St George's Day Celebrations at Brentford FC

I was delighted to be invited to join in the St George's Day celebrations at Brentford FC on Saturday 24th April, which were aptly sponsored by St George PLC - I even wore a red jacket in honour of the occasion and to show my support of The Bees! The sun shone for what was a fabulous family day out with face painting, balloons, art projects and of course the match between Brentford FC and Yeovil Town to entertain all.

The Bees fought back from a goal down to maintain their impressive unbeaten run, with Sam Saunders scoring his first goal for the club and picking up the Man of the Match award in the process.

It was a great day out and I am very happy to see Brentford FC in such an impressive position in the League after their promotion from League 2 last year.

I look forward to working with everyone at the Club, if I am elected as MP, to build for the future and the new stadium at Lionel Road.

Brentford FC Community Sports Trust..doing great work!

Last week, I attended an event at the new Audi centre in Brentford to celebrate the achievements of the Brentford Football Club Community Sports Trust over the last two years.

Brentford FC Community Sports Trust started out as a football-based charity and they now offer some 27 different sports and other educational activities to more than 27,800 children in the area. They have achieved so much over the past two years with 179 projects currently across health, social inclusion, education and sports participation.

I recently saw some of this work, when I visited Brentford FC with Jeremy Hunt MP, Shadow Secretary of State for Culture, Media and Sport. We were shown several examples of work that is done in the community, including local schoolchildren enjoying their kayaking lesson at the Kew Boating Arch. Might be tempted to join them next time!

The work that the Brentford FC Community Sports Trust is an inspiration to others. They have shown real leadership and commitment to working within the local community and making a difference to young people by giving them opportunities to develop and learn.

P.S. I was at Griffin Park on Saturday afternoon and was thrilled to watch The Bees take a point from the mighty Leeds United. Well done to the team.

An afternoon at Brentford Football Club

Last Saturday I went to the Brentford vs Macclesfield match at Griffin Park.

The team were so much better than the last time I had seen them during last season. They played like a team and even although they had a few near goals, they won with 1:0.

At half time, I was presented with a football and had a photo with the girls team. I also had to do the first penalty shoot-out.... my first ever...and in high heel boots! As you can imagine, I did not show any great skill. However, the girls were fantastic.

Thanks to everyone at Brentford Football Club and the Community Sports Trust, who do an amazing job in creating opportunities in sport. They do so much to help young people feel part of a team, see themselves develop and improve their skills and build commitment and enthusiasm which can inspire others.

Photo: Mary with the Brentford U12's and U14's Girls FC at half time

The Olympics comes to Brentford Football Club

Congratulations to Brentford Football Club for being selected as one of the London 2012 Pre-Games Training Camps. The London Organising Committee for the Olympic Games (LOCOG) have announced a range of sites and facilities which will support athletes participating in the Olympic Games.

Brentford Football Club has also recently teamed up with Barratt Homes Limited and completed the purchase of a 7.6 acre regeneration site at Lionel Road in Brentford. Their plans for the new multi-million pound stadium look exciting, as recently demonstrated in the House of Commons (see photo).