It’s been a particularly busy time and I thought it would be useful to give constituents a mid-week update of all the things I’ve been doing.
Last Sunday was International Women’s Day, and I marked the occasion by attending several events across the weekend, beginning on Friday at Unite Wales’ women’s summit. The theme of the event was “A Women’s Place is in Her Union” and it was great to hear from so many strong women and to discuss how we can further women’s rights at work in the months ahead.
On Saturday I met with some lovely parishioners at St. Thomas Church’s coffee morning in Neath, where I listened to their concerns and chatted about inspirational local women. I finished the weekend by attending Swansea Labour’s event at the Ethnic Youth Support Team facility on St. Helen’s Road, where we enjoyed a fantastic programme of speakers and performers, standing together and campaigning for a more equal future for women.
Last week I also attended the APPG on HIV and Aids, where they launched a new report into the affect of HIV on mental health. It was great to hear from Welsh Labour’s own Stephen Doughty MP for Cardiff South and Penarth, who continues to do some really important work on the issue.
I also met with members of the Police Federation to discuss how we can better support our hardworking officers. It’s vital that our communities have properly resourced police forces and that we continue to do all we can to protect the protectors.
Continuing the theme of supporting women it was great to meet with some of the many tenacious 1950s Women who I continue to campaign alongside until they get the pension justice they deserve. The Tory UK Government needs to finally start working with these women and give them what they are rightly owed.
I’m proud to #SupportTheNext generation of Welsh and British athletes and I pay tribute to the really positive work of the Sports Aid Team. As a former Wales International Squash Player, I’m always keen to do whatever I can to nurture new talent across our communities.
Finally, Last week I was pleased to intervene on my Commons colleague Tracey Crouch at her Westminster Hall debate, and to speak out about how we can better protect young people from abuses in power in sport. Currently, National Governing Bodies for Sport have internal guidelines on relationships between coaches, and young people and vulnerable adults. As a former Squash Wales National Coach, I think these protections need to be written into law and not be simply at the discretion of sports organisations.
Another busy week lies ahead as we await the new Chancellor’s first budget, and I’m not holding my breath on there being anything in it for Wales – but more about that on Friday.
As always, if there’s anything I or my team can help with please get in touch on 01639 630152 or email on christina.rees.mp@parliament.uk.
