Dear Constituent,

From watching the Lionesses do us proud and come painfully close to clinching the World Cup on Sunday, to students across the local area opening their exam results, it's certainly been an eventful week! 

There's plenty to update you on in this week's edition, including #DestinationDenton's newest business, and my call for action to support local Wilko's staff at risk of redundancy. 

A reminder too that this Bank Holiday Monday there's a Car Boot Sale at St Hilda's Church in Audenshaw. Scroll down to the community board for more info.

I hope you have a lovely long weekend!

Andrew Gwynne, MP for Denton and Reddish, has welcomed a new series on interactive online safety assemblies being organised by Google and Parent Zone.

The assemblies, which are open to all Primary Schools across Denton and Reddish, are  designed to help 7-11 year-old pupils become safer and more confident explorers of the online world. The programme includes a digital curriculum and fun, interactive assemblies that are delivered both face-to-face online.

As part of the programme, five interactive livestream assemblies will be held on the following topics:

• Tuesday 14th September, Back to School Assembly
  • Kicking off the new school term by looking at positive behaviours in class and online.
• Thursday 21st and Tuesday 26th September, Interland Assembly
  • Explore an online world and learn about skills and habits to keep pupils safer.
• Thursday 12th October, Wellbeing Assembly
  • Discussing screen use and how being online makes us feel – with ideas to help pupils find a healthy balance
• Thursday 30th November, Be Internet Legends Day
  • A big end-of-term celebration event – focusing on kindness and how to respond to bullying.

Gwynne, a long-time advocate for improving internet safety, commented:

“I’m delighted that Google and Parent Zone have launched this new series of online safety assemblies. The internet is everywhere, and plays a role in our daily lives like never before. It’s therefore absolutely vital that we engage with children about how to be safe online and to use the internet in a positive and kind way.

I’d really encourage local schools to make the most of this fantastic programme.”

Schools wishing to sign up for one or all of the assemblies can do so by visiting: https://parentzone.org.uk/beinternetlegends/national assembly

Andrew Gwynne, MP for Denton and Reddish, has criticised the Government and highlighted shocking figures showing that around 5,500 households across Denton and Reddish.

In England, a household is defined as ‘fuel poor’ if they are living in a property with an energy efficiency rating of band D, E, F or G and their disposable income is below the poverty line.

The latest House of Commons data shows that 13.9% of households in Denton and Reddish fall within this bracket, above the national average.

Gwynne has backed Labour’s plans to make Britain a clean energy superpower, something that would cut bills, create jobs and deliver energy security. Among Labour’s plans would be the creation of GB Energy, a new publicly-owned clean generation company that will harness the power of Britain’s sun, wind and waves to cut energy bills and create jobs.

This would come alongside action to upgrade nineteen million homes over a decade with energy-saving measures, and the implementation of a proper windfall tax on energy giants to support people through the cost-of-living crisis.

Commenting, Andrew Gwynne said:

“That over 5,500 families in Denton and Reddish are living in fuel poverty is incredibly concerning. After 13 years of Tory mismanagement and neglect, local people have been exposed to astronomical energy price rises.

This cannot be allowed to continue, which is why Labour ahs set out a clear and ambitious plan to support people through the immediate crisis, while also improving our energy resilience and making Britain a clean-energy superpower.

This is what local people deserve, and the sooner the Government moves out of the way, the better.”

 

It was a real pleasure to be invited to Amy and Jack at Market Square Social to the "soft opening" of their new bar, in the old Post Office on Denton’s Civic Square.

They’ve already made a huge success of Howard’s Neighbourhood Bar on Manchester Road and here’s hoping Market Square Social will be a similar hit.

Great company, great canapés, great drinks.

𝗚𝗢𝗢𝗗 𝗟𝗨𝗖𝗞!

The news of the imminent closure of 400 Wilko stores is awful news for the 12,500 employees who are currently at risk of redundancy and their families who have been plunged into real economic uncertainty.

Today, I've written to the Secretary of State for Business and Trade to raise concerns over the possibility of local job losses. I've also asked for urgent clarity on what steps the Government will be taking to support workers during this stressful process.

We must do everything possible to rejuvenate our high streets and support workers during this cost-of-living crisis.

READ: In the latest edition of the Tameside Reporter, I've written about the importance of safety to local communities.

Since 2010, we've seen policing numbers slashed and prosecutions plummet. We cannot continue on this trajectory, which is why we need to see more community police on our streets, and a concerted effort to fix our criminal justice system.

If the Government isn't up to the job, then it needs to move out of the way. Read my full article here.