It was important this month to mark Mental Health Awareness Week (MHAW). In my role as Shadow Minister for Mental Health, I have been working hard on our plans to end the current mental health crisis and wrote about these issues in the New Statesman here.
I was also pleased to attend the Mental Health Foundation’s reception in Parliament and to meet Mr Motivator and Jonny Wilkinson, both influential and positive voices promoting good mental health and the importance keeping active.
I’ve been delighted last month to hold my third annual Campaign Summer School.
At my jam-packed 3-day event, we had a fantastic group of enthusiastic and inspiring young people who were incredibly engaged in learning about how to make a successful campaign and gain the skills needed to make a real difference in our community.
On the first day, I was excited to share my journey to Parliament and what I do as the MP for Erith and Thamesmead. We were also privileged to be joined by Laura Coryton and Rima Amin, who shared their 5 steps for turning a petition into a successful campaign. Laura founded a campaign against the tampon tax in 2014 and Rima worked with Laura on the campaign when she worked at Change.org. We were also joined by Paul Richards who shared his expertise on writing press releases and Christine Quigley and Nick Smith who introduced the students to the world of finance and public affairs.
“Our campaign lobbied the government into establishing the tampon tax fund, through which almost £100m has been donated to female-focused charities”
Laura Coryton on her campaign against tampon tax
On day two, we were joined by Google, who shared how to navigate and make full use of the new digital age to build on campaign ideas, business ideas, and how to kickstart your career. It was also great to be joined by Kwajo Tweneboa who shared his first-hand experience of going from a concerned citizen to a veteran campaigner on housing issues across the country. We were also pleased to welcome Katie Perrior from iNHouse Communications and media experts from 853 and the Guardian, who shared their important knowledge on how to make a campaign successful.
We started the final day with a presentation about how Parliament works with a special briefing from an expert team at the UK Parliament. It was great to see the students ask so many questions about how our government works and how each of them can personally make a difference. I also want to thank Councillor Anthony Okereke, Leader of Greenwich Council, Martin Angus, from the Local Government Association (LGA), and Councillor Zainab Asumramu for sharing their important personal insights into the role of Local Government and how to get politically active in your local community.
Every year this is such a special week for me. I get to spend lots of time sharing what I know about campaigning and Politics and learning from local young activists across our community who care passionately about a number of critically important issues.
From national issues like Climate Change and the cost-of-living crisis, to local issues like vaping in schools and tackling fly-tipping, it was fantastic to discuss their ideas about what they can do to campaign for change.
I want to send a big thank you to all the speakers who joined during the week, to London South East College team in Erith, who hosted us, and to my team who did a wonderful job making the Summer School work so well. Finally, I also want to send a big thank you to all the students who were so engaged and optimistic and I’m sure will go on to do great things in their careers.
You can follow what happened on my social media or by looking up the hashtag #AbenaSummerSchool2023.
As I’m sure many across the community are aware, it has recently been announced that there are plans to close rail ticket offices across the country including in our area of Erith and Thamesmead.
Last month, I wrote to both the Government and the CEO of Southeastern to express my concerns about the consequences of these closures, especially for the many elderly and disabled passengers who rely on these offices for travel. Currently, the plans would affect both Erith and Belvedere stations in our community. You can read these both at the end of this article. .
I also raised this with the Minister for Transport in the House of Commons. The Minister must assure the public over these plans. I will continue to monitor these issues and the concerns that constituents have raised with me on this issue.
The consultation for these proposals closes on 1st September 2023 and I urge all constituents to continue to express their views by contacting Southeastern on their website and by emailing London Travelwatch here: Southeastern.Consultation@Londontravelwatch.org.uk. Please also email me if you would like to share your thoughts on this important issue. Email me at abena.oppongasare.mp@parliament.uk.
At the end of May, I visited Nepal with WaterAid UK and the Coalition for Global Prosperity to see the impact of development projects supporting access to clean water.
