Mail Weekly Column: 29 January 2024
On Friday I strapped on my pinny and joined the team at the Orangery Cafe at St Mary’s Hospice, putting in a shift there over the lunchtime rush.
The Orangery is a fantastic cafe and the team there - staff and volunteers - are just fab. But best of all, 100% of the profits they make go towards supporting St Mary’s Hospice, enabling them to provide care for those who need it, and support for those going through bereavement.
St Mary’s are so well supported by the community, but without that help they simply would not exist. Coincidentally, earlier in the week I met with MPs from across the UK, alongside HospiceUK, to discuss the challenges that hospices are facing, and to work, cross-party, on improving the funding they receive from the Department for Health.
I’d like to thank the team at The Orangery for having me, and putting up with my very rusty serving skills. And perhaps more thanks should go to the very patient customers! If you would like to volunteer at St Mary’s, or to help with their fundraising, please visit www.stmaryshospice.org.uk for more information on how to do so.
Also this week, in my capacity as the Prime Minister’s Anti-Fraud Champion, I visited City of London Police – the Lead Force for Fraud in the UK. I met the teams who take fraud reports and put together information packages to enable police round the country to take action. I also met members of the Victim Support Unit who help not just with the financial loss that arises from fraud, but also with the emotional and mental impact. The latest crime figures – released on Thursday – show that cases of fraud have fallen by 13% in a year. This is a very good news indeed, but the fact remains that it is still the number one crime in the UK, and we have a huge hill to climb to really make a dent, better protect people, and arrest those responsible.
Co-incidentally, on the same day that the crime figures came out, I met with Anna from Victim Support in Cumbria to discuss the issue. Although crimes like fraud cross national and international boundaries, they also affect individuals who live just doors away from us, as Anna attested, with victims of romance fraud, courier fraud, and theft by deception (such as builders taking money for work not done) being common themes. Helping to improve things is now part of my day job, and it’s not a responsibility I take likely.
On Tuesday I sat down with the Education Secretary in the House of Commons to discuss support for early years practitioners, and to arrange a meeting with local providers so that they can share their experiences and views. I took the opportunity too to lobby on behalf of Sacred Heart School, which remains in disrepair and requires rebuilding. Its wonderful Head, Simone, and her excellent staff have done a sterling job over a very difficult period but they need to see progress.
I began the week by joining the Speaker of the House and colleagues in a ceremony to mark Holocaust Memorial Day. Just before returning here, I also signed the Holocaust Educational Trust’s Book of Commitment on behalf of the people of Furness. Atrocities like the Holocaust and genocide don’t arise out of nowhere. Every generation need to reflect, understand, and learn from that tragedy.
