Welcome to this week's newsletter!
This week’s newsletter begins on a sombre note as we reflect on Holocaust Memorial Day, a time to remember the millions who suffered and reaffirm our commitment to a future free from hatred. I attended the Holocaust Memorial Day Ceremony in Parliament and heard the incredible story of survivor Yisrael Abelesz. His experiences in Auschwitz were a powerful reminder of the horrors of the past and the importance of remembrance.
With each year, fewer survivors remain to share their stories—it is our duty to keep their memories alive and ensure such atrocities never happen again. This year’s theme, 'For a Better Future', reminds us to stand against hatred and persecution in all its forms.
I’ve also been busy across the constituency, meeting local groups and attending events that highlight the fantastic work happening in our community.
I was grateful for the chance to tour St Michael’s Hospice and witness first hand the compassionate care they provide. Though based outside of my constituency they have provided care to many Bexhill & Battle constituents. I also heard about the challenges they’re facing and am committed to supporting them to ensure they can continue their vital services.
It was also wonderful to visit Saxonwood Care Home in Battle and say happy birthday to 90 year old resident Georgie Farrow and thank her for the amazing fundraising she has achieved for St Michael’s Hospice and the Royal British Legion.
Residents of Ticehurst may have heard that Wadhurst Medical Practice is planning to close its surgery due to fire safety concerns with the building. I recently met with local councillors to discuss the potential impact on residents and explore alternatives to ensure a surgery remains in Ticehurst. We received good news shortly after that no change will be happening in the short term.
In addition to local matters, I’ve been involved in discussions in Parliament that are directly relevant to our constituency.
Bexhill and Battle is home to many fantastic hospitality businesses, but their future is at risk due to Labour’s national insurance hike. I met with hospitality leaders at a UK Hospitality event to discuss how we can create a better environment for businesses to thrive and help our high streets flourish.
I also joined the All-Party Parliamentary Group on Rural Affairs to discuss funding challenges facing our rural communities. We’re campaigning to ensure rural services get the support they need, especially after the Government removed the Rural Services Delivery Grant and proposed further cuts to rural funding.
After hearing from several constituents, I met with the Brain Tumour Charity to discuss the challenges brain tumour patients face, particularly around early diagnosis. I’ve committed to raising these concerns with the Department of Health and Social Care to improve support for brain tumour diagnosis and treatment.
Ribena has always been a personal favourite of mine, so it was a pleasure to meet with local blackcurrant farmers from Bexhill and Battle at a reception in Parliament. Unfortunately, Labour's anti-farming policies are impacting family farms, with many struggling to hire new staff. I’m committed to reversing these policies to support our farmers and ensure Ribena remains a staple for years to come.
Lastly, I was fortunate to secure a timely debate on the New Hospital Programme last week, following the Government’s decision to delay the hospitals completion to 2039 at the earliest.
Have a great weekend.
In this newsletter:
- Holocaust Memorial Day
- Battle Pavilion Football Foundation
- Saxonwood Care Home
- St Michaels Hospice Visit
- Battle Baptist Church visit
- Ticehurst GP meeting with Local Cllrs
- Hospitality meet and greet
- Rural APPG
- Brain tumour charity
- Blackcurrent Growers
- New Hospitals Programme Delayed
Holocaust Memorial Day
Parliament has had a series of events to mark Holocaust Memorial Day including an event in Parliament where I listened to the story of Holocaust survivor Yisrael Abelesz. Yisrael is a Hungarian Jew whose life was changed forever in March 1944 when Nazi Germany invaded Hungary. He remembers seeing Jewish businesses attacked, being forced to wear the yellow star and eventually being taken to Auschwitz.
At Auschwitz Yisrael had the misfortune of coming face-to-face with Joseph Mengele, was separated from his family and never saw his parents or younger brother again. He however, managed to escape death on three occasions which he described in my conversation with him.
At first guards offered to take him to a children’s camp, but knowing something was awry he chose to stay put and thankfully avoided execution. On a second occasion he ran away from a prisoner round up, a guard caught him as he ran but told Yisrael to feign struggle and run away whilst he could. His third escape came when hiding from a kapo in a Russian barracks at the camp, where he was shielded and protected by fellow prisoners. He credited his ‘determination to survive’ which stayed with him all the time, which reminds me of the importance of hope in our own lives.
