December: Rounding off the year

December is always a strange month in this job. Parliament continues at pace right up until the Christmas recess, communities are busier than ever and the issues people raise with me do not politely pause for the festive season. At the same time, there is something grounding about December in Erewash. It is a month of schools, community halls, small businesses, charity fundraisers, church fêtes, sports clubs and conversations that range from the deeply serious to the joyfully trivial. Looking back over the past few weeks, what strikes me most is how clearly they show the full range of what being a local Labour MP is really about.

Education and young people
Education featured heavily throughout December. Early in the month I spent a day visiting primary schools in Long Eaton, starting at St Laurence and then on to Brooklands. School visits are one of the genuine privileges of this job. They are also an important reminder that policy debates in Westminster translate directly into pressures felt by staff, parents and children.

At both schools, SEND was at the top of the agenda, as it is almost everywhere I go. There is cautious optimism about changes coming through the budget and further reforms expected from government in the months ahead but there is also exhaustion among staff who have been firefighting for far too long. Spending time with pupils themselves, dropping into lessons and meeting school councils, is always a highlight. Their questions are thoughtful, their ideas imaginative and their enthusiasm infectious. It keeps you honest.

Later in the month, I had the chance to visit Ladywood Primary School in Kirk Hallam. Meeting with their school council and talking through what an MP does, what Parliament is like and what matters to them locally was a reminder of why investing in young people’s voices is so important. It was also a reminder that sometimes the simplest gestures and a decent mug of hot chocolate go a long way.

Supporting small businesses and local communities
As Christmas approached, community life came to the fore. On Small Business Saturday I spent the day moving between markets, fairs and independent shops across Erewash. From the ceramicists gathered at the TOASTED fair, to the Christmas Tree Festival in Sawley, to the bustling community fair in Kirk Hallam, there was a real sense of pride, creativity and resilience on display.

Our independent traders are the backbone of our towns yet they face rising costs, online competition and increasingly concerns about crime and antisocial behaviour. Conversations in places like BarnDawg Store in Long Eaton and with tabletop gamers in Sandiacre reinforced how important it is that we get this right. Supporting small businesses cannot just be a slogan rolled out in December. It has to be reflected in policy, policing and planning decisions all year round so that our high streets remain places people want to spend time, not just pass through.

Mental health and wellbeing
Mental health is an issue that underpins so much of what constituents bring to my office and this month I was pleased to meet with Hope Collaborative, who are working to bring together mental health support groups from across Derbyshire.

The statistics are stark and sobering. Suicide remains the biggest killer of men under fifty and of women under thirty-five and the East Midlands continues to have one of the highest rates in the country. But what gives me hope is the strength of local organisations such as BlueTonic and Long Eaton Men’s Walking and Talking and the willingness of people to come together across constituencies and party lines to do better.

Working alongside fellow Derbyshire MPs on this agenda matters because mental health does not respect council boundaries or parliamentary seats. It requires sustained, coordinated action and the courage to talk openly about experiences that are still too often hidden.

Transport, infrastructure and growth
Transport was unsurprisingly another dominant theme this month. I met with the Transport Minister, Simon Lightwood, to press the case for Junction twenty-five A on the M1. Anyone who spends time in Sandiacre or Risley knows how acute the traffic problems already are and with the continued growth of New Stanton Park the strain on existing infrastructure is only going to increase.

What was encouraging about the meeting was the clear recognition that economic growth and job creation depend on getting infrastructure right. Stanton’s potential makes a strong case for significant investment and I will continue to raise this in Parliament and make the argument relentlessly. Erewash deserves infrastructure that matches its ambition.

Alongside that national lobbying, I have been keen to ensure local voices shape transport priorities. With the East Midlands Mayor now in place, there is a real opportunity to rethink how transport works across Derbyshire and Nottinghamshire. Erewash sits between two cities with towns and villages that have seen public transport hollowed out over the past fifteen years. Asking residents where traffic is worst, which bus routes are unreliable, where cycling feels unsafe and how families and young people get around is not a box-ticking exercise. It is the starting point for real change.

