Blackpool MPs: TheyWorkForYou.com

TheyWorkForYou.com is a useful website run by charity MySociety.org for finding out about your local MPs (Members of Parliament).

At its basic level the site will tell you how to contact your MP; it will review their voting record and speeches in Parliament. It will tell you what Parliamentary Committees and other activities that they are involved with. It will even indicate if the MP has ever ‘rebelled’ against official party lines.

Have a look at the entries for Blackpool’s our two local representatives at Westminister (click each name).

Joan Humble – MP for Blackpool North and Fleetwood

Gordon Marsden – MP for Blackpool South

But one of the really useful features on TheyWorkForYou.com is via the Homepage. By entering your e-mail you can opt to receive notifications every time the MP you are interested in speaks in parliament or to receive an alert every time a particular keyword or phrase appears in a parliamentary speech.

All very nifty for those who want to keep a closer eye on the work of our representatives.

Note: For the local MPs official websites then visit Gordon Marsden MP or Joan Humble MP.  Joan Humble also has a novel ‘mapping of the work she has done‘ via Blackpool4me.

Call for fairer trading practices to be introduced

Pupils from Beacon Hill and Highfield High schools, together with local activists from Blackpool Action Force have met local MPs Gordon Marsden and Joan Humble on Friday 21 November at Morrisons supermarket, Squires Gate. They presented the MPs with postcards to the Government and big supermarket chains, calling for fairer trading practices to be introduced.

A spokesperson for Blackpool Action Force (BAF), the local Fairtrade Group, said:

“Morrisons is one of the firms that treat suppliers more ethically, but many well-known chains do not. Their tills register the volume of specific items sold during trading hours and these figures are used to replenish stocks. However, at the other end of the transaction the supplier (often in the developing world) must keep workers on standby to pick and pack fruit, flowers and other items whilst not knowing whether an order will be received until the very last minute. This means that the workforce has no way of calculating likely earnings and the trader cannot budget for daily business.”

Local Hero Award

Following on from our earlier article the Blackpool Gazette has reported that Roy Berry has been named as this years Local Hero at a ceremony held at the town hall. Mr Berry is a driver for a charity but also runs cub packs, trains football teams and assists with reading at Layton Primary School.

Gordon Marsden MP praised all the nine award nominees and said  “They represent all that is best in our town.”

Gazette Stuff

Things that drew attention in Blackpool’s Gazette that might be of general interest to third sector groups in the town:

Yesterday’s newspaper covered the following:

Every one a hero

Gordon Marsden, Blackpool South MP, has organised his annual Local Hero Awards to honour the public service of community-spirited citizens in the town. A shortlist of people has been drawn up all of whom will be honoured at a special presentation hosted by the Blackpool Mayor on Saturday. Unfortunately the hard-copy article in last night’s paper does not seem to appear on The Gazette’s website, therefore we re-publish the list of the nominees here:

Mrs Elizabeth (Betty) Aspinall, Ms Jane Blacker, Mr Roy Berry, Ms Terri-Leanne Costigan, Mrs Shirley Green, Mrs Carole Holmes, Mrs Claire Large, Ms Carrie-Ann Pitcher and Ms Nikki Reid.

Big Lottery Fund ‘Awards for All’ successes

Woodlands Special School on Whitegate Drive has been awarded £9,700 to purchase cycles and create a whheelchair-accessible pathway. Community Dance and Activities Group from Revoe will spend their £10,000 on a series of tea dances for senior citizens. Bridge Farm Allotment Society environmental project will benefit from £5,000.

Full results below.

Out of School Hours Activities	Blackpool	£9,297
Dance & Physical Activity for the Community	Blackpool	£10,000
Fit for Life	Blackpool	£9,900
Sensory/Outdoor Activity Project	Blackpool	£9,700
Bridge Farm Environmentally Friendly Project	Blackpool	£5,000

For further information about applying (up to £10,000 grants available) visit Awards for All.