In the last couple of weeks I have visited Kelvedon Hatch Primary School and Brentwood Town Football Club, to meet young students and some of our local footballers.
The Kelvedon Hatch Primary School pupils showed me some of the activities they do, including within a forest school environment where lighting fires with flints, toasting marshmallows and playing with ropes and sticks are the order of the day.
I always give pupils a chance to ask me questions about my job and what I do – I normally get a lot of questions about whether I’ve met the King (I have, he’s very nice) but it’s not often, as happened this time, that primary school children ask me about potholes. I am not sure whether this was a pressing issue for the children themselves or more for their parents, but I was very happy to pass on their comments and concerns to Essex County Council. Anyone wishing to find out more about pothole reporting can do so here: https://www.essexhighways.org/roads-and-pavements/potholes
The children and I agreed that we are very fortunate in Brentwood and Ongar to have some wonderful libraries and excellent range of playgrounds, sporting facilities, and green spaces. The children suggested they’d like to see more places to buy toys and puzzles, and one very popular idea was the creation of a water park in Brentwood.
Brentwood Town Football Club were also wonderful hosts when I went to tour their facilities and watch a match the other day. The Club has come on enormously in the past few years with a new pitch, better results, and much bigger crowds. Brilliantly, under 18s can watch for free – I suspect there are a lot of under 18s locally who don’t know this, please spread the word. The Club is helped by Pitching In Volunteer Hub which helps the 263 football clubs in the Trident Leagues recruit new volunteers. I found out clubs like Brentwood Town could not operate without the dedicate and support of these volunteers, so I would like to thank every person who volunteers to support our community. If this is something you would like to do you can find opportunities on the Pitching In Volunteer Hub. (https://pitchinginvolunteers.co.uk/)
