Welcome to this week's newsletter.
One thing I am passionate about is making sure young people from all different backgrounds know they can be involved in and do politics. In all honesty, when I was a teenager I thought politics was just for the well off! It took me a few years to figure out you didn't need a wealthy family or political connections to contribute through politics. That is why I do as much as I can with schools and other youth groups.
I was especially delighted to have been able to arrange a debating competition with South Cheshire College and the national charity Debate Mate who were supported by Bentley. Over recent weeks students have been having training sessions with Debate Mate.
Student teams from the SWC College, Crewe UTC, Brine Leas, Shavington, Sir William Stanier and the Oaks Academy took part in our final yesterday. It was a fantastic day and truly inspiring to see the students giving it their all and stretching themselves. I know how difficult it can be debating and public speaking. I was hugely impressed. Huge congratulations to the winning team from Brine Leas!
This week I visited the Crewe Alexandra in the Community site, to hear about their BTEC courses run in partnership with Reaseheath College. It was great to chat to them about the course and watch them play Everton B as well as catch up with with Charles, the group's Chair of Trustees.
I also went along a musical performance at Cheshire College. All of the students who took part were very talented! Students put on every aspect of the show, not just the performing but the staging and lighting too! Take a look at a short clip below.
Back in Parliament, the Government has announced a series of changes to the Online Safety Bill which will help protect children from online harm. For the first time, cyber-flashing and promoting self-harm will be against the law. Social media companies will also have to take tougher steps to make sure their platform are safe places for their youngest users.
I also went along to a meeting of the Stroke Survivor Group, a local voluntary organisation that does amazing work supporting people living with the effects of a stroke. To carry on their work, they are doing some fundraising. You can donate to their cause here:
https://www.spacehive.com/-keep-our-stroke-survivors-group-runing
Finally, the Government has made £20 Million available to help support and grow our woodlands. The projects this will support include planting new trees, researching how to make woodlands more resilient and to better support the timber industry.
Have a great weekend.
Debating Competition
Crewe Alex
Cheshire College Musical Performance
Stroke Survivor Group
Online Safety Bill
Woodland Fund
Traffic Report
Debating Competition
One thing I am passionate about is making sure young people from all different backgrounds know they can be involved in and do politics. In all honesty, when I was a teenager I thought politics was just for the well off! It took me a few years to figure out you didn't need a wealthy family or political connections to contribute through politics. That is why I do as much as I can with schools and other youth groups.
I was especially delighted to have been able to arrange a debating competition with South Cheshire College and the national charity Debate Mate who were supported by Bentley. Over recent weeks students have been having training sessions with Debate Mate. They went into the participating schools, teaching groups of students the skills necessary to be an effective debater.
Up to six students from each school then went onto the grand finale to compete against each other, which culminated in a final yesterday held at Crewe Engineering and Design UTC.
Student teams from the SWC College, Crewe UTC, Brine Leas, Shavington, Sir William Stanier and the Oaks Academy took part. It was a fantastic day and truly inspiring to see the students giving it their all and stretching themselves. I know how difficult it can be debating and public speaking. Huge congratulations to the winning team from Brine Leas! Second place was SWC College with Shavington coming 3rd. But I was hugely impressed by all of the teams.
Learning to debate effectively teaches and improves so many essential skills that will help young people get on in life – being able to articulate your thoughts and beliefs, structuring arguments as well as building confidence. I hope it serves them well in life politics or otherwise!
Thank you again to Crewe UTC for hosting us, SWC College & Bentley for supporting, the school staff who came with their teams and to Debate Mate for training and running the final day.
Crewe Alexandra in the Community
This week I visited the Crewe Alexandra in the Community site, to hear about their BTEC courses run in partnership with Reaseheath College. The Crewe Alexandra FC Community Football and Education course, is for boys aged 16 to 18 years old who would like to study a full time sports qualification, including a BTEC Level 3 in Sport, whilst representing Crewe Alexandra Football Club and playing and training in football every day.
It was great to chat to them about the course and watch them play Everton B as well as catch up with with Charles, the group's Chair of Trustees.
Maybe this course would be of interest to you or a young person you know. Find out more about them here: https://www.reaseheath.ac.uk/crewealex/
Cheshire College Musical Performance
It was really good to be invited to see young creative arts talent on display at Cheshire College - South & West this week! We had performances of Kate Bush, Muse, Green Day, Billie Eillish and more! Not just the performers but the lighting and sound and photography for the show case was all done by students. I caught a clip of one below:
https://www.facebook.com/KieranMullanUK/videos/602634548328449/
Stroke Survivor Group
It was great to meet with the Stroke Survivors Speech & Language Support Group earlier this week They are a local voluntary group, formed by Liz after her father suffered a stroke which affected his speech, language and communication skills. The group has gone from strength to strength and now provides a rich range of activities for the members. A huge thank you to Liz and everyone that has helped her achieve this.
They are looking for funding for the cost of the weekly charge to hire the room they use and towards a speech therapist to visit their groups in Crewe and Alsager locations once a month.
You can support their fundraiser here: https://www.spacehive.com/-keep-our-stroke-survivors-group-runing
Online Safety Bill - Protecting Children Online
Proposed new internet safety laws will go further than ever before to protect children from harmful online content. These new changes to the Online Safety Bill will introduce tougher new measures for online companies to better shield children on their platforms. This includes:
- Social Media firms legally required to remove illegal content
- Companies must publish risks that their platforms pose to children so that parents are more aware of the dangers
- Cyber-flashing will be a criminal offence
- Promoting Self-Harm will be illegal
Every parents wants their child to be as safe as possible on the internet. These new laws will go some way in ensuring that social media companies play their part in reducing the risks posed to the youngest in society.
Find out more here: https://www.gov.uk/government/news/new-protections-for-children-and-free-speech-added-to-internet-laws?deliveryName=DM16195
Woodland Fund
This week is National Tree Week, and to mark it, the Government is making £20 million available for projects to protect our woodlands.
This funding will:
- Support the planting of new trees, creating new woodlands and improving biodiversity
- Fund research into how woodlands can be more resilient
- Help grow the UK timber industry, creating jobs and investment
Find out more here: https://www.gov.uk/government/news/funding-boost-for-countrys-woodlands-and-timber-industry
Traffic Report
The following are road closures for the week ahead as reported by Cheshire East.
Middlewich Road - Full detail here: https://www.facebook.com/KieranMullanUK/posts/pfbid02eko4CMr4eijnrPk9z1K8PNfAaTNWUkctw3wLSnYVtBodc1RGYgq3LrjgKeXFEbgzl
Cross Road, Haslington - 5th December