Blog
Shadow Secretary for Communities and Local Government visits SLIG
16th April 2010
We were happy to welcome Caroline Speldman MP to the office on Wednesday morning. Caroline was in town with Bill Manwaring, the Ulster Unionist and Conservative candidate for West Belfast, and they were visiting a number of community projects in the area. I met her with Jean Brown and Renee Crawford who are both founder members of SLIG. They are also both on the Board of our local SureStart project and wasted no time in quizzing Caroline on the Tory plans for Surestart if they should form the next government. We pressed home the importance of early years intervention and explained how the development of Sparkles Nursery was such an important part of our plans for the transformation of the interface. Caroline said that contrary to popular opinion, the Conservatives were supportive of SureStart and wanted to see it expanded to include more outreach. That’s something we will be keeping a close eye on should we see a change of power in Westminster. We also told Caroline about the importance of investing in strong community infrastructure in each community, in order to facilitate robust peace building across communities. I explained how SLIG engages in peace building through the social justice issues that really matter to people, and Caroline seemed really interested. The meeting ended with a recognition of the importance of our work and a pledge to help in any way she can should she be in the next government. As Caroline and her staff left to visit the babies in the Royal Hospital I reflected on these very interesting political times. Who would have thought that our only visit so far during all the current campaigning would be from an Ulster Unionist and a Tory!
Lisa
For more information, simply contact:
- Lisa McElherron
- Tel: 02890629146
- Email:
Have Your Say On This Article: