The last few weeks have been busy. A wide range of issues have been raised by constituents at my surgeries and by letter, e-mail and phone.

There has been a lot going on at Westminster too. Campaigners are always looking for innovative ways of raising their concerns and top marks go to Dame Tanni Grey-Thompson, who I met as part of her efforts to raise concerns about the lack of Changing Places toilets for disabled people, for turning up at Westminster to press MPs on this issue. I have followed this up by making representations to Trafford council. I also hosted a Parliamentary event with development charity Progressio to raise concerns about the ongoing situation in East Timor. It is a real privilege to be able to campaign on such issues. I know from my postbag that many people locally share these concerns.

There’s a lot going on in the constituency at the moment. In the last few weeks I have taken part in the sod cutting ceremony to launch a new £500k youth club, opened the new offices of our local credit union, and met representatives of Manchester College to discuss their plans for a new £28m campus in Benchill.

Investment is coming in to the local area which will make a great difference for local residents, especially our young people.

And meeting young people is an important role for an MP too. Young people are our future and I very much enjoy having the opportunity to visit local schools. I have attended a number of primary schools in recent weeks as part of the Big Ben Christmas Card Competition that the House of Commons have been running this year to mark the 150th anniversary celebrations for Big Ben. I am pleased to say that Lime Tree Primary School in Sale Moor had the overall winner for age category 2 (awarded for pupil in school years 3 to 6), and I awarded Year 4 pupil Mia King her prize personally.

We have some excellent local schools. I recently visited Templemoor Primary School in Sale Moor to congratulate them on their Outstanding Ofsted results.

I welcomed Schools Secretary Ed Balls to the constituency two weeks ago to officially open Newall Green High School. Newall Green is one of the first schools to be rebuilt under the Government’s Building Schools for the Future (BSF) scheme. In Manchester alone the first phase of the BSF programme has seen around £201m put in by the Government, with extra support coming from local councils. On top of this we are also seeing around £170m being invested by the Government to build two new Academies in the area.

I have also been meeting with local businesses, and took part in a very successful lunchtime meeting organised by the Trafford Chamber of Commerce. It is vital that we support our local businesses as much as possible as they help to drive the local economy and provide jobs for those who are looking to join the workforce after school, college or university.

I regularly meet the local police, and I am delighted to see that crime figures continue to fall thanks to their hard work in the local area.

I have had a number of important meetings in recent weeks with local community campaigners – including the group that is trying to save the Sale Hotel. I know many local residents are relieved that this building is no longer a pub but it is important that we try to save part of our local heritage for future generations to enjoy. I am pressing the Secretary of State for Culture, Media and Sport to List the building and save it from demolition.

The parliamentary recess has now arrived and I will be taking a holiday with my family. After that it will be a busy few weeks in the constituency. I’ll keep you posted!