Universities, skills and the wider economy
In Westminster, my work as chair of the All-Party Parliamentary Group on Universities continued with my re-election for another year. Having spent a decade working in a university myself and having moved to this area to complete my PhD, I know first-hand how vital higher education is to our economy and our communities.

Around half of young people go on to university and many more work in the sector. Britain’s universities are world-leading but they are under severe financial pressure and staff are bearing the brunt of that through stagnant pay, rising workloads and insecure careers. Bringing together ministers, sector leaders and MPs to have honest conversations about these challenges is essential if we want universities to thrive rather than simply survive.

Sport, activity and community spirit
Grassroots sport also featured prominently this month. A meeting with Ilkeston Cycle Club highlighted both the enthusiasm for cycling locally and the very real barriers people face when infrastructure does not keep them safe. Their Boxing Day hill climb is a brilliant example of community spirit particularly with all proceeds going to support children undergoing cancer treatment.

That same sense of community came through during my visit to Erewash Valley Gymnastics Club. Supporting more than twelve hundred members, clubs like this quietly transform lives yet often struggle for recognition and funding. Big sports understandably get the headlines but these grassroots organisations deserve just as much attention for the role they play in physical and mental wellbeing.

Generosity, regeneration and fairness
December would not be December without acts of generosity. A visit to the Honey family in Sawley, who have turned their home into a fundraising Christmas light display, was genuinely humbling. Raising thousands of pounds for children living in poverty night after night in cold and wet weather is an extraordinary commitment. It is a reminder that behind the politics, communities quietly look after one another.

That sense of fairness also underpinned my Derby Telegraph column this month, focused on Cotmanhay. Securing twenty million pounds of long-term investment for the area was a significant step but money alone is not the answer. What matters is that local people decide how it is spent because they understand the challenges and opportunities better than anyone else. Cotmanhay deserves better and so do many other parts of Ilkeston and Kirk Hallam.

Speaking up and staying connected
As the year drew to a close, there were lighter moments too. Hosting the breakfast show on Erewash Sound was enormous fun and a reminder of the power of local media. Talking music, Parliament and the occasional secret karaoke club with listeners was a joy and I am grateful to the team for trusting me with the decks.

I was also humbled to learn that our Bleed Kit fundraising campaign was the most successful MP-led fundraiser of the year in what GoFundMe described as a record year for generosity. That achievement belongs entirely to the people who donated and supported the campaign.

Finally, I spent time this month speaking publicly about the challenges facing men and boys following conversations with the Guardian and my own contributions in Parliament. Poor mental health, educational underachievement and unemployment among young working-class men are real problems that deserve serious attention. Talking about them is not about setting one group against another. It is about recognising that the social systems we have built are failing too many people.

Wins this month
My team have been working as hard as ever to support local people – here’s an array of this month’s wins:

• Helped a Long Eaton couple resolve a missing poll card so they could vote.

• Assisted a resident with a complaint to Derbyshire County Council social services.

• Secured extra energy bill support from a social housing provider.

• Supported a local charity to identify a suitable grant for a community project.

• Helped move a patient to a closer hospital after a discharge error, ensuring they could return home before Christmas.

• Supported a resident in escalating a complaint to their social housing provider after no response.

• Secured accessible, long-term housing for a disabled resident made homeless following a no-fault eviction.

• Pressed Derbyshire County Council to schedule long-delayed repairs to a broken streetlight in Ilkeston.

• Helped prevent an unfair eviction and avert homelessness in Ilkeston.

• Successfully lobbied for traffic improvements at Manners Industrial Estate in Ilkeston.

• Assisted a local business to secure approval for a Shop Signage Grant, with work starting in the new year.

• Supported a disabled resident into a higher housing band and onto the waiting list for suitable accommodation.

Looking ahead
Looking back over December, I am struck by how interconnected all of this work is. Schools link to mental health which links to transport which links to jobs and regeneration. Community spirit sits alongside hard-edged policy debates. As we head into the new year, my focus will remain on delivering for Erewash, amplifying local voices in Westminster and pushing for the fairer, more hopeful future our communities deserve.

And a cat photo to finish - happy new year!