After a busy week in Parliament supporting my good friend and new Leader of the Opposition, Kemi Badenoch, and another trip to Northern Ireland in my role as Shadow Secretary of State for Northern Ireland, it was a pleasure to spend an hour in the sun-filled St James’ Church in Marden Ash with local church leaders last month.
After a twenty-minute prayer and hymn meeting we gathered around a big table for tea, biscuits and chat. Church leaders are never ones to hold back with their views, so I was happy to catch up with local news and concerns (and gossip), find out who might be in the running to be the new Archbishop of Canterbury, and talk about the impact of social media on our young people.
As always it was lovely to spend time with a group of people who care about and cherish the Ongar community. I very much hope to see them all again soon.
In other news, I have been bringing the concerns and frustrations of local bus users to the attention of NIBS Buses, whose 21 bus route has been somewhat hit and miss in recent weeks. The NIB Buses Managing Director, Dean Robbie, has been very helpful and has explained a shortage of drivers and a high level of sickness from the recent flu virus which has done the rounds has led to too many short-notice cancellations. Mr Robbie told me that when the service does have shortages, they will “always priorities school services and contracted tendered work over our commercial services, any cancellations are listed on the Nibs website every day. We appreciate this isn’t ideal for those affected by cancellations and we do try to minimise them, so no route is unduly affected in isolation.”
If you do have any concerns about the service currently being offered, please do let Mr Robbie know via [email protected] and – I am told – you will receive a response within five working days. Let me know if you do not.
