Since first being elected to serve the community that shaped me, I’ve worked hard to both drive investment into our towns and communities but also showcase our corner of the country On Friday, I was pleased to welcome the Shadow Secretary of State for Wales to Delyn and demonstrate ongoing investment into our area.
It was good to share the plans for the £31 million redevelopment of the Argoed High School as part of a new Mynydd Isa Campus bringing together the primary and secondary schools whilst on a visit to the Argoed High School. This was particularly poignant for Jo, who was a pupil at both schools when she was growing up in Bryn y Baal. I also took the opportunity to show Jo around Flint along with local councillors to see first-hand investment in council housing and the state of the art Llys Raddington Extra Care Facility – made possible through investment from and join working between the Welsh Government and Flintshire County Council.
The visit ended with a tour of Theatr Clwyd, the jewel in the crown of North Wales, with Executive Director Liam Evans-Ford, talking us through the improvements and all that the theatre will have to offer alongside the new theatre village that will welcome visitors through the course of the redevelopment. It was great to see behind the scenes of an asset that has – like many of us – personal significance for both myself and Jo. Thanks to the funding and support of Arts Council Wales, Flintshire County Council and Welsh Government, the future of the theatre for generations to come looks set to be secured.
I’ll continue to do all I can to give our communities a voice and work with others to tackle the issues we face, as well as attracting new investment and opportunities to the area. Whether that is working with the Welsh Government and the new North Wales Transport Commission on building greener, more sustainable transport options, or supporting businesses to create good quality, well-paid employment.
Over the weekend I joined FlintShare at their Potato Day event in the Daniel Owen Centre which gave gardeners, allotment owners and anyone interested the chance to buy different potatoes, seeds, herbs, fruit, plants and more whilst encouraging others to grow their own. The aim of FlintShare as a social enterprise is to produce food locally which can be grown and shared by their members, making people think about where their food comes from and how they can be more sustainable. There are currently three growing sites in Flintshire – Cilcain, Northop and Hawarden and you can find out more at www.flintshare.org.
Leader readers will know that I come from a trade union background. It was the trade unions that not only shaped my values, but gave me my voice and made me who I am today. This week we celebrate “Heart Unions Week” – a chance to reflect on all the good work our trade unions do for our workplaces and wider communities.
Later this week I’ll be visiting workplaces to hear about the support that their union has given them in fighting for better pay, terms and conditions, as well as the impact being a member has had on them in their community. Our trade unions continue to back us outside of work too – fighting for legislative changes to make our country fairer, supporting activities in our local areas and helping to look out for our general health and well-being.
This year’s theme is “every worker needs a trade union”. You may think that you don’t need to right now, but I’d encourage everyone to join a trade union because we all know we’re better off working together collectively for a better workplace and a better Wales.
Get in touch and I’ll do my best to help
If you have an issue you’d like to speak to me about, I will do my best to help.
You can drop me a line by emailing Hannah.blythyn@senedd.wales or get in touch by using the contact form on my website: www.hannahblythyn.cymru/contact.