Welcome to my November round up where you can read all about what I’ve been up to recently. It’s been another busy month of events in Parliament and across Chester North & Neston with late November marking UK Parliament week. Thank you to everyone who took part and to the local young people who entered my Parliament Week and Christmas Card competition. Parliament Week is fantastic annual initiative that celebrates our democracy and encourages people from all walks of life to learn more about Parliament and how it works.

My personal highlight this month was my visit to the new development at the Countess of Chester Hospital, This will replace the current Women and Children’s Building, which has been in use since 1971, and will accommodate maternity, neonatal, paediatrics and gynaecology wards and services. The new building is set to be complete next summer.

As your Member of Parliament, I’ve continued to work on various issues raised by fellow residents via email, telephone, at my surgeries across the constituency.

As always, if you have any issues or questions about Government policies I can help with, please drop me a line at samantha.dixon.mp@parliament.uk

Every November we celebrate UK Parliament Week. This year, I decided to run a competition, asking local young people to share what they love about Chester as an article, video or painting. The standard was set high and reiterated my belief that we live in one of the best places in the UK. The talent on display from the young people who joined in was brilliant!

Chester truly comes alive at Christmas. I had some great entries for my Christmas card competition celebrating the festive spirit of our city. Once again, thank you to all who took part and sent in such lovely entries.

It’s great to see the continued success of the Christmas Market being recognised in The Times. This last month has seen even more new businesses open up on our high street and Chester Market as it celebrates its two year anniversary. I enjoyed talking with our resident Chester blogger about the recent positive developments in our city.

Violence against women and girls continues to blight our society. I’d like to thank those who continue to raise awareness of the horrifying situation faced by too many women and girls. In Chester, the campaign involved the display of a large white ribbon which helped catch the attention of those in our City centre. I was pleased to join with Chester Women’s Aid, Chester Sexual Abuse Support Services and Cheshire Fire and Rescue Services to mark this important occasion. I will continue to work with the Government on the target to halve violence against women and girls.

As many of you will be aware, the Assisted Dying Bill passed its second reading. I know how sensitive this issue is with strong views on both sides. I’d like to take this opportunity to thank everyone who wrote to me to express their views and share so many personal stories. The Private Member’s Bill, which was introduced by Kim Leadbeater MP, will now progress to committee stage for line-by-line scrutiny.

In Parliament, I had the opportunity to meet with the RNIB to hear more about their work to help improve the lives of those with sight loss and how I can help as an MP. As always, Chester has many fantastic organisations providing help where needed. This includes the Chester Vision Centre, which is a drop-in facility in Chester city centre offering peer-to-peer support, advice and training for people with vision impairment, plus a range of volunteering opportunities open to all.

Education remains a top priority for the Government both nationally and internationally, so it was great to meet pupils from Upton High regarding the School Campaign Champions to encourage educational provision around the world.

In my time as Leader of Cheshire West and Chester Council, I set up the first Council-led Poverty Truth Commission. This month, I had the honour of meeting the current members of the Council’s Poverty Truth Advisory Board who continue the essential work of making sure the voice of those experiencing poverty is at the heart of the decision-making.

One of the great honours connected to my role as the Member of Parliament for Chester North & Neston is my role as Patron of the Chester Sustainability Forum. The forum brings key stakeholders and local charities around the table to discuss environmental issues and what action we can take locally.  It was great to address the forum about the work being done by the Government to help tackle environmental issues both nationally and internationally.

In Neston, I joined a session of Neston Little Actors Theatre Company to learn more about the group and see first-hand the enjoyment of the young people in the group. The arts continue to play a vital role in building creativity, confidence and community, we are lucky to have amazing groups like this in our area. I also support the rollout of Free Breakfast Clubs to help support the development of our young people.

Thank you again for taking the time to read this update. I hope it was interesting and informative as to the work I’ve been undertaking for you this last month, and please share these newsletters with your friends and family members.

As always, if you have any ideas or issues, please get in touch at samantha.dixon.mp@parliament.uk

I hope you and your family have a Merry Christmas and a Happy New Year.