Article submitted by Karen Bradley – Member of Parliament for the Staffordshire Moorlands:
It has been great being able to do some constituency visits in person again and last week, having made sure I tested negative for Covid, I was delighted to visit Richard Lawson and his team at Abbey Court Care Home to hear about how they have coped over the course of the pandemic.
I was given me a tour of the facilities and learned how the home managed to allow visits of loved ones by building a new room with a different exit where family could come and sit and talk to the resident through a screen. It was also useful to hear about some of the issues they are now facing which I will pass on to the right people and organisations.
I also took part in a physical meeting of the Advanced Proteins Liaison Committee which has been meeting over zoom during the course of the pandemic. It was great to see everyone in person again and be able to discuss residents’ concerns with the Environment Agency and representatives from Advanced Proteins.
Finally I joined two local schools – Blackshaw Moor First School and St Mary’s Catholic Academy during their Parliamentary Education Service Digital Workshops.
The Parliamentary Education and Engagement department organise virtual tours and workshops for schoolchildren and it was lovely to hold a Questions & Answer session with both schools.
I am looking forward to when these tours and workshops can return to physical ones as I know that the school children who have come down to London in the past have found it such a lovely experience. I am also looking forward to being able to restart my coach trips as soon as we are allowed to have groups of visitors in Parliament for tours.
More information on the Education and Engagement Digital Workshops can be found here:
https://learning.parliament.uk/en/session-workshop/primary-secondary-school-online-workshop/
