Parliament broke for the summer recess last week after an intensive end to the session involving no fewer than 18 consecutive votes during ‘ping pong’ over the contentious Illegal Migration Bill. Apparently a record for votes in the House of Commons since 1971 and it certainly helped everyone’s step count traipsing through the division lobbies into the evening.
Recess does give MPs the chance to catch up on constituency visits which are difficult to do when we are ‘confined to barracks’ at Westminster most weekdays. I have been spending quite a lot of time in Lancing especially and will be organising a crime summit to involve police and managers of the Co-Op amongst others, which has been at the centre of much of the anti-social behaviour and shoplifting in the village recently. I am also looking forward to the official opening of the exciting new Lancing Youth Hub on Monks Rec next month spearheaded by local boxer Scott Welch.
Last week I visited Chesham House with a large group of local councillors to see how the centre is faring a year on from reopening after we worked with the local community to save it from closure. I was delighted to see the place buzzing and they even had some of their legendary cheese scones left in the vintage café. The centre is planning an open day event on September 23rd to show everyone how well things are going and help with fundraising.
I also popped into St Barnabas Hospice this week for an update with the Chairman and Chief Executive of one of Worthing’s real jewels. Hospices were fortunately well supported by the Government during the pandemic but they have also seen changes in the age and conditions of patients coming to them since then. The hospice is supporting roughly double the number of patients at home than before the pandemic and fundraising remains crucial for them, so you know what you need to do.
