Toby Perkins MP

Delighted officials, members and community leaders gathered last Friday to celebrate the news that Sport England had awarded Chesterfield Lawn Tennis Club a substantial £35,000 to help develop the reception and social rooms. Toby Perkins, Labour Member of Parliament for Chesterfield and Shadow Minister for Small Business, presented the cheque which will help the Club develop young local talent for years to come, and improve the hospitality for all involved in the Hawksley Avenue facility.

The investment is part of Sport England’s Places People Play legacy programme that is bringing the magic of a home Olympic and Paralympic Games into communities across the country. Every sports facility that receives funding will carry the London 2012 Inspire mark – celebrating the link to the Games.

Chesterfield Lawn Tennis Club will receive £35,000 to open up the lounge and bar, reconfigure the office / reception areas and improve the changing facilities with a new central heating system.

John Field of Chesterfield Lawn Tennis Club said:

“Chesterfield Lawn Tennis Club greatly appreciates the £35,000 award granted from Sport England’s Inspired Facilities Fund. The award will give the club a great boost in its efforts to provide a dynamic and modern place to play tennis, both for members and the local community”

Toby Perkins MP for Chesterfield said:

“2012 is going to be a once-in-a-lifetime opportunity for Sport all across the UK, and Sport England’s Inspired Facilities is part of providing a long term legacy for all areas of the country. I am delighted for the Chesterfield Lawn Tennis Club which is a popular, good quality sports facility in the centre of Chesterfield. The refurbishment, including a new reception area and catering facilities, will ensure that the tennis club can continue to grow and develop in the future, and will hopefully go on to produce top class local tennis players for generations to come”

Around 50 Year 8 Students at Parkside Community School attended a ‘Question Time’ style debate today with local MP Toby Perkins. Mr. Perkins, a former Councillor for Rother Ward, from which many students who attend Parkside reside, hailed the students as ‘very impressive’ as they quizzed the Shadow Minister on subjects from his job as an MP to his talent for X Box computer games.

Chaired by a representative of the Parkside School Council, almost all those present had the opportunity to ask a question to the Shadow Minister for Small Business. When asked about his priorities as an MP, Mr. Perkins described his work alongside businesses in Chesterfield, both big and small, to do everything possible to protect jobs in the Borough.

The students also asked Mr. Perkins where he thought future jobs in Chesterfield would come from, the most enjoyable parts of being an MP, as well as outlining a typical week working in the House of Commons.

Following the event, Mr. Perkins said:-

“I was delighted to be invited to answer questions from Parkside students today, and it was very clear that a lot of thought had gone in to the questions which were asked. It is great to see government and politics being taught in schools, as young people learn about the world in which they live. Politics is all about helping others and improving communities, and it was so encouraging to meet students who are involved in the School Council at such a young age”.

With pay day loans companies exacerbating the financial problems of hundreds of people across the region, local politicians have come out in support of the Chesterfield and North Derbyshire Credit Union in an attempt to promote responsible lending. Toby Perkins, Labour Member of Parliament for Chesterfield, joined the leaders of both Chesterfield Borough and North East Derbyshire District Council and Manager Karen Peck at the Town Hall on Rose Hill where the Credit Union had temporarily set up stall in the foyer.

Financial exclusion is on the up, as people who for one reason or the other cannot access reasonable credit facilities from high street banks. Quite often they have no bank accounts at all and either no or poor credit history. People who cannot access reasonable credit are prey to loan sharks who charge exorbitant interest rates. Small emergencies in people’s lives, such as a broken washing machine, can result in people becoming trapped in a cycle of debt as the interest charged on even small loans can prove to be unaffordable. The rates of interest charged by companies willing to lend to these people vary from 85% to over 2,000% for pay day loans.

The credit union is one of the only affordable resources for people who are categorized as financially excluded. The credit union charges 28% apr and offers advice on managing money as well as sign posting people to other agencies for advice on benefits. The Credit Union offers savings accounts to those people not wishing to borrow, from which capital is made available for short and medium term loans. Money put into the Credit Union is, like any other reputable financial institution, is safe and insured.

