November Article:
Last month, I was honoured to be appointed as the Minister for Defence People, Veterans and Service Families. As a veteran myself, defence has always been close to my heart and, delivering for those who are serving and have served, and their families will always be at the top of my agenda. Wrexham has a proud military history and veterans’ community, and I am proud to be championing Wrexham as both a Minister and the constituency’s MP.
During Parliamentary recess last month, I wanted to get out and speak to as many constituents as possible. As such, I held a number of street surgeries across Wrexham, starting in Pandy, then onto Marford and Rossett, before finishing in Holt – this is one of the best parts of my job and allows constituents to raise issues with me and my team from their own doorstep.
Also in recess, I was delighted to attend Wrexham Feast and see so many residents enjoying the local food, music, and entertainment! I’m sure everyone will agree that it was a fantastic event, and we hope to see it return to Wrexham soon.
I was also pleased to celebrate the 20th anniversary of Erlas Victorian Walled Garden. The team at Erlas have spent their latest grant of £50,000 of funding from the National Lottery, which my office helped to facilitate, on the beautiful sensory-based Jubilee Garden. I would encourage residents to visit and see first-hand this beautiful garden.
In early October, I attended the launch of the Wellbeing Hub in Wrexham City Centre. As a former nurse and social worker, I know that this new hub will be a valuable resource for our local community where residents and families can access a wide range of free support. Most importantly, being referred by your GP is not a requirement to access the hub. We are so lucky to have this amazing facility in Wrexham - thank you to all those who have worked hard to get this hub up and running.
Lastly, it was an honour to attend the opening ceremony of the Knife Angel at Queen’s Square in Wrexham. The Knife Angel is a monument made from over 100,000 seized knives from Police Constabularies across the UK and it is an extremely emotive reminder of the dangers involved in knife crime.
As always, if you are a resident in Wrexham and need my assistance with any local or national issues, please contact me by emailing sarah.atherton.mp@parliament.uk.