With Parliament prorogued before next week’s Kings Speech I took the opportunity to catch up on constituency visits.
I visited Marine Park School to see at first hand the excellent work the school are doing, following their visit to Westminster. Marine Park is at the heart of the Whitley Bay community, and I was reminded when we brought the new school of the naysayers who thought the old school just needed “a coat of paint”.
The Meadows is one of the venues in North Shields where local residents are being asked their views on Pride in Place – £20 million over the next ten years to improve the area from Percy Main to the centre of North Shields. The Meadows work with local youth projects and the local foodbank bringing together and holding together the local community.
I also visited Renew on the Royal Quays where North Tyneside Big Local are working with Suez to recycle unwanted furniture for residents across our community. People were coming into the unit to buy affordable household goods but also others including businesses bringing in unwanted goods.
And on Saturday I went along to a celebration fun day at Monkseaton Middle School which is redeveloping into an 11-16 school catering particularly for children with additional needs. A community coming together to save and secure their school’s future.
Community is sometimes an overused word. Some work tirelessly to strengthen our local community, others seem hell bent on causing division. Local elections are a test of who we are as a community and who we want to be. There’s a lot at stake.