After speaking to the Manager of the Chesterfield and North Derbyshire Credit Union, Karen Peck, about the vital work done by the organization in the town, Toby Perkins said:-

“With unemployment at record levels, it is a shocking reality that many people become stuck in a debt trap with no real means to escape. The Credit Union is an excellent organization, based in Theatre Yard, which provides a good service at more reasonable levels of interest. But of course, the Credit Union relies on savers as well as lenders to provide this service so I would urge people to visit the CU to see for themselves the ways in which they can help support a fairer, more equitable method of lending for those people who would otherwise have no option but to take on astronomical rates of interest from loan sharks”.

He added:-

“I am working hard in Parliament to limit the most pernicious loan sharks across the UK, and supporting Credit Unions is one action which almost anyone can do to join that campaign”.

Dozens of staff at under-threat Timberline celebrated with the news that a Barnsley firm had been successful in a take-over bid – saving 45 jobs. Toby Perkins, Labour Member of Parliament for Chesterfield and Shadow Minister for Small Business, hailed the news as “a fantastic result” for all those people who have worked around the clock to ensure the Sheepbridge based firm has a long term future.

Timberline, based on the Sheepbridge Industrial Park, which produces bespoke outdoor equipment to schools and other organizations across the UK went into administration on November 2^nd. However, following Mr. Perkins’ meetings with joint administrators from Hart Shaw LLP, Metalliform, a South Yorkshire firm has been announced as the new owners to the relief of dozens of staff who have feared the worst since the administrators were called in last year.

The new owner, Metalliform, has manufactured furniture for schools, colleges and universities for more than 60-years. The company employs 90 staff at its Barnsley production site and has a turnover of £8m. The take-over will allow Timberline to continue to produce the high quality products, with the hope of taking on new products to help compete within an increasingly fierce market.

Mr. Perkins said:-

“This is a fantastic result for so many members of staff who have remained loyal, driven and upbeat despite the very serious doubts about their futures. This buy-out should give Timberline the opportunity to become a successful business once again, producing quality products to organizations across the country. This news is the reward for so much hard work from all those involved in saving Timberline from closure and gives hope to so many other businesses struggling to cope in the current economic situation”.

Despite massive economic pressures in the UK and across Europe, local manufacturers continue to do business and employ thousands of people. Today Toby Perkins, Labour Member of Parliament for Chesterfield and Shadow Minister for Small Business, nominated ‘Chesterfelt, a Sheepbridge firm specializing in the production of roofing membranes, for the ‘Made by Britain’ award which celebrates top quality British manufacturing and innovation in increasingly competitive worldwide markets.

 Mr. Perkins met with Managing Director, Peter Holland, and senior members of staff to formally nominate the firm. The Associate Parliamentary Manufacturing Group, having kick-started the initiative, has challenged all 650 MPs across the country to highlight the work of businesses so fundamental to local communities and employment.

The Shadow Minister for Small Business also offered his continued support to firms such as Chesterfelt which compete against low cost European firms. He also praised the management following Chesterfelt’s best ever year during 2010 in which the firm turned over around £10 million.

Following the visit Mr. Perkins said:-

“I was delighted to visit this impressive business and to formally nominate Chesterfelt for the ‘Made in Britain’ initiative. Chesterfelt and other firms in this area are so important to driving forward the local economy, and projects such as this one help highlight what Britain does best. We have a history of making things in the UK, often better than anywhere else in the world. We should now be aiming to support new and existing businesses such as this through tough times as well as good, to attract jobs and investment to the town and ensure they can compete not just nationally but across the globe”.

Following a presentation from The Big Lottery at the Houses of Parliament, Toby Perkins, Labour Member of Parliament for Chesterfield, joined servicemen from WW2, along with representatives of veterans associations and the Royal Legion at the regional launch of the ‘Heroes Return Project. After attending the meeting in Westminster, Mr. Perkins arranged the event to raise awareness of the funding opportunities for former servicemen over 65 years on.

The initiative has played a leading role in funding visits for veterans of the Second World War to the country in which they were stationed in an attempt to reconcile the past of all those who were called upon to serve their country overseas between 1939 and 1945.

The Project has ensured that Second World War veterans from the UK, Channel Islands and Republic of Ireland, along with a spouse or carer, can make a trip of a lifetime. Sadly few veterans are fit enough to take advantage of the scheme which has funded around 50,000 trips to countries from Germany to India. However, many heroes remain unaware of the Big Lottery’s Project despite the growing awareness of the great debt the country owes to those who served overseas in the most widespread conflict of the 20^th Century.

