Seven Cornfields

I met with members of Goldthorn Park Residents Association, Cllr Paul Birch and Cllr Martin Waite where we discussed the approaches to take on how to fight any housing developments on the Seven Cornfields. It was a positive meeting with excellent progress made on working out what needs to be done.

 New Hope Church

I dropped by the New Hope Baptist Church on Ebenezer St in Coseley. I was joined by my colleagues Councillor Sue Ridney and Councillor Peter Drake. It was great to meet the Reverend Paul Westwood and his wife Joanne.

Rev Paul and Joanne told us about the great work being done by the New Hope Ministry. Their vision is of much more than a church offering Sunday service. Their work includes Music Moves which teaches young people how to play and gives them the chance to record their own songs and a project to give help to people suffering from mental health issues or domestic abuse. There is a real energy about the work the New Hope Ministry is doing and I really enjoyed hearing about their mission in the community.

MacMillan Coffee Afternoon in Memory of Former Council Leader Norman Davies

Thank you to everyone who came to the MacMillan coffee afternoon we held in Holy Trinity Church. This year we held it in memory of Norman Davies, the former leader of Wolverhampton City Council who led the successful campaign for Wolverhampton to become a city back in the year 2000. Norman passed away from cancer last year and towards the end of his life received wonderful care from MacMillan Cancer care nurses.

Norman and his wife Mary have been great friends to me in my time as the local MP and I am hugely grateful to Mary for all the effort she put in to baking the cakes. We had a really good attendance and raised over £300 for MacMillan Cancer care.

Sikhs for Labour West Midlands Reception

Thank you to Sikhs for Labour for organising a successful event in Smethwick, including a story from John Spellar MP about when Malcolm X came to town!

Millennifest

I spoke at the Millenifest event promoted by the Common Vision think tank in Birmingham. This touring event series is all about moving beyond the stereotypes, and celebrating the young leaders and influencers of today and tomorrow. We had a great discussion on what makes good and bad leaders and what we should want from leaders.

Deputy Sandeep Dhaliwal

My deepest, heartfelt & sincere condolences to family of Deputy Sandeep Singh Dhaliwal and in particular to Cllr Rupinderjit Kaur. He leaves a wife, three children and he leaves the memory of someone we know was a dedicated public servant.