Earlier this month, I visited the brand new Mahindra Advanced Design Europe (M.A.D.E) design centre on the Mahindra campus in Banbury. While onsite, I also got to visit the Mahindra Racing building, the home of the Mahindra Formula E team.

It is brilliant to see Mahindra investing and expanding in our area. Their state-of-the-art campus is actively recruiting locally and is only adding to our town’s credentials as an international centre of automotive and motorsport excellence. 

Read more on my visit here.

I was pleased to join Bicester Autism/ADHD for one of their coffee mornings recently. This brilliant voluntary group is made up of parents and carers who have family members with additional needs. They support one another with regular informal events including coffee mornings, pub nights and family sessions. Everyone is welcome, whether they have a diagnosis or not, to join and share their experiences.
 
We discussed the difficulties facing both parents and children with additional needs, focusing on the provision of education and social care services within Oxfordshire. I spoke to a number of parents about their experiences of accessing and using local services. Following the meeting, I have asked the Chief Executive of Oxfordshire County Council for a meeting to discuss this important issue.
 
You can find out more about the brilliant work of Bicester Autism/ADHD here.

Earlier this year, the Bourtons became a Wildlife Friendly Community, joining a growing network of villages and small towns across the UK. I was pleased to visit All Saints Church in Great Bourton this month to meet local residents and hear more about their exciting plans.
 
Resident Ann Brooks, who has spearheaded the Bourtons’ application, told me about their initiatives to protect and enhance local biodiversity. Parishioners have already created a bug hotel and hedgehog drinker in the churchyard, and are looking at areas around the village to set aside for wildflowers and tree planting. I was also pleased to catch up with Sue Upton, Chair of the Bourtons Parish Council, about a number of village matters including planning and traffic management.
 
An issue which is close to residents’ hearts is the All Saints Church Bell Tower. One of just three of its type in the country, the bell tower is in urgent need of renovation. The village conservation project have already raise a considerable sum of money towards this, but more is needed. All Saints PCC are running a series of fundraisers to try and meet the cost. They have also set up a JustGiving page for donations which you can visit here.

I was pleased to hold a constituency advice surgery at FLTR Coffee in Bicester earlier this month. If you have any problems that need resolving, please do get in touch with my office.

Before schools broke up for the summer holidays, it was lovely to drop into visit King's Meadow Primary School in Bicester to read the year 5 pupils a chapter of The Whale Watchers. Authored by Dougie Poynter, this informative book has been produced by Bicester-based business BRITA with input from Whale and Dolphin Conservation.

It was great to see the pupils so engaged with the book and the importance of protecting the environment against plastic pollution, which can have such an impact on marine wildlife.

Thames Water introduced a hosepipe ban on Wednesday. This is the driest summer in 50 years and although water supplies remain resilient, the Government supports water companies implementing TUBs to mitigate the effects of this prolonged dry weather.

More information on the ban can be found here.

The Government is helping everyone with their bills this winter. You can find out what cost of living support you are eligible for here.

I'm sure that we can all agree that the Commonwealth Games was a tremendous success. I have no doubt that the event has reinforced Britain's status as a host of major events. It has reminded us also just how important sport is in bringing people together. 

Birmingham 2022 was Team England’s most successful Games ever. England won 176 medals in total, two more than our previous highest tally in Glasgow 2014 and 40 more than four years ago on the Gold Coast!

Congratulations to the Lionesses on their fantastic win against Germany in the UEFA Women's Euro final. I hope you all enjoyed watching the game as much as we did. This victory will do so much for the women’s game and will inspire a generation.