Dear Constituent,

 

This is a very uncertain time. Whilst many of us have now adjusted one way or another to life in lockdown and have new routines, none of us know when lockdown will end or how. What is certain though, is that this lockdown has had a major impact on how we live our lives.

 

For some people, these have been very drastic changes – having to live apart from loved ones as a result of shielding or being unable to leave the house at all, for instance. But even those key workers who are going into work day after day are experiencing major differences at both work and home.

 

In fact, there are very few aspects of our lives which haven’t been affected; everything from entertainment and leisure to travel and work to shopping and food. We have all had to make changes to the way we do these things, largely because we have had little or no choice. Whilst we will look forward to going back to doing some of these things the way we used to do them, we could also use this experience as an opportunity as a way of rethinking how we live our lives.

 

Many will have enjoyed going for more walks around their neighbourhoods or doing virtual quizzes with friends and families across the country or spending more time with their families as they work from home. All of these are things that we have been forced on to us by necessity, but which we might choose to continue to do after lockdown has been lifted.

 

There will be a period – potentially a very long one – of transition between lockdown and full normality. In this period, we are likely to have to continue observing some social distancing measures whilst going back to more of our normal activities. There will be challenges in this – for example, with public transport. There might be 12 people on a double decker bus or 30 on a tram all sitting 2 metres apart.

 

Whilst the temptation might be to abandon public transport for our cars, there might be opportunities for us to think instead about how to make it easier to walk or cycle. Our towns have been designed largely for cars, but this could be a good opportunity to rebalance them towards pedestrians and cyclists.

 

Whatever happens, I hope that we will be able to make positive changes – both in our lives and as a community – as a result of this crisis.

 

Andrew Gwynne, MP for Denton and Reddish, is paying tribute to postal workers across the country this National Postal Workers Day.

Postal workers typically collect, sort and deliver letters, parcels and packets to 29 million addresses, 6 days a week. During lockdown, demand has increased, and postal workers have been busier than ever. Coronavirus has not stopped them from serving their communities and it is important that their efforts do not go unrecognised.

The Communication Workers Union are demanding that the Government provide better protections for postal workers, now and in the future.

To stop the spread of Coronavirus, postal workers require a greater provision of PPE. Postal workers need to be properly rewarded and recognised for their work, and what they don’t need is to be delivering advertising mail. This is why the Communication Workers Union are demanding that advert deliveries came to an end.

Andrew Gwynne MP said:

“On behalf of my constituents, I would like to thank the amazing postal workers who are continuing to provide our communities with an essential service during these difficult times.

 

“Everyone deserves to be protected at work; this is why I am supporting the Communication Workers Union as they demand that PPE provisions are extended to postal workers.

 

“The incredible efforts of our postal workers deserve to be celebrated this National Postal Workers Day and every other.”

 

Andrew Gwynne, MP for Denton and Reddish, is supporting Macmillan Cancer Support as they call on the Government to stop cancer becoming the “forgotten C”.

Coronavirus doesn’t care about cancer. People who are living with cancer still need to access the treatment and support they need.

Macmillan are proud that over 400 of their cancer nurses have been redeployed to fight against the Coronavirus. However, this has come at a time when fundraising events have been cancelled and postponed. Funding is down as much as 50 percent this year alone, whilst demand has surged. Calls to the Macmillan support line increased by a massive 1,600 percent in March.

Macmillan Cancer Support are calling on the Government to address the immediate concerns of people with cancer during the Coronavirus pandemic. The Government need to ensure that people with cancer can still safety access treatment and receive any financial support they may need.

Andrew Gwynne MP said:

“I am proud to support Macmillan Cancer Support as they call on the Government to stop cancer becoming the ‘forgotten C’.

 

“Cancer can’t and won’t wait for the Coronavirus pandemic to be over.

 

“People with cancer need to be able to safety access treatment and support now.”