Welcome to this week's newsletter.
Thanks for all the feedback on the green waste bin charges. If you want to avoid them I'd encourage you to vote on May 4th for Conservatives that are committed to not bringing it in!
Almost 21,000 pensioners in Crewe and Nantwich will receive a 10.1% rise in their state pension this week - providing them with support against the rise in living costs. This is alongside other support such as the £300 pensioner cost of living payment this winter.
It was great to hear that the Flag Lane Baths project will be getting £450,000 worth of funding from the National Lottery Community Fund. This is an exciting opportunity to bring a much loved community asset back into use. Well done to all involed.
Find out more on this project here: http://flaglanebaths.co.uk/committee.html
Local business RTS Tree Specialists recently helped the Friends of Crewe South Alleyway Project. I met them and they explained they were a business that wanted to be involved in community projects so I asked them to help with the alleyway project. Thank you for all of your hard work helping the local community!
Rural areas have their own, often hidden, challenges. Tackling these is an important part of levelling up, so it is great to see that rural communities in Cheshire East will receive £800,000 of funding - helping grow the local economy and create jobs.
Residents and businesses will be able to take advantage of ‘skill bootcamps’ giving potential employees the skills they need to find a good job and get on in life. Read on below to find out more about these exciting opportunities.
It was great to see the fantastic work of LS Gymnastics recognised in a BBC news story this week.
Click here to watch the video: https://www.bbc.co.uk/newsround/24708543
Finally, I recently bumped into one of the Parliamentary Hawks! It was really interesting to hear from the Parliamentary Falconer Mark about the work they do as pest control on the estate. Keep up the good work!
Have a great weekend.
State Pension Increase
National Lottery Community Fund - Flag Lane Baths
Crewe Alleyways
£800,000 for Rural Communities in Cheshire East
Skills Bootcamp
LS Gymnastics
Parliament Hawks
Traffic Report
State Pension Increase
From this week, 12.5 Million pensioners, including almost 21,000 here in Crewe and Nantwich, will benefit from a 10.1% increase in the state pension.
Many pensioners live on fixed incomes, making them particularly vulnerable to rising prices. Pensioners are also a generation who have worked hard their whole lives when there was a lot less help from Government around. That is why protecting the Triple Lock is so important.
This is on top of the other forms of support that pensioners will be receiving, such as the £300 pensioner cost of living payment this winter.
National Lottery Community Fund - Flag Lane Baths
It is great to see that The National Lottery Community Fund has awarded £450,000 towards the Flag Lane Bath Rejuvenation. This is on top of the funding already announced as part of the Crewe Town Deal. Huge well done to the team for putting in a successful bid and for all the other work they have done on this to date!
This project will help breath new life into a well-loved local asset, and include facilities such as shop units, a restaurant & café, youth spaces and a multi-use hall for conferences, presentations, cinema nights, exhibition spaces and concerts.
Find out more on this project here: http://flaglanebaths.co.uk/committee.html
Crewe Alleyways
Recently I got to meet the team at R.T.S tree specialist LTD who are a business that wants to help the community locally!
I asked if they could support the Friends of Crewe South 1 alleyway project. Thanks to residents like Edward for lending their walls for some lights! He has lived here since 1963!
It was great to join RTS with Chair Gary Palin from Crewe Residents against fly tipping. The Cleaner Crewe Project from Cheshire East, ANSA and Crewe Town Council continues to make steady progress on a really challenging but important project!
Watch this space for more great stuff from RTS.
£800,000 for Rural Communities in Cheshire East
I know that Rural areas have their unique challenge and there is hidden poverty and community challenges that aren't always immediately obvious.
Tackling these issue is an important part of levelling up all communities the UK. Rural areas also present unique opportunities for growth and with the right investment we can harness their potential, creating new jobs for local people.
That is why it is great to see that Cheshire East have been awarded over £800,000 from the £11 Million Rural England Prosperity Fund, which can be use to invest in initiatives such as farm diversification, projects to boost rural tourism, and community infrastructure projects.
Skills Bootcamp
Local employers and residents will be able to benefit from £1.2 Million of funding for ‘skills bootcamps’.
These will offer flexible training programmes, allowing people to expand their skills in a specific area which will lead to a fast tracked interview with an employer.
There are already some of these schemes up and running around Cheshire and Warrington.
Click below to find out more:
LS Gymnastics
Fantastic to see the hard work and success of LS Gymnastics Crewe featured on this BBC story! What a huge achievement for Candy and the team.
(top video on page)
https://www.bbc.co.uk/newsround/24708543
Bumping into Parliament's Hawk
I recently bumped into Mark, the House of Commons Falconer, and his Harris Hawk named Dennison.
Their job is pest control on the Parliamentary estate, scaring off pigeons and dealing with mice. Unfortunately, unlike No.10 Downing Street, cats are not allowed in Parliament, so we cannot have our own Larry the cat!
Keep up the good work!
Traffic Report
The following are road closures for the week ahead as reported by Cheshire East.
Mill Lane, Oakhanger - Until 31st October
Middlewich Road, Crewe (Between Pyms Lane and b5076) - 18th April until 30th June