I was lucky to be able to take some time away from the office on this day to attend the District 4 Inner Wheel overseas rally. The speaker was Andrew Radford from UNICEF, who had travelled from London to talk, show slides and a short film about the work that UNICEF are engaged in to stop the transfer of HIV from mother to child. The ‘Born Free’ appeal was presented with a cheque for £270. A very moving presentation and a very worthy cause, the education programme for older children and young people is paramount to the eradication of HIV.
I attended a fundraising event held at Berties Banqueting Suite, good food and Andrew Griswood’s floral show. This event was to raise funds for the Calderdale Music Service Youth Ensemble who are hoping to go on a once in a lifetime tour of Australia. Over £1,000 was raised on the night, which was a great sucess.
At the Calderdale Communities conference the other key note speaker was Stephen Parry who won a bronze medal at the Athens 2004 Olympic games for 200m butterfly. He reported that taking part in the Olympic final was ‘fascinating, terrifying, I closed my eyes gritted my teeth and got in there!’ Through his business, Total Swimming, which was set up in 2004, Stephen aims to support and share his knowledge with young swimmers and help provide guidance and support for the Olympic stars of the future. www.totalswimming.co.uk
Today I attended the Calderdale ‘communities do it for themselves’ conference at Holdsworth House, Halifax. One of the keynote speakers was Colin Parry JP OBE. Colin spoke about his son Tim Parry who was killed in Warrington by the IRA in 1993. Tim’s death inspired Colin to begin the Foundation for Peace Centre as a lasting memorial. The vision is to inspire people to lead more peaceful lives. www.foundation4peace.org
Ingrid Holdsworth the President of the Rotary Club of Elland presents me with a bouquet of flowers for helping to organise the Rotary Club of Elland Presidents evening held at Bertie’s Banqueting Hall in Elland. Presidents from other local rotary clubs attended the evening along with the President of the Inner Wheel Club of Elland, special guests invited by President Ingrid and fellow Rotarian’s. The evening was a great success with live entertainment and dancing until carriages at midnight.
Two new members signed up today for the Liberal Democrat party from my ward - Elland. I was very pleased to go and chat to them and welcome them to our party. Then off to the first meeting…followed by 5 others!…..
1) Policing Teams - Senior Management Team and officers explaining the Neighbourhood Policing Teams in the community, this local meeting was held in Rastrick
2) Launch of the Community ILT Project for Adults in Brighouse - adult learning/training to help community organisations get the best out of the resources available
3) Meeting with the Head of the Environmental Health at Calderdale - to discuss his role on the council and to help me understand my role on the scrutiny panel
4) Health and Social Scrutiny Panel
5) All members seminar on Academies and what they mean to the people of Calderdale
6) The month British Legion Meeting held in Elland. Found out about the Legion handyperson who will come to an ex service man/women or their immediate family and do small jobs around the house….for free. A great service which needs to be publicised more. www.britishlegion.org.uk
Sunday lunch was organised for the Upper Calder Valley Liberal Democrat Branch with guest speaker PPC for Calder Valley Hilary Myers. A great family day with an excellent food and fellowship and a raffle to finish the day.
Councillor Diane Park, PPC for Halifax with Simon Hughes MP
The Yorkshire and The Humber Regional Spring Conference 2008 was held a the Community Church in Hull and I was lucky to have a chance to speak with Simon Hughes MP about Academies and other topical issues.  Diana Wallis MEP gave an update on European Parliament, Diana is currently vice president of the European Parliament. Simon Hughes MP gave an update on the House of Commons with Baroness Harris of Richmond updating on the House of Lords. An excellent day with a good debate on nuclear power, flooding in the region and adult education.
On Friday I spent the afternoon with the Calderdale environmental team. firstly at the recycle site at Dean Clough seeing people bring their waste to recycle and also seeing the dustbin wagons arriving with the household waste collection. It was amazing to see just how much household waste is NOT recycled! Later I went out with one of the Environmental Enforcement Officers to look at the fly tipping issue in Halifax. As you will see from the picture this is a problem and one that needs to be addressed. Our beautiful countryside is being spoilt by a few people who do not have the sense to take their rubbish to the correct site. Anyone seeing fly-tipping should report this to the council as soon as possible. We all need to be vigilant and keep our town and countryside litter free.
A great day for gardening…why not spend it helping in a graveyard! This how I spend my Sunday afternoon today. Cutting back a large holly tree that was taking over part of Lister Lane Cemetery. A few volunteers help to keep the weeds under control each month. The Friends of Lister Lane are hoping to open the cemetery one day a week during the day. If you get the chance come and have a look at the interesting grave stones a real history of Halifax! Visit the web site to get a sneak preview…http://www.listerlanecemetery.co.uk/
