Supporting Ukraine
When I met four Ukrainian constituents on Friday, they described how grateful they were for this support from the Ipswich community, and particularly the Polish community in the Town. I am very pleased to support Ipswich resident Magda Chambers, who has raised over £8,000 to support Ukrainian refugees, with donations being driven across the Ukrainian border in lorries today and throughout this week.
My constituent Olena told me about her family, in Kharkiv, Eastern Ukraine, which is encircled by Russian forces. I asked the Home Office today about how we can help her family members, and other like them, who are currently in a warzone. I asked about a way to get refugees to safety which does not rely on offers from Putin, for a humanitarian which takes evacuees to Russia or to Belarus.
I also asked, on behalf of my constituent Viktoria, whether the family visa scheme is transferrable to others if one of the family members who is eligible doesn’t want to take the opportunity, so we can help those desperately in need of a safe passage out of the warzone.
I know I speak for my constituents when I say we want to help those fleeing Ukraine, and I am pleased to support the efforts and generosity that my constituents have shown towards the people of Ukraine.
Ukraine Crisis
This morning I spoke on TalkRadio about the importance of our policy towards Ukrainian refugees.
My thoughts are with those forced to flee their homes and I know my constituents feel the same way. I have seen many emails in my inbox over the last few days expressing just that.
This goes to show why our border’s policy is so key, why we must ensure we have the capacity to aid genuine refugees.
All the Ukrainian people want is to live in their homeland, in peace and safety. We must do whatever we can to aid these genuine refugees.
Donate to help Ukraine refugees fleeing to Poland
As we see Ukrainian resistance defend their homes against Putin’s aggression, I wanted to share a way in which we can offer our support to the Ukrainian people.
Sadly, many Ukrainians have been forced to flee their homes, with refugees heading towards safety in Poland. Ipswich resident Magda Chambers is from a Polish village, which is taking in Ukrainian refugees, mainly children. The support from locals in their village is warming and absolutely vital. These people have lost so much, and our hearts go out to them.
There is a strong historical connection between Ukraine and Poland. The countries are not just geographical neighbours, but have shared experience of Russian aggression. As satellite states under the USSR, and victims of Soviet brutality throughout the 20th century, Ukraine and Poland have a collective memory of Russian aggression.
I will be supporting Magda’s fundraising efforts over the weekend in Ipswich, and would urge others to contribute however they can to this vitally important humanitarian effort.
Treehouse Children’s Hospice
I was privileged this morning to visit The Treehouse children’s hospice. The hospice supports children and their families in many ways, including therapy, play, pain and symptom management, respite, and end of life care.
East Anglia’s Children’s Hospices is rightly a very valued organisation in our community, and I know it is something a large number of my constituents feel strongly about supporting.
Today I saw exactly how much work and dedication goes into the support the incredibly team here is able to provide. The facilities are really wonderful, but what makes this place so special is the people behind it. The nurses and every individual on the team clearly put all of their energy into their important, difficult, and rewarding role. I have a lot of respect for the team here making such a difference to the children and families they support.
I will be doing everything I can to support The Treehouse and EACH. EACH relies heavily on philanthropy and fundraising through their 43 shops, and events. The true cost of failing to support families is much higher than investing and providing proper psychological and therapy support to siblings and parents. Collaborating with other East Anglia MPs, I will be writing letters of support for children’s hospice funding to be on a parity with adult hospice funding, which it currently isn’t.
Education Select committee
Today the Education Select committee continued their series of sessions exploring why certain groups in society often underachieve academically in comparison to others. Previously, the committee did an inquiry on white working-class pupils, and today we were looking at the educational challenges facing children from Gypsy, Roma and Traveller backgrounds.
Sadly, the data speaks for itself and we do face specific challenges. Having representation from the Roma community on the panel this morning was insightful, so I was pleased that I was able to bring forward two of my constituents, Marius and Vasile, to share their experiences as teaching assistants and members of the Roma community.
As teaching assistants, Marius and Vasile work to promote integration of children from Roma backgrounds, increasing literacy and English language skills, and act as role models for young people in the Roma community. Vasile explained that some in the Roma community don’t really understand the education system here.
Often parents think that their child can have a day or two off without explanation and when the pandemic hit, the inability of some parents to use laptops made their child’s education very difficult. Working with parents through coffee mornings, Marius and Vasile are doing an excellent job building mutual trust between schools and parents from the Roma community.