Mr. George McCracken of Gloucester Avenue who served throughout North Asia in WW2 was present at the launch.

At the event Mr. Perkins said:-

“The ‘Heroes Return’ Project has given thousands of war heroes across the UK the opportunity to re-visit the country in which they were stationed during one of the most brutal and widespread conflicts in human history. Recent events in Chesterfield show huge support for our veterans and armed services, but there remains significant numbers of former service men and women who are yet to take advantage of this fantastic initiative.

He added:-

“The British Legion has in the past had to bear the financial cost of visits of this kind. The Big Lottery’s Project now frees up much needed capital at the Royal Legion which can now be re-directed onto other projects to benefit those who served our country and our region with such professionalism, pride and bravery”.

Following the removal of the Number 46 Bus, used by dozens of elderly residents in the Fern Avenue area of Middlecroft when visiting Chesterfield Royal Hospital, outraged pensioners have joined their MP in a final bid to have a truly local bus service re-instated.

Dozens of local people have been left isolated, unable to walk the substantial distance to catch the replacement service along Chesterfield Road, with many forced to pay expensive taxi fares to attend medical appointments or to visit the town centre.

Toby Perkins, Labour Member of Parliament for Chesterfield, is backing the dozens of residents who signed a petition highlighting the situation. Mr. Perkins has written to both Stagecoach and the provider of the former 46 bus service, TM Travel, requesting that the local service be restored.

The 46 Bus served many elderly and disabled members of the community, providing a comparatively direct route to the Royal and Staveley town. Residents could access the bus stops on both Fern Avenue and Winster Road, cutting out a steep walk up Fern Avenue. Mr. Perkins held a public meeting at Edensor Court Community Room in Middlecroft last Friday to hear of the many ways in which the lives of local people had been negatively altered since the withdrawal earlier this year.

Many of the individual cases outlined at the meeting were alarming, including one senior citizen who has effectively been forced to pay over £16 per visit for a taxi to take her and her husband, himself suffering from Parkinson’s, to the hospital.

After the public meeting Mr. Perkins said:-

“Unfortunately for so many residents in this area, the decision for buses to no longer stop on Fern Avenue and Winster Road has been a huge blow to their independence and ability to get on with their daily lives. To have the service taken away, for whatever reasons, means dozens of people either have to pay relatively huge sums of money to catch a taxi, or even worse, cannot afford to leave their homes. I have written to both TM Travel and Stagecoach highlighting the need for these people’s concerns to be addressed, and I look forward to working with the local community here in Middlecroft to demand that elderly and less mobile people are not ignored on this issue”.

He added:-

“I refuse to accept that, between the residents, TM Travel and Stagecoach, a resolution cannot be found to accommodate those people who feel isolated now the buses no longer stop close to their homes”.

The Old Whittington Recreation Ground Youth Empowerment Project celebrated last Friday when it received £190,081 from Big Lottery Fund’s Reaching Communities programme. Toby Perkins, Labour Member of Parliament for Chesterfield, handed over the cheque at the Old Whittington Miner’s Welfare Community Resource Centre when he met to discuss the group’s plans for the capital as it continues to do excellent work with local young people.

The project aims to improve lifestyles, life chances and mental and physical wellbeing through providing a series of activities at its recreation ground. In addition, the project’s youth development worker works closely with local secondary schools and visits during lunchtime to offer a drop in session where young people can go to for advice.

Two youth clubs will be delivered each week on a Monday and Thursday evening. Young people can come and relax and socialise or take part in activities such as table tennis, competitions, arts and crafts and music projects.

School holiday activities will run twice per week (lasting half a day) where young people can decide to do activities such as climbing walls, cooking sessions, bike maintenance and go karting. A meal is provided during this session. Organised family events will also take place.

After presenting the cheque Mr. Perkins said:-

“I was delighted to present the group with such a fantastic sum of money from The Big Lottery, which should guarantee the future of the Project and ensure that the initiative continues to do good work in the local community”.

He added:-

I was also pleased to meet with the Group leaders who have done such a great job in winning the Big Lottery funding and without who the project would potentially not exist for many young people who enjoy and benefit from it”.