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Welcome to the latest issue of my weekly newsletter.
Recess is now in full flow, and I hope everyone's enjoying the heat.
I'm proud to represent our community in Parliament, and as you've probably worked out by now, I have plenty of ideas about politics and a lot of things that I want to change about Nottingham and the UK. But I wasn't elected to just talk about what I care about – I'm here to represent you, my constituents.
So, over the Summer I'm running a priorities survey to give you the chance to tell me what matters most to you. This gives you the opportunity to tell me where you think I should be putting my time and effort, and what issues specifically of those I've been focussing on are most important to you.
This newsletter will summarise the issues in the survey, and the work I've done on them already, to give you a little reminder and help you complete it. You can then complete the survey by clicking the following link. I look forward to receiving all your good ideas.
www.HaveYourSayNottinghamNorth.co.uk
Of course, if you have other areas you'd like me to work on, you can always email me at alex.norris.mp@parliament.uk.
Read on to find out what else I’ve been up to this week...
As I’ve said before, I will strive to send you a newsletter like this each Friday to keep you updated on the work I’m doing in Parliament as well as in our community, and to inform you of any interesting events taking place in our area. To help me with the latter, if you are running or know of anything that you think may be of interest to others, feel free to drop me an email at alex.norris.mp@parliament.uk and I will include it in future issues. Please also forward it onto anyone you think may be interested.
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Having a direct local impact can be difficult for a Member of Parliament, as a lot of this responsibility falls to the City Council, which is why I use my Rebalancing charity to make a direct difference.
However, that doesn't mean I'm happy to leave important issues to the Council when I can use my position to make a difference, and you may have read about me using questions to the Prime Minister and other Ministers, Business Questions on a Thursday, the local press, and Westminster Hall debates, amongst other things, to try to make a difference and influence people.
So a couple of things I’d like you to think about for the survey:
One area where I've pressed the Government repeatedly so far is housing – most recently in Housing questions the week before last - as I think Nottingham could do with more Council housing, and the Council agrees. I've therefore been regularly asking the Government why they won't lend the Council the money to build some, as they said they would. This is one area that I'll definitely continue to work on, but please let me know how important it is to you, what other housing issues you have encountered, and how you think we could fix them.
Another particular area I'm worried about is crime and anti-social behaviour. Sadly, we've had a number of stabbings and other incidents since I was elected, including the death of a local father-of-two at the end of June. One reason for this is Government cuts, which have had a big effect on the number of police on the streets as well as things for young people to do but that doesn't mean we can't do more locally too. Please let me know what you think needs to be done.
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A lot of my time spent on national issues is dictated by my various roles – on Labour's Health Team as PPS to the Shadow Secretary of State Jonathan Ashworth MP, and on the Home Affairs Select Committee. This doesn't mean that I have no influence on what I do in these areas though, and I would be keen to know where you think we should prioritise holding the Home Office (which covers crime, immigration, drugs and alcohol, citizenship, terrorism amongst other things) and the Department for Health and Social Care to account.
Outside of these roles, you'll probably know already that my main priorities have been: 
- Modern Slavery – I've spoken in Parliament on multiple occasions, including directly to the Prime Minister, co-founded the APPG for Sport, Modern Slavery, and Human Rights, and even visited Malawi to help their politicians with their own Modern Slavery Act.
- Domestic Violence – Once again, I've spoken in Parliament several times, including to Theresa May, delivered a petition to her with Women's Aid, who I raised £1840 for when I ran the London Marathon, and am an officer on the APPG for Domestic Violence.
- Safe Standing – I have met with local supporters group, and supported this campaign to the point where it has become Labour party policy and the Government are reviewing their policy following a Westminster Hall debate, in which I spoke.
Please let me know what you think of these and what you think I should be doing in each of these areas to progress them further.
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As you'll know, I Chair the Rebalancing the Outer Estates Foundation which seeks to improve the lives of communities across Nottingham North by addressing: health and well-being, employment, skills and enterprise, arts and creativity in the community. This is how I impact my constituents more directly. The last part of the survey therefore asks for your views on projects I'm currently working on with this charity.
We've done a wide variety of things to date, which cover all of these areas, and have plenty more planned, but please tell us what you think the local area needs more of, and what you think of what we've been doing so far, which includes:
- Free teeth brushing and dental education sessions in 10 local primary schools through Teeth Team
- ThinkForward skills coaches working in 4 local secondary schools
- Extending free lung cancer screenings to Bulwell, with Aspley, Bilborough and Strelley to follow.
