I spent February recess spending time in my constituency, catching up with key community groups and stakeholders. As part of the University of Manchester’s stakeholder engagement, I met with the senior leadership team: Nancy Rothwell, President and Vice Chancellor, April McMahon, Vice-President for Teaching, Learning and Students and Simon Merrywest, Director for the Student Experience. We discussed the return of students to campus following the lifting of Covid-19 restrictions, staff restructuring and industrial action, mental health support for students, local business engagement and the completion of the new state of the art engineering building which I look forward to visiting soon. Later this week I will be meeting with the Vice Chancellor of Manchester Metropolitan University, Malcolm Press, to discuss the ongoing UCU strikes.

I was delighted to speak to students at Cedar Mount as part of their Certificate of Personal Effectiveness (CoPE) accreditation. They had lots of great questions on the role of an MP and what politicians give back to their communities. I also visited Our Lady’s RC Primary School to speak to primary school to tour the school, hear the choir sing and answer questions from students on everything from climate change to littering.

Elsewhere I was pleased to have been able to meet with Lisa Roberts QC, Leader of the Northern Circuit, at her chambers to discuss issues impacting the bar in the North West and my new role as Shadow Minister for Legal Aid. 

I visited the site of the new Gorton Community Hub which will house a huge range of community services including a new library, GP surgery, housing and employments offices, as well as a pharmacy and a café. I look forward to seeing the project when completed! I also stopped by Gorton Market to catch up with local vendors with Gorton councillors Julie Reid, John Hughes and Afia Kamal.  

Along with the co-chair of the Manchester Muslim-Jewish Forum, I visited Manchester’s Jewish Museum to see the £6 million redevelopment which includes a new gallery, café, shop and learning studio as well as complete restoration of the stunning Spanish and Portuguese synagogue. Now open 7 days a week – I highly recommend a visit!  

I was also pleased to meet with Councillor Gavin White to discuss the bid for levelling up funding for Gorton.