Yisrael’s powerful and thought provoking story is one of many. Those who suffered untold horrors during the Holocaust must be remembered, as with each year there are fewer and fewer people still living who suffered this atrocity. It is our duty to keep their memory alive and ensure nothing like this can ever happen again.
On Holocaust Memorial Day itself I was at the national ceremony attended by the Prince and Princess of Wales and the Prime Minister where we considered the theme for this year's memorial day: 'For a better future'. This calls on us empathise with those suffering today, in the here and now, and for us all to work together towards a future free from hatred, persecution and violence. You can light your own candle of remembrance this evening.
If you would like to read about Yisrael’s story here:
https://hmd.org.uk/resource/yisrael-abelesz/
Meeting with Football foundation at Battle Pavilion
I was really pleased to welcome Lee Suter from the Football Federation and Paul Saunders from Sussex FA to Battle last Friday to talk about the project to re-build the Battle Pavilion to make it fit for the future and ensure football is accessible to all.
Battle Town Council, Battle Football and local residents have been working really hard for many years to provide new facilities in Battle Recreation Ground. They are close to delivering on the project but there are still some hurdles to cross and finance which needs to be raised. It was good to have the advice and support from Lee and Paul as to how we can bring this project to reality.
I’ll be continuing to work with the town council to make sure this project gets over the line.
Saxonwood Care Home
Last Friday, I had the great pleasure of visiting the residents and staff at Saxonwood Care Home in Battle last Friday. This care home is run by Sussex Housing and Care which has 3 care homes across Sussex as well as sheltered housing. It is a not for profit housing association and I had the opportunity to talk to CEO, Tracy Evans, about the current challenges facing the care and housing sector.
I had some interesting chats with residents about their lives and we discussed local and national issues too. I was pleased for the opportunity to meet and thank resident Georgie Farrow, who has just celebrated her 90th birthday, for the amazing fundraising she has achieved for St Michael’s Hospice (which I’d visited earlier that day) and the Royal British Legion. I was happy to contribute to her fundraising in return for a fantastic woolly hat she had knitted for me!
There is such a happy and welcoming atmosphere at Saxonwood thanks to the wonderful staff who work hard to look after the residents and ensure they are fully involved in the Battle community.
Visit to St Michaels Hospice
St Michael’s Hospice across the constituency border in Hastings supports patients and families across Hastings, Bexhill and Rother including my constituents and so I was delighted to accept their invitation to visit them to find out more about the care they provide to local residents at the hospice and out in the community.
I had a tour of the hospice and was pleased to meet and speak with staff based there including those working in administration, physiotherapy, manning the 24 hour helplines, community nursing and caring for those staying at the hospice. It was clear from my conversations just how much people love working for the hospice and they have such pride in their work.
Afterwards, I met with the senior leadership team to discuss the challenges facing the hospice sector. Without the support of over 450 volunteers working across the organisation - in its charity shops, as bereavement councillors, fundraisers and in many other roles, the hospice could not provide the vital palliative care and extended services which they do. Less than 30% of their funding comes from central government.
This is a critical time for the hospice sector and I will be giving St Michael’s my full support.
Battle Baptist Church
I rounded off a busy afternoon in Battle last week with a visit to the team at Battle Baptist Church. It was good to chat with Minister Ed Jones, Administrator Jo Reeves, and Elder Gary Walsh about their church and its community outreach.
It is clearly a very busy and active church embedded in the local community with lots of activities for all generations including an on-site pre-school, toddler group, youth group and fellowship group. It was great to see Gary for the second time that day - he’d been at the earlier meeting about Battle Rec football pavilion, being an active member of Battle FC, for which Ed is also the chaplain. They explained that Battle FC had started as the Battle Baptist Football Club some years ago and has gone from strength to strength since then.
Ticehurst GP meeting with Local Cllrs
Last week, I met with local Councillors Eleanor Kirby-Green and Mary Barnes to discuss the future with Ticehurst Surgery.
It’s been reported that the building used by Ticehurst Surgery doesn’t meet fire safety rules, and Wadhurst Medical Group, who runs the practice, had said they are considering moving all patients to the Wadhurst site by March 2025.
I understand how much Ticehurst residents value having healthcare close to home and how disruptive this situation could be for many. That’s why I contacted NHS Sussex to raise these concerns and better understand what the issues are and whether there are alternative solutions. They have since announced that they will remain on site for now.
I’ll keep working with everyone involved to try to get the best outcome for Ticehurst and will share updates as things develop.