- The Nottingham Norths Jobs and Apprenticeships Fair in March, with about 40 companies in attendance offering opportunities. About 1,000 local people turned up and over 100 found work.
- Multiple creative endeavours, most recently including the Bilborough and Bulwell Arts Festivals, which allowed local artists to showcase their work at a number of venues across a week and the local community to enjoy them.
You can find out even more on www.rebalancenn.com, but please do let me know what you think.
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I want these emails to be as interesting as possible. That means there’ll be some politics – it’s important that I am held accountable. But I also want to offer information about what’s on locally. So, if you have an event you’d like me to advertise, let me know.
If you would like your events advertised here, or further information on those advertised, please email me at alex.norris.mp@parliament.uk.
That’s all for now! Details of how to get in touch or to have a look at the things I’m doing are below…
All the best,
Alex
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FREE bike maintenance course!
Want to learn to fix a puncture? Sort out squeaky breaks? And get your gears running smoothly?
RideWise are running a FREE bicycle maintenance course for Nottingham City Residents who are 14+.
Bulwell Forest Recreation Ground
Saturday 4th August from 12:30-4:30pm.
Please get in touch to book on, or for more information. Call us on 0115 955 2288, or email flo@ridewise.org.uk
Poems in the Pub
Open Mic Night, Free Admission, Local Talent, Full Bar
The William Peverel, Bulwell
Once a month, 7pm for 7:30pm start
Drop in Café
All welcome for a free cuppa and biscuit, and a place to sit and have a chat
Our Lady of Perpetual Succour Parish Community Centre, Brooklyn Rd, Bulwell NG6 9ES
Thursdays, 9:30am–12:30pm
Messy Church
Drinks, crafts, activities, bible stories and a meal for all ages and interests
Bulwell United Reformed Church, Broomhill Road/Brooklyn Road, Bulwell
Usually first Saturday of every month, 10:30am-12:30pm
Bestwood Park Church’s Bestop Kitchen
Social Eating Event, Donations Welcome
Bestwood Park Church, Beckhampton Road, NG5 5NG
Every Tuesday, 12-2pm
Whiz Kids Junior Church
Free breakfast, arts & crafts for children aged 5ish – 11ish
St Mary the Virgin & All Souls Parish Church, Highbury Road, Bulwell
Every Sunday, 9:30am
Crafty Ladies
Bring along a project, or learn to do something new.
St Martins Church, St Martin’s Rd, Off Strelley Rd, Bilborough, NG8 3BH
Every Wednesday, 11am – 2pm
50p, for further info: www.stmartinsbilborough.org.uk, info@stmartinsbilborough.uk
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Cream Tea for Bulwell Royal British Legion
Enjoy an afternoon cream tea consisting of sandwiches, cakes and scones to support the men and women of all armed services and their families, past and present
Bestwood Village Community Centre, Moor Road, Bestwood Village
Sunday 19th August, 1-3pm
Adults £7.50, Children £3
Messy Church
All welcome – food, fun, arts & crafts, & God slot
St Mary the Virgin & All Souls Parish Church, Highbury Road, Bulwell
2nd Sunday every month, 3-5pm
Messy Church Bestwood/Bulwell Forest
Bestwood Park Church, Beckhampton Rd, Bestwood Park
Various Thursdays, 4:30-6pm
Church on Rise Park, Revelstoke Way, Rise Park
Various Thursdays, 5-6:30pm
Free Community Cinema
Free screenings of films, everyone welcome!
St John’s Church, Key’s Close, Bulwell
2nd Friday every month, 7pm
Bulwell Connectors
Free monthly group developing opportunities for more art in public places in Bulwell. With trips to galleries and hands-on creative workshops, this group is for local people who want to be arts champions for Bulwell. Facilitated by Nottingham Contemporary associate artist Gillian Brent
Bulwell Riverside, Community Room 2
2nd Tuesday every month, 6-8pm
For further info: www.creativenottinghamnorth.com, @CreativeNNorth, cathy.mahmood@rebalancingouterestates.com
Crochet Clinic
Community Room at Tesco Bulwell, Jennison St, NG6 8EQ (upstairs near the cafe)
First Wednesday of every month, 6:30pm–8:30pm
£5 (covers refreshments and materials)
For further info: www.apriltowriess.co.uk, hello@apriltowriess.co.uk
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