In my Leicester Mercury column this month, I talk about Leicester’s new Space Park – which will bring together the University of Leicester’s world leading space science and research with industry to seize the potential of this sector and create more than 3,000 high skill, high value jobs. For the […]
On Friday 28th February I visited Ellesmere College, a special school for students aged 4-19 in Leicester, where I met members of the School Council and Ted, a mental health assistance dog. Ted, a 7-month-old Cavapoo puppy, has been at Ellesmere College since he was 12 weeks old and listens […]
I was delighted to welcome the school council from Glebeland’s Primary School to Parliament last week. The students had a tour of the House of Commons and the House of Lords, and I joined them afterwards to answer their questions and speak to them about what it is like to […]
This week I attended the official Ground-Breaking Ceremony at the new Space Park in Leicester. The park is due to provide state-of-the-art research and development facilities as well as a manufacturing plant for low cost satellites. It will bring together the University’s world leading work on space science with businesses […]
Under the Tories, £2.5 million will be cut in real terms from primary schools in Leicester West next year. Five schools will lose more than £250k, with cuts between £400 to £600 per-pupil. My mum was a primary school teacher and she taught me that getting a good education is […]
On Friday 18th October I spoke at the National Association for Hospital Education (NAHE) annual conference in Leicester. Around 360,000 children and young people a year are persistently absent from school because of a physical or mental illness. This can have a real impact on their education and later life […]
I recently visited New College Leicester and was delighted to open their amazing new tennis & netball courts with Former England Rugby player, Rory Underwood MBE, and Police and Crime Commissioner, Lord Willy Bach. The courts sit alongside other fantastic facilities and are available for use by local primary schools […]
I recently visited Inglehurst Junior School where they were learning about the UN’s Global Goals for a better world by 2030. It was wonderful to see how our schools are encouraging our young people to make positive changes. Drew and Darcey gave me some excellent letters asking for action […]
I am delighted that the University of Leicester’s new Manufacturing, Engineering, Technology and Earth Observation Research centre (METEOR) has received nearly £14m in funding from Research England. This will bring in a further £50m for space and earth observation research from other investors. METEOR will be a key party of […]
I was absolutely thrilled to visit Queensmead Primary Academy on Friday and meet their under 11 girls football team who were crowned champions of the Premier League Primary Stars Football tournament – undefeated throughout – the first time a team has done this since the tournament was created. I am […]
I was delighted to visit the Stephen Lawrence centre at De Montfort University recently. It was incredibly moving to walk through the timeline of Stephen’s case, which explained what happened on the night of his murder up to the present day. It also includes artefacts – school books, football boots […]
Every Friday I like to get out and about speaking to local people about any issues or concerns they have. On Friday I held my latest coffee morning at the Manor House Community Centre. Lots of residents came along and we discussed many issues including Brexit, NHS and school funding, […]