It was wonderful to be able to visit the beautiful country of Nepal and meet so many people doing life-saving and transformational work. Visiting some of the programmes that WaterAid is undertaking illuminated the extent of the hardship and poverty that so many in Nepal are facing. It also showed the amazing progress that has been made.
Poor access to Water, Sanitation, and Hygiene (WASH) presents some serious challenges to vulnerable communities in Nepal. These include the proliferation of water-borne illness, poor sanitation, and restrictions on the opportunities afforded to citizens.
What I found particularly worrying was that these issues disproportionately affect women and young girls. A lack of sanitation has been related to a disproportionately smaller number of girls attending schools, particularly affecting those on their menstrual cycles.
For instance, only 39% of schools have separate, female-friendly toilets, meaning many young girls are left without a safe space to clean themselves and manage the difficulties associated with menstruation. This can discourage girls from attending school altogether, through fear of judgment, embarrassment and even harassment.
It is therefore great to see the outstanding progress that WaterAid have made with their WASH programmes. Citizens in these areas have experienced vastly improved quality of life, with improved access to safe water, better toilets, and improved hygiene.
Young girls have been offered safe spaces, which has succeeded in breaking down some of the barriers that might stop them from receiving an equal education to their male counterparts. It’s a really promising story that I am keen to see continue.
I was very pleased to join the Ukrainian community and a number of constituents from Erith and Thamesmead at this celebration event this month.
Last month, we all paused to reflect on the one-year anniversary of the illegal and unprovoked invasion of Ukraine. While the illegal war started by Russia continues, I want all the Ukrainians who have settled in our area to know that our support for you and all of the Ukrainian people remains.
It was a great event with great music, dancing, performances and beautiful artwork on display from across the community.
https://www.abenaoppongasare.com/wp-content/uploads/2020/06/DSC_1100s-scaled.jpg15582560The Office of Abena Oppong-Asare MPhttps://www.abenaoppongasare.com/wp-content/uploads/2020/03/SM-Logo-3.pngThe Office of Abena Oppong-Asare MP2022-12-11 17:18:052023-03-05 17:25:12Southeastern Railway introduces their new timetable
https://www.abenaoppongasare.com/wp-content/uploads/2020/06/DSC_1100s-scaled.jpg15582560Calum Pincheshttps://www.abenaoppongasare.com/wp-content/uploads/2020/03/SM-Logo-3.pngCalum Pinches2022-10-30 13:00:102024-07-11 13:26:05Campaign to reverse the cuts to Southeastern Trains
https://www.abenaoppongasare.com/wp-content/uploads/2020/06/DSC_1100s-scaled.jpg15582560Abena Oppong-Asare MPhttps://www.abenaoppongasare.com/wp-content/uploads/2020/03/SM-Logo-3.pngAbena Oppong-Asare MP2022-10-28 10:43:532024-07-15 15:34:24Campaign to reverse the cuts to Southeastern Trains
At this jam-packed 3-day summer school, young people aged between 16 and 18 had the opportunity to gain the skills needed to make a real difference in our community.
This was a hands-on, first-hand insight into the exciting world of political and social campaigning. The school brought together a wide variety of speakers from businesses like Graylings UK, showing the students tools they can use to influence the Government and make change, and from Meta, to discuss how important Facebook and social media is to campaigning in the 21st Century.
We were also joined by important influencers who have been at the frontline of campaigns that have caught the public’s attention. We heard from Laura Coryton, who started the very successful #EndTamponTax petition, and from former Love Island contestant Shaughna Phillips, who is now advocating for a better public discussion on body image and mental health.
I know from my own experience that whether you’re dealing with environmental issues, crime, or education, effective campaigning is the key to influencing and challenging those in power. So, I am determined to do all I can to empower our young people to be the change they want to see in the world.
Over the course of 3 days, attendees designed their very own local campaigns on important issues such as women’s rights and increasing accessibility access in our community. What’s more, I am personally helping action the best ideas into real campaigns to benefit our residents.
For the students, this was a unique opportunity to see their ideas turned into action and to learn how they can make their voice heard in our democracy.
