This Tuesday I attended the Newmillerdam Community Conservation Association (NCCA) AGM and was delighted to see so many people taking pride in their community. It is a great tribute to the work of all involved in the association that over 30 people turned out to discuss a number of important projects in Newmillerdam including the programme of improvements for the Village Green. Having attended their annual duck race for the first time last year, I am looking forward to taking part again this summer!


Later that evening I headed to the Rapid Solicitors Stadium to see Wakefield Trinity take on Huddersfield Giants at home. Great to see the home crowd in such good voice and sending the team to victory 28-24 by full time!


On Wednesday I made a site visit to Netherton Village Hall with a potential contractor to discuss plans that I have been backing to install a new playgound for children in the area. In an era of rising obesity-levels and growing challenges to mental health I think it is vitally important that all children have access to quality outdoor public spaces and I believe that this new play area will give families in Netherton a new place to play and learn outdoors in a safe environment.


On Saturday I returned to Netherton for the local MP’s Coffee Morning where I was glad to speak to residents about their priorities for the local area, as well as speaking about a number of important national issues. In particular, I was happy to update attendees on the progress that was being made on a number of key priority issues in the town, including transport challenges, and the installation of the new playground mentioned above.
I ended the week by attending the interfaith Holocaust Memorial Service at Wakefield Cathedral on Sunday, attended by representatives of Wakefield’s faith groups, the Mayor, political leaders and many other members of the community wishing to come together to remember and pay their respects. It was wonderful to see people from all walks of life coming together and crossing divides in remembrance of the victims of some of history’s worst inhumanities, and as we sadly face the re-emergence of anti-Semitism in this country and overseas, I left with a little glimmer of hope that we can all find common ground to share in learning about the past and to ensure that these dehumanising views are never tolerated in our country.