Nigel Huddleston writes for the Standard….
EVEN THOUGH Parliament takes a break over the summer, my constituency and ministerial work continues and my office team are always on hand to support constituents with casework and issues.
It is also the time of year I get to spend more time in the constituency and I have been able to meet with and visit many people and places I have been meaning to for a while – including the local Heart of England Forest team, taking a walk through the wonderful site near the Wood Norton, and hearing about the work they are doing via the Green Recovery Challenge Fund.
I also did an interview with the Evesham Talking Newspaper – a volunteer team which makes audio recordings for the visually impaired!
And of course, I couldn’t miss the Battle of Evesham re-enactment and I’ve visited several other local fetes, festivals and events that have catered to locals and tourists alike.
In my capacity as Sports Minister, I was fortunate to visit the Olympics in Tokyo and will shortly be visiting again for the Paralympics.
Although just short trips and with considerable, but understandable restrictions, it has been a real honour to be able to see our athletes in action.
A small but vocal group of us have been able to cheer our athletes on during a games that looked and felt very different to previous Olympics.
TeamGB did incredibly well, equalling the tally from London 2012 and placing us fourth in the medal table and I am confident we will continue to punch above our weight in the Paralympics.
Moreover, one of our gold medallists, Matt Richards, is a local young man from Droitwich!
While the fight against the pandemic continues apace and things are beginning to return to more like normal in the UK, other parts of the world are facing great challenges and I can assure constituents that I continue to monitor developments in Afghanistan and elsewhere closely.
I suspect we will return to Westminster in September with a busy agenda that I will report on in my next update.
