I began my day by meeting a couple of young entrepreneurs who are looking to create a new online educational resource. Their drive and ambition was admirable and I am looking forward to finding out how I can help them achieve their long term aim. I then met for coffee with a couple of young students who live East Ham. The first student returned to Newham after studying at Cambridge whilst the second has lived in East Ham all his life. All three of these meetings just proved how much the young people in Newham have to offer.

I then had a discussion with representatives from the British Heart Foundation. They have recently launched a new campaign called Hearty Lives and have chosen Newham as one of the pilot Boroughs, the other being Dundee in Scotland! Cardiovascular diseases are one of the biggest killers in Newham so the funding, expertise and opportunities afforded by this campaign are something that we must grab with both hands. I am sure that Hearty Lives be a great platform for us all to help in improving health in Newham.

Afterwards, I travelled to Stratford where I met with members of the London Development Agency. We discussed how the Olympics are helping those in East Ham find jobs and to build on their existing skills base so they will benefit far beyond 2012. A new set of employment figures are due to be published very soon and I shall be hoping that Newham continues to reap the benefits in the run up to the Games. We also discussed legacy, specifically the new Olympic Legacy Development Company which was recently formed and will be chaired by Labour Peer Baroness Ford.

I then moved onto a meeting with some representatives of a marketing company who write and publish a magazine aimed at the Congolese community. We discussed how we can help these people integrate into British society and increase their employment  credentials.

I then visited West Ham Football Club to see how their new initiative, Communicating for Success, is progressing.  The programme is based at West Ham’s state-of-the-art Learning Zone and allows the children to participate in sports such as football, athletics and gymnastics whilst also affording them an invaluable opportunity to improve their IT literacy and communication skills.

Later, I met visited the Medical Centre in Church Road, Manor Park where I met with one of the GPs based there. We discussed how we can tackle health inequalities within Newham, in particular, how we can improve access to health care to asylum seekers and the homeless.

Afterwards I had a meeting with representatives from the UK Border agency. We had a very constructive time together and discussed the recent restructuring within the Home Office. The change in structure will hopefully leave to quicker decisions being made on asylum claims.

I ended the day with an advice surgery in East Ham Town Hall.