On Sunday 1st October, I headed to Manchester to attend the Conservative Conference. It was a very useful few days. I attended many of the Fringe events on policies and projects that I am particularly interested in, mainly concerning children and families. I have brought back lots of learning with me to use at the County Council. I also attended the Main Stage events and listened to Secretaries of State highlighting the work they are doing within their departments.
Once back from the Conference, I headed to Warwick University for Module 3 of my Leadership Academy training. It was great to finish the course and I have learnt so many new skills to enhance my current leadership within the County Council. I now look forward to my graduation in June 2024 with all my fellow councillors who have completed the course in 2023.
On Sunday 8th we joined St Mary’s Church Pet Service with our two rescue dogs, Duke and Bliss. It was a lovely service, we had a talk from a Bradgate Park Ranger, and all the pets were well-behaved!
On 10th October, I was over in Hugglescote for the group-breaking ceremony and ribbon-cutting ceremony for a new school and open spaces. This school is part of a large housing development and will be a new Forest School. This enables teaching to take place outside as well as inside, enabling a more dynamic teaching environment.
On Thursday 12th October, as Lead Member for Children and Families, I attended our latest face-to-face Fostering Recruitment evening event held at County Hall to support the team in expanding our fostering families. Beacon Voices, our Children in Care Choir, also sang to all the guests, which was delightful and very well-received.
On Friday 13th October, I got into the Christmas spirit and headed over to Hinckley Fire Station to join the launch of Hinckley and Bosworth’s Toy and Food Appeal.
The Fire service support this event every year and started off the appeal with a cheque for £1,000 that the station had raised. It’s a fantastic appeal, which will support families in need over the Christmas period.
Mental Health Friendly Places
A new project to help mental wellbeing across Leicester, Leicestershire and Rutland has been launched.
Mental Health Friendly Places is a new initiative to train local organisations and groups to become a Mental Health Friendly Places.
Leicestershire County Council leads the partnership project, and it includes Leicester City Council and Rutland County Council and offers free training programmes delivered by a dedicated team. The training will help any organisation recognise the signs and symptoms of poor mental health, have healthy conversations and signposts to local mental health and wellbeing services.
Mental Health Friendly Places has been created to help support and encourage local people to start or support conversations about mental health. Everyone is encouraged to engage from barbers, and pubs to tattoo artists and community centres.
More information about how to sign up and become a mental health friendly place can be found here: https://www.startaconversation.co.uk/mental-health-friendly-places
Stop Smoking
Leicestershire has topped the table for the lowest rate of smoking in adults in the East Midlands.
As smokers across the county are being encouraged to stop smoking for Stoptober, new figures show that just 9.4% of the county now smoke, compared with 11.2% in 2021.
The County Council’s Quit Ready service has helped over 11,000 people to quit smoking for good since 2017 and is on hand to offer support for anyone ready to stop smoking through tailored programmes.
Quit Ready advisors deliver a free and confidential 12-week programme to help residents become and stay smoke-free.
As a smoker, you are three times more likely to stop smoking if you have support from an advisor. With help from a Quit Ready advisor, along with using e-cigarettes and vapes, you reach the important 28-day milestone when you're five times more likely to quit for good.
To contact Quit Ready Leicestershire, call 0345 646 66 66, text ‘ready’ to 66777 or go to www.quitready.co.uk
The government has also recently launched a public consultation on smoking and youth vaping as part of their plans to create a smoke-free generation. The consultation is open to anyone, of any age, in the UK and includes proposals to restrict child friendly flavoured vapes and bright-coloured packaging. People have 8 weeks to share their experiences and opinions and help shape future policy on vaping and smoking.
You can respond to the consultation online here: https://www.gov.uk/government/consultations/creating-a-smokefree-generation-and-tackling-youth-vaping or by scanning the QR code here:
Buses
Leicestershire County Council has been given a further £1.79 million in government funding to continue shaping the future of public transport in the county.
In June 2023, the County Council was given the same figure from the Bus Service Improvement Plan Plus (BSIP Plus) fund as part of Department for Transport (DfT) settlements to more than 60 local transport authorities in England.
Now, a second round of funding has been handed to the County Council so work can continue, carving out a path for sustainable rural public transport in Leicestershire.
The additional £1.79 million is for 2024/25 and work will begin soon on how the money will be distributed and support the Government’s ambitions for this funding to maintain and support bus services.
This award will enable the County Council to continue its strategic review of currently subsidised services, with the additional cash giving the opportunity for a wider view of the supported services.
Beware of the Latest Scams
We have added the newsletter to our website: https://www.bradgateconservatives.org.uk/news/beware-latest-scams
You can also follow Trading Standards on Facebook as they regularly update news to warn and advise residents of the latest scams. The link to their Facebook page is here: https://www.facebook.com/leicstradingstandards
If you have any issues or concerns, I’m here to help.
