I began a sunny Friday in East Ham by meeting with a constituent who is currently awaiting the outcome of an immigration case, and who wished to discuss with me the possibility of doing some community work to fill his time whilst the case is being decided. I thoroughly applaud his initiative and contributory spirit, and hope that our meeting was helpful.

My next visit was to a conference in celebration of Black History Month, focussing on the greatly appreciated input of black majority churches in the community life of East London and the nation as a whole. I spoke on the subject of faith as a starting point for politics, the good work of black majority churches in providing cohesion within the community, and encouraged the churches to see the need to influence policy. I enjoyed the music provided by some of the young people from the churches very much!

Following this I travelled to the Starbucks in Stratford to celebrate the opening of the business as the first CitySafe Haven in Stratford. This project has been chosen as the London Citizens group’s priority for the year, and aims to encourage local businesses towards 100% reporting of crime, and to be open as havens to people who feel they may become victims of violent crime. This project demonstrates something some of our media outlets would have us believe does not exist: young people involved in preventing, not committing, violent crime.

Next I travelled to meet with a number of East Ham’s senior citizens at an event organised by Age Concern. The event was a aimed at gathering opinion and encouraging debate on the subject of the Government’s current Care and Support Green Paper for a new national care service. I was there to explain the concept of a green paper to those unfamiliar with it. I look forward to updates on the results of the consultation.

A visit to Anchor House was my next appointment: the work this hostel is doing in encouraging a sense of self-worth and ownership amongst homeless people is outstanding. I had previously known it as the hotel in which my parents stayed during my wedding many years ago: today, despite having lower funding levels, they have managed to get 39 previously homeless people into employment last year, and 33 into long-term accommodation. They have ambitious plans for improving their facilities and capacity, and I fully support them as a paradigm for charities of this sort.

From here I travelled to meet with a local Neighbourhood Watch group, to discuss their concerns about anti-social behaviour in their area. I am confident that I can help them, by communicating with the council, to solve these issues and return their streets to a state of peace and safety.

My final two visits were meetings with two different yet inspiring individuals. The first was Mr Andrew Woodhead, Chief Executive of the Newham University Hospital. He has informed me of the good news that the hospital has improved in both quality and use of resources, and is on track to do so again this year. The second meeting was with a young man whose social enterprise is aimed at encouraging other young people to lead healthier lives through sport. We discussed avenues of funding and ways in which I could support his ideas.