaster Why does...
- Community News: November 2006
There has been a lot of coverage about climate change in the news this week. As a country we are currently living beyond our environmental means. Therefore, my brother’s visit to Doncaster was very timely. David is the Secretary of State for the Environment, and he came to Doncaster to look at some of the excellent work people in our community are already doing to help the environment. David talks about the idea of One Planet Living. At the moment, we are living as if there were three planets to support us when in fact we have only...
- Community News: September 2006
Last month we presented the first ever Doncaster North Young Person’s Award. Daniel Mawhinney, aged 14 from Askern was the winner. Daniel’s award was presented by Norah Troops, Chair of Doncaster Council, following deliberations from the judging panel which included European taekwondo champion Sarah Stevenson, Jamie Hesketh from North Doncaster Development Trust, and Davey Mitchell & Kirsty Bleything – both North Doncaster Youth Councillors. I launched this annual award for young people who make a difference in Doncaster North. Far too often young people are not given the praise they deserve for their achievements and the difference they are making...
- Community News: July 2006
Following my appointment as minister for the third sector, including volunteering, I spent the first day of June out and about with volunteers to coincide with the start of national volunteering week. For me, it was a remarkable day because of the talents and diversity that I saw on display. From the Whitechapel Mission, serving breakfast to, and training the homeless to the Sixty Plus initiative in Kensington and Chelsea, which puts teenagers in touch with older people who they can help. From young people producing their own magazine in Brixton to a range of volunteers helping preserve and protect...
- Community News: May 2006
The best thing about my job is meeting people who make you think differently and provide a new perspective. This came home to me recently when I met some young people doing a project on wind turbines as a way of providing energy. What was inspiring and challenging for me was the concern they had about the environment and whether politicians had a proper plan to tackle climate change. It made me think again about the issue and whether I was doing enough both personally and politically to make my contribution to tackling it. Climate change sounds like a...
- Community News: April 2006
One of the reasons why people are turned off politics is that they feel their involvement makes no difference. The story of our petition on rail services in Doncaster North shows this does not have to be true. Last summer, there were rumours that our rail services were under threat, including the Adwick to Sheffield line, going through Bentley. It looked like services might be reduced or cut completely to save money. So I launched a petition to save our rail services, working with the rail unions, councillors and others. Shops and post offices throughout Bentley co-operated with the campaign...
- Community News: March 2006
I have learnt massive amounts from people in Doncaster North since I was elected last May. One of the most important issues that was raised with me during the election campaign was the lack of places to go and things to do for young people. Since hearing what people were saying during the election, I have taken this message to Westminster as Chair of the All-Party Group on Young People, involving MPs from Labour, the Liberal Democrats and the Conservatives. I think there is some evidence this issue is now being taken more seriously. This month, the government announced...
- Community News: February 2006
The closing of the pits and the resulting economic scars of the last twenty years run very deep in our area. Part of that legacy is the number of people who were made redundant and then ended up on Incapacity benefit. Don’t get me wrong. If people are long-term sick or disabled they deserve the best support we can afford. What was wrong was when government pushed people off the unemployment register and onto Incapacity benefit because they wanted to get the unemployment figures down. This government has been left to clear up the problem of hidden unemployment. In my...
- Community News: January 2006
This is the time for looking back at 2005 and ahead to 2006. The last year was a very exciting one for me with the privilege of being elected as MP for Doncaster North. I have really enjoyed meeting people in Askern and Bentley ---at my surgeries, the summer Gala, Campsmount School, on the beat with Community Safety Wardens and elsewhere. As I have written before, the area is undergoing a time of big change and there are really exciting prospects, I believe, for 2006. In the Spring, we will see the opening of the new Sure-Start centre...
- Community News: December 2005
It was my privilege to speak and present the certificates at the Campsmount School prize-giving recently. It was an inspiring occasion, seeing young people rightly congratulated for all their many achievements at school. For me, the best thing about Campsmount is the way its inspiring head Peter Trimmingham involves the students in the work and the life of the school. Arrive at the school and you see two students, on a rota, staffing the reception. Go round the school and you see an open space where students can chat at break-time, which arose as a result of discussions between the...
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