I started my day by giving an interview to Premier Radio about my visit later in the day to the Newham Foodbank.  After the interview, I paid a home visit to constituents who live in Elizabeth Road – a couple with three small children who have serious problems in the property they rent.  

I then went to Stratford, to the smart new offices of CDG, a prime provider of employment services under the Government’s new Work Programme in East London.  There have been problems with the early months of the Work Programme, but I was impressed with what I saw at CDG – the only charity to win a Work Programme prime contract.  It is clear that the people at CDG are working hard to try and get people into jobs.  A proportion of Newham jobseekers referred to CDG are referred onward to Community Links in Canning Town, and that connection seems to be working well.  I hope everyone involved will be up to what will be a difficult task given the problems that our economy is having.

Later that morning, I met with three Malaysian young people who are members of the World Shirdi Sai Baba Organisation.  The organisation - which has around 600 members – aims to assist and support the less fortunate in our community by following the teachings of Shirdi Sai Baba.  The three young people I met were all Hindus, but they emphasised that the organisation includes Muslims and Christians too.  The charity has opened a shop at 296-298 High Street North.

In the afternoon, I joined PC Ian Walker and the Metropolitan Police on a walkabout around Stondon Walk.  Following long running complaints about anti-social behaviour from local residents, and with help from Newham Council, PC Walker had been successful in dispersing troublemakers from where they had previously hung around, and local residents were delighted at the improvement in their neighbourhood.  To read more about my walkabout, click here.

That evening – after my surgery at the Beckton Globe – I visited St Mark’s Centre in Beckton to attend the third anniversary celebration for the City Chapel congregation, at the invitation of their pastor Rev Jonathan Oloyede, and to mark with them the presentation of the 2000th food parcel from the Newham foodbank which they run, based at St Mark’s.