Karen Bradley MP – Weekly Column 22/11

Article submitted by Karen Bradley – Member of Parliament for the Staffordshire Moorlands:

It is only November but there is such anticipation in the air as we approach the Christmas festivities and I know that we are all hoping that things will be very different from the Christmas a year ago when we had to make difficult decisions about spending time with our friends and families.

Our towns and villages are starting to look festive, the Christmas trees and decorations are going up and we are all starting to think about how we would like to spend the festive period this year.

Many Christmas events in the Moorlands were inevitably cancelled last year and I was therefore delighted to take part in Leek’s Christmas lights event on Friday.  Seeing so many people in town was a wonderful thing and, even though the event was different from normal, it was still a great success. It’s been such a difficult 18 months, we all needed this kind of event to come together and show once again the very special community spirit we have here in the Moorlands.

Having made sure I had a negative lateral flow test, I was delighted to take part in the celebrations and see so many people out and about enjoying the food stalls as well as our fabulous shops, pubs and restaurants. The laser show in Derby Street was truly amazing, there were queues for Santa’s grotto, and the Star Wars Stormtroopers were incredibly popular. It was really good to see so many people enjoying the music and the laser show and supporting our local shops and traders. Thank you to everyone concerned for making this such a fantastic event and let’s continue to be cautious, get our vaccinations when called and hopefully be able to have a Christmas this year, without restrictions and surrounded by our loved ones.

Tony Walley
Tony Walley
News & Sport Editor

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