• I've been made aware of some changes to the services provided at the Post Offices at Brigstock and in Ringstead and I wanted to share the information for any people that are affected locally. You can find the details, here and here.
• The 3rd and 4th July was Independents’ Day, which celebrates independent retailers around the UK. Recent times have been tough on all types of retail, but these two days offered a great opportunity to support the wonderful independent retailers we have across Corby & East Northamptonshire, so please do show your support and shop local!
• I’m pleased to be able to share news of an exciting opportunity for six months of funded yoga classes for cancer patients and those living with cancer. Thanks to Sport England Tackling Inequalities Funding, ‘Stretch to the Future’ offers funded weekly yoga classes available at two locations - the Ironstone Wellbeing Centre in Kettering and The OM Studio in Northampton - and live online. The sessions run four times a week across the two locations. All the sessions are available in person and live online. To sign-up, or for more information see, here.
• There’s nothing like being prepared, so I wanted to take this opportunity to highlight that UK Parliament Week will be taking place from the 1st to the 7th November 2021 and you can sign up to get involved already at: https://www.ukparliamentweek.org/en/. Last year, 8,676 UKPW activities took place all over the UK, despite the challenging circumstances, with 986,815 people taking part. Let’s work together to get over the one million mark in 2021!
• Age UK have been in touch with me to highlight the resources they have available to help keep people safe from online scams. Such scams are sadly becoming increasingly common, and so it is well worth having a look at this helpful guidance and advice, here: https://tinyurl.com/5ysjft9u.
• The Scouts have launched a new campaign called ‘Good for You’ which focuses on recruiting more adult volunteers to help cut the waiting list of 70,000 children who want to participate in Scouting activities, but can’t presently. Thousands of children want to get involved and so The Scouts are running recruitment campaigns over the next six months so young people can attend their local group and learn valuable life skills whilst making new friends. They would love to hear from you! For more information, please visit: https://www.scouts.org.uk/.
• I am pleased to be supporting ‘The Big Lunch’ this year and hope to see people in Corby & East Northamptonshire coming together, having fun, reconnecting and enjoying some community spirit this summer. You can host your event online, on your doorstep, or over the fence - in fact in any way that works for you and your community, whilst observing the current social distancing guidelines. More information, here: www.thebiglunch.com.
• Good causes looking for funding in the East of England can check out the funds available from the Postcode Places Trust. Registered charities, with an annual income below £1 million, can apply for funding of up to £20,000 raised by players of the People’s Postcode Lottery. Further details, and to check if your organisation is eligible, can be found here: https://www.postcodetrust.org.uk/apply-for-a-grant/.
• 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 the local authorities in the county 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!