On Friday, I started the day with a visit to the team at GoTrain. GoTrain is a fantastic training centre here in Swindon, dedicated to supporting people as they enter employment and progress on that journey. I was privileged to meet the committed and passionate team there, and was incredibly impressed by their drive, expertise and the level of care they show to those they work with. To meet some of the people who have been helped into employment by the team at GoTrain was equally heart-warming, and I feel reassured that we have such a caring and professional group of people striving to get people in rewarding work here in the constituency.
Next on the agenda was my visit to Dressability – an amazing charity we are lucky to have here in Swindon that adapts clothes in ingenious ways to those with disabilities. The work Dressability does allows people with disabilities to do things they otherwise would not be able to do, and do so in comfort (and style!). I have long supported the work of this charity, and I was very delighted to be able to help them promote their latest initiative to provide clothes for the homeless as autumn and winter creep up on us. I was also intrigued to be given a sneak peak of one of their innovative upcoming projects, which I know will make a real difference to the lives of people who really need it when it gets fully underway.
I was also very happy to pay another visit to one of Swindon’s hidden gems – the Shoebox Theatre on Milton Road. I am always very pleased to be able to support Swindon’s flourishing arts and cultural scene, and the team at the Shoebox Theatre always impress me with their passion, creativity, imaginations and resourcefulness. Their performances are a must-see!
Saturday marked the post-Coronavirus return of my constituency advice surgeries, and it was such a relief to be able to get these meetings back up and running. Constituency surgeries play such a key role in our democracy, allowing me, as your MP, to hear your problems and concerns in a face-to-face setting. It was deeply encouraging to hear from several dozen constituents in what was one of the best attended surgeries I have held in my time as South Swindon’s MP. I plan to return to holding regular surgeries, so keep your eyes peeled for information about where and when I am holding my next one if you would like to attend.
I finished off my Saturday with a visit to the Swindon Cup, organised by the Nepalese Association of Wiltshire. It is always uplifting and humbling in equal measure to see the power of community in full swing here in Swindon, and I always look forward to my engagements with the Nepalese Association for that reason. Football in the great outdoors was most welcome after the morning surgery!
Over the next couple of weeks of recess, I look forward to many more busy days in and around Swindon. If you see me out and about, please come and have a chat! I hope to see many of you at the various events I will be attending over this period, in the town that we have all chosen to be our home.