Hospitality UK Meet & Greet
I might be smiling in this photo, because I want to celebrate all our fantastic local hospitality businesses.
But thanks to Labour raising National Insurance contributions for businesses, hiring staff is much harder, holding back growth and jeopardising the survival of businesses that are the lifeblood of communities in Bexhill and Battle. The changes to the minimum wage for teenagers will also hit hospitality hard and make it more difficult for our young people to get their first job.
I met with hospitality leaders in Parliament this week to discuss these issues and others facing small businesses, and reaffirmed my commitment to do what I can to create the best possible business environment to help our high streets thrive.
Rural Services APPG
This week I met with the All-Party Parliamentary Group on rural affairs to discuss some of the most pressing issues facing our rural communities.
We spoke of the need to make sure our rural services are properly funded, and getting the attention they deserve from the Government. Our communities cannot be ignored at the expense of urban councils.
The Rural Services Delivery Grant gave £110m to 94 rural authorities last year to assist in the running of vital public services. This has now been removed by the Government before the conclusion of a consultation they launched to assess funding awarded to rural areas.
This comes as the government plans to change the basic formula as well with their initial proposals further cutting funding for rural areas like ours.
This is a slap in the face to local voices in rural communities. The Government doesn’t understand our communities, and isn’t allocating appropriate funding to accommodate our ageing population and the unique needs of our community.
I've already raised these issues with government and at the meeting we all agreed to continue our campaign to get the government to change course.
Meeting with The Brain Tumour Charity
A number of constituents asked if I would meet with the Brain Tumour Charity, and as such, last week I met with them to discuss the critical issues surrounding brain tumours and how we can work together to raise awareness and improve outcomes for those affected.
We talked about how the current targets for improving cancer survival won't bring much improvement for brain cancer patients because it nearly always presents much later. This means that Brain Tumours often don’t appear in early diagnosis data like other cancers. I’ve committed to writing to the Department of Health and Social Care (DHSC) to ask how this impacts diagnosis and what can be done to ensure brain tumours aren’t left behind in early diagnosis initiatives.
Thank you to The Brain Tumour Charity for their vital work—I’m proud to support their efforts to raise awareness and improve outcomes.
Blackcurrant Growers In Bexhill and Battle
Ribena has been a staple of birthday parties, social gatherings and most recently parliamentary receptions for years! I was lucky enough to be joined in Parliament by our fantastic family farmers growing blackcurrants for Ribena here in our constituency of Bexhill and Battle; Tom Maynard, of Maynard farms alongside Michael and Peter Reeves from Reeves F. J. Farms.
We attended an informative and tasty reception hosted by Ribena, where I spoke to Elsie Seibold, the Chief Operating Officer of Ribena, about their recent Blackcurrant growers survey and learned that farmers growing for Ribena represent over 90% of the UK's blackcurrant crop!
Unfortunately, this survey also revealed that the impact I feared from Labour's anti-farming budget has affected those same family farmers growing for Ribena. Only a third of Ribena's farmers expect their business to grow over the next year, and shockingly only 10% expect to take on new staff over the same period. It is clear the that Labour's Family Farm Tax and Jobs Tax have slammed the breaks on British farming.
Family farms like our Ribena growers here in Bexhill and Battle are facing a combative government, unwilling to admit their mistakes, and who would rather see fewer jobs and less growth than admit they are wrong.
We will reverse Labour's damaging policies, and ensure Blackcurrants grown here can be enjoyed at parties, in homes and not least by me for years to come!
New Hospital Programme Delays
This week, I was fortunate to secure a Westminster Hall debate on the New Hospital Programme, which gave me the opportunity to talk about the implications of the governments decision to delay the planned upgrades to our local hospitals.
Eastbourne DGH, Conquest Hospital, and Bexhill Community Hospital are vital to our community, but plans to rebuild, modernise, and expand these facilities have been pushed back to 2039 at the earliest.
East Sussex Healthcare Trust faces a critical infrastructure risk of £64 million, part of an overall £300 million backlog in repairs. Without urgent investment, the total cost of repairs is expected to rise to £460 million within a decade.
During the debate, I urged the government to deliver immediate support for East Sussex hospitals to tackle critical maintenance backlogs.
There must be interim funding to address urgent repairs and to ensure our hospitals can continue to deliver safe, effective care while modernisation plans progress. Delay must not mean deterioration.
