A big thank you to Teresa Bates for sending in this fantastic picture of Welland Viaduct!
• Marie Curie nurses and hospices provide incredible care and support to families facing terminal illness, and this year their Great Daffodil Appeal is more important than ever with the pandemic putting its usual fundraising on hold. Please join me in supporting the appeal by wearing a daffodil and donating, if you can, at www.mariecurie.org.uk/daffodil.
• The Department for Education has announced that under new plans, Brooke Weston Academy will become one of the 81 new Regional Teaching Hubs in England for teacher training. This is great news and really highlights the fantastic, leading work the school is doing, with its success to be felt further afield in years to come - congratulations to all involved!
• NHS Blood & Transplant are urging local people that have recovered from COVID-19 more than 28 days ago, to donate blood plasma to help others fighting the illness. To register to donate, please visit the NHS Blood & Transplant website, here: https://www.nhsbt.nhs.uk/. Please help if you can!
• Only one third of people in the UK realise that it is possible to reduce their risk of dementia and I am aware of the importance of a healthy lifestyle to overall brain health. With this in mind, I am happy to further highlight the importance of brain health through Alzheimer’s Research UK’s ‘Think Brain Health’ campaign. This is a fantastic initiative, which raises some very valuable points about how to keep our brains healthy and you can find out more on the Alzheimer’s Research UK website, here: https://tinyurl.com/4wky4s6w.
• The 4th March was World Book Day - the annual celebration of reading and one I remember well growing up! As part of World Book Day, there are a number of £1 books available, with children able to get a book for free with their £1 book token. For more information about getting involved, visit: https://www.worldbookday.com/2020/09/world-book-day-2021-announcements/.
• Given the flooding issues we have seen locally of late, the Environment Agency has developed a factsheet to explain what their responsibilities are, the maintenance activities they may carry out in local areas, and actions people and businesses can take to help address flooding. I thought it would be worth sharing it and you can find it, here. Of course, if there are flooding issues affecting you or your community, please don’t hesitate to approach me if I can be of any help, as others have had cause to do this winter.
• I was pleased to hear that the Government is providing £664,295 in support for domestic abuse victims and their children here in North Northamptonshire. It is so important that victims of this terrible abuse are well supported and kept safe, so this is very welcome news and I know this extra help will make a significant difference.
• To help families in Corby & East Northamptonshire to better manage their home energy use and save money on bills, National Energy Action (NEA) and Smart Energy GB have teamed up to collate a list of simple things we can all do to make a positive difference. For more information see, here.
• I have been informed that the National Lottery have reopened applications for heritage grants and I wanted to share this good news which may be of help to a number of organisations locally. You can find the details on their website, here.
• Can you help our local community here in Corby & East Northamptonshire? Could you be a COVID Community Ambassador? Recruitment is ongoing to find volunteers to help keep residents informed. You really can make a difference! Follow the link to find out more: http://bit.ly/3a8eYhD.
• The St John Ambulance have been in touch to highlight the crucial role they are playing in the COVID-19 vaccination programme, which includes recruiting up to 30,500 volunteers in England with a range of roles. So far, in excess of 52,000 people have expressed an interest in volunteering as part of this and you too can get involved, here: https://www.sja.org.uk/what-we-do/Coronavirus-support/coronavirus-vaccine/. And a big ‘thank you’ to all those already doing amazing work as part of the huge national effort!
• A particularly concerning aspect around our collective national effort to fight Coronavirus is the impact it is understandably having on people’s mental health. In response, I am pleased that our local councils and the NHS have launched a mental health support line, and whether you are feeling lonely, anxious, frightened, or struggling with other issues, there is friendly, professional support available 24 hours a day, seven days a week, by calling 0300 330 1011.
If you have anything you would like to be featured next week, please email all the details to pursglovet@parliament.uk.
Also, if you have taken any photos of constituency landscapes or landmarks, which could be featured in my ‘Community Notices’ headers, please send them in and I will try to use as many of them as possible (and credit them accordingly!), as a celebration of the fantastic place we live and work in. I know we have many budding photographers in our community and it would be great to showcase their work!