Hounslow Community Reception with Baroness Warsi

Last night Baroness Sayeeda Warsi was the guest of honour at our Hounslow Community Reception, kindly hosted by the Urban Spice restaurant.

Saira Khan, an entrepreneur and former contestant in ‘The Apprentice’ introduced Sayeeda to the guests. Saira talked about her experiences of being brought up in Britain and the values of hard work, focus and determination, which have helped her get to where she is now.

In her speech, Sayeeda mentioned how important it was to work across religious and ethnic groups and bring them together in the community. She did not feel that giving government funding to just one ethnic or religious organisation helped in creating community cohesion.

In my view, government funding should be given to local councils to distribute as a Community Cohesion grant. They can decide which organisations work best locally across all religious and ethnic groups, in building a stronger society, where people of all backgrounds live, study and work closely together within their local community.

Photo 1: Mary with Saira Khan and Sayeeda Warsi

Photo 2: Mr Pankaj Makol, Mr & Mrs Neeraj Makol and Mr Jaz Walia with Mary Macleod and Sayeeda Warsi at the Urban Spice restaurant, 159 Hanworth Road, Hounslow

Save a London Park please!

Please vote in Boris Johnson’s new initiative, where Londoners can vote for the park they think should get GLA funding.

Two parks from the London Borough of Hounslow have made it onto the shortlist and could get a grant of up to £400,000 to make the park cleaner, safer, greener and nicer places to visit. It is important that we get the maximum funding possible as good parks make such a difference to living in a city.

Redlees Park:

The aim for Redlees Park in Isleworth is to make the park fun, welcoming and a high quality environment for local people. A grant would help to improve the entrances, display sculptures by local artists, provide local history information, develop a trim trail, develop facilities for young people and re-open the toilets!

Crane Valley Park:
The Crane Valley Park is a valuable wildlife corridor through west London on Hounslow Heath. A grant could help more people to enjoy this interesting area with improved footpaths and cycle routes, resting points with attractive carved benches, new signage, a new footbridge across the river, improved wildlife habitat and increased staff presence to help people feel safe.

Voting closes on 30th January 2009 and you can vote online, request a postal vote or vote by text
Web: visit http://www.london.gov.uk/parksvote/vote/
Text: text 'parks' and your full London post code to 62967 to vote for your nearest park
Post: call the Public Liaison Unit on 020 7983 4100 and request a form.

Photo - Mary in Redlees Park in Isleworth at the Urban Games this summer with Cllr Lin Davies, the Mayor of the London Borough of Hounslow and Cllr Pam Fisher

Domestic violence - a local issue

I was at a conference last week with David Cameron and Michael Gove, on 'How to Mend a Broken Society'... and 'Strengthening Families'.

The floor opened to questions after the first half of the session and Sandra Horley (CEO of Refuge) asked a question about domestic violence - "was it right for women (typically) to stay with a partner or husband if he was abusing her?". Michael answered very clearly, that it was healthy relationships that the Party were encouraging to stay together, not abusive ones.

This reminded me of a situation, when I was campaiging in Hounslow Heath a few months ago and some teenage boys, who were hanging around a street corner, asked me what I was doing. I stopped and spoke to them and asked them what they felt the most important local issues were. They looked at me, straight in the eyes and immediately said without hesitation - domestic violence.

Domestic violence kills two women per week in England and Wales. It is an issue that we must address and give those who are abused as much support as possible. Violence in a relationship is completely unacceptable. The difficulty is that many people do not report it as they are afraid of what might happen to them or their partner. It takes immense courage to walk away from that type of abusive relationship....but important to do so, especially when there are children involved.

Chiswick was the first location in Europe (and even perhaps the world) to have a women's refuge. I intend to speak loudly against domestic violence, not just because I hope to be the next MP for Chiswick, but because I believe it is a major issue in our communities and I believe it is wrong.