Last weekend was enjoyable starting with a visit to the Fete at St. Barnabas School which was well attended. One could vent one’s anger on the plate smashing stall and then have the sheer delight of watching tiny children being shepherded through old English country dances. 

In the evening I went to the charity concert given by Stourport Choral and Operatic Society in St. John’s Church. I was delighted by the quality of the singing by choir and soloists. Handel and Mozart arias were performed as successfully as items by Edward German and Gershwin. The stunning Pentecostal flower arrangements overflowing all parts of the church added a superb background to the music and completed the evening. 

Sunday was a day with the family and included a brief visit to Upton Warren, Worcestershire Wildlife Trust’s nature reserve, to check on the redshank, lapwing and avocet chicks.

Monday was a good example of a day when I had to choose between events in London and events at home. I thought the Chancellor could make his speech on the Euro without my presence as I could catch up with it from Hansard. In preference I visited Sladen Church of England Middle School and was impressed to see the progress Headteacher Tom Revell is making. As an example of his thoroughly practical approach his first action on arriving at the school which was then in special measures was to totally refurbish the pupils’ toilets. Now they are exemplary, lockable, and for the girls even decorated with flowers, and they have remained in this state I understand for about two years. The rest of the school is being carpeted where suitable and decorated in bright cheerful colours. It has long come out of special measures thanks to the Head and his dedicated staff and the children are bright, happy and well behaved in ideal surroundings for learning.

After that I had a useful meeting with David Evans, the Project Director of the Diagnostic and Treatment Centre at Kidderminster Hospital. It is so important that Health Service managers realise that they can never make up to us for the loss of our Charter Mark Acute General Hospital and that instead of trying to dress up the Diagnostic and Treatment Centre as something better than we had, they promote it to us as a development that will bring back a wide range of services here that will gradually increase. We do not want to hear of its Eden Project style roof but what is in it and how it will work to prevent us having to go out of the area for bread and butter services.

R.T.