When Parliament is in recess and I don’t have to be in the House of Commons, it is a valuable chance to spend more time meeting constituents, pursuing my local campaigns, visiting organisations, and supporting events.
Over Easter recess, I visited Chatterton House in Lynn to discuss mental health services delivered by the Norfolk and Suffolk NHS Foundation Trust. I often have casework concerning mental health so this was a valuable opportunity to meet the crisis team to review how they manage cases and referrals of individuals in need of urgent support.
As well as going to Samphire Ward, the acute inpatient unit, I met the older persons community team who play an essential role supporting people in the community and are adopting innovative approaches to providing assessments and support.
The Trust has had a troubled history but I was impressed by the professionalism of the staff and welcomed the opportunity to listen to the challenges they face, as well as to raise issues on behalf of constituents.
There was a health flavour to my diary as I met QEH’s Chief Executive after the very welcome confirmation £1 billion to £1.5 billion in funding is available for a new hospital. We discussed next steps, including the multi-storey car park, which is set to begin construction in early 2026 enabling the new hospital to be built on the current car park.
Helping to promote causes and support groups to make a difference is an important part of my role as a MP. I was impressed by the passion the West Norfolk Youth Advisory Board who presented their Everyone Has the Right to Play campaign to me. Led by young people, the initiative calls for play areas to be accessible and welcoming to everyone. I am pleased to support their efforts locally and in Parliament.
On the Friday evening before Parliament was recalled for a rare Saturday sitting, I was at the Pizza Project at the Beacon church in North Lynn. This is part of Project Rise to enable the community to improve the areas and there were lots of excited youngsters with the unveiling of their soapbox race kart, pool, and other activities happening.
Quite often meetings locally happen when I have to be in Parliament so I was pleased to be able to join councillors and residents at Dersingham Village Hall with West Norfolk Police to talk about crime. These meetings happen every three months across the area and are an opportunity to raise concerns with local officers. Stats on crime as well as upcoming meetings can be found on www.norfolk.police.uk
The sun was out as I headed to the Hunstanton Advisory Group meeting and as I made good time there was the chance for fish and chips before it started. Made up of local businesses, town and borough councillors, the advisory group topics covered plans for the rec, the Oasis centre, upcoming events, as well as promoting the area.
Freebridge also kindly invited me to join their Out & About session in Fairstead which involved visiting residents to check if there were any issues with their property or things locally. It reminded me of door knocking during the election and was a great insight to hear direct what was on people’s minds.
In addition to these visits and meetings, I met constituents to discuss their views on the assisted dying bill and deal with other casework issues from road closures, to pension, welfare, health, and tax issues.
All in all a busy recess before heading back to Parliament to continue to speak up for our area.
