Karen Lumley MP recently visited Macedonia under the auspices of the Westminster Foundation for Democracy.  This was not her first visit.  Karen became very familiar with Macedonia while working with WFD during her time as a prospective parliamentary candidate.

The Westminster Foundation for Democracy was established in 1992 to support the consolidation of democratic practices and institutions in developing democracies. WFD specialises in parliamentary strengthening and political party development; works at national, regional and local levels; and is uniquely placed to draw directly on the expertise and involvement of the Westminster political parties.  It is sponsored by the Foreign and Commonwealth Office and is accountable to Parliament for its expenditure.

Karen said of her recent visit “It was a pleasure to visit Macedonia which is wonderful a country striving for improvement. It is a great honour to take an active role to help.”  She is pictured with Hristina Runceva MP: International Secretary of the VMRO-DPMNE youth organisation. Hristina is the Conservative International Office’s main contact for the organisation and running of the WFD programme in Macedonia.

Colonel Bob Stewart MP, one of the best known members of the British Armed Forces, paid a visit to Redditch on Saturday.

He was here to support the town’s MP Karen Lumley at a lunch in Cookhill.

Karen said “Bob is well known and respected in army circles for many great things including leading our forces in Bosnia. He and I are great colleagues in the House of Commons and it was wonderful to welcome him to Redditch.”

Karen attended the Cedars Nursing Home Christmas Party with Deputy Mayor Anita Clayton.

Karen said of the visit “It was lovely to spend some time during this festive period with the residents and staff of Cedars Nursing Home;  I especially enjoyed singing along with everybody to the Christmas music provided by the talented  Phil Sayer. The afternoon concluded perfectly as it started to snow just as we began singing “I’m dreaming  of a white Christmas”; a wonderful time was had by all.”

Karen is photographed with Robert Delaney, Annette Howell and Anita Clayton.

Karen went along to Make A Difference in Redditch.  A number of supporting organisations came together including Age Concern, Disability Action, North Worcestershire DIAL, Redditch Council and Leonard Cheshire to hand out information and advice – plus some mince pies.  There she met several volunteers and supporters.

Karen said “Disability can strike at any age and it’s good to see local organisations being so proactive in helping people.”

Photographed are Dennis Harrison & Nancy Croft.

Karen was pleased to meet again with Mohamed Nasheed, President of the Maldives, who had taken time out of his busy schedule to catch up with Karen and others while visiting London.

Karen said “It was wonderful to meet with the president and hear of all the exciting progress being made in the Maldives following my recent political visit there during their elections. I was most grateful that he took time out of his busy schedule to meet with me and that he asked to hear all about my first few months as a Member of Parliament.”

Karen Lumley MP, along with councillors and students met at the Town Hall recently and were proud to witness the unveiling of a Stained Glass Mural which was created by extremely talented special needs students from NEW College working alongside Birmingham-based arts student Erin Libetta. The mural is to be installed in Redditch’s bus shelters in celebration of the town. This fantastic piece of work stands two metres high and five metres wide, and will be reproduced in several shelters in Redditch for all to see in the coming months.

Karen said: “It was great to meet the people who designed and manufactured the bus shelters and also the students. I look forward to seeing new vibrant bus shelters on my travels around Redditch.”

Artist Erin Libetta is shown unveiling the mural with Mayor Kath Banks, student Dennis Hill, Councillor Juliet Brunner and MP Karen Lumley. (Picture courtesy of Redditch Standard)

Photos courtesy of Redditch Standard

Shhh! Royal British Legion aims to make chart history with its official charity single: ‘2 Minute Silence’.

A campaign by the Royal British Legion has sent an unlikely “song” – a track containing video but no music whatsoever – into the midweek top 20. Proceeds from the single, which is available on iTunes, benefit this year’s Poppy Appeal.  The Royal British Legion is calling on the UK public to send its groundbreaking single to the top of the charts for Remembrance Sunday.  Rather than record a song, the Legion felt the UK public would recognise the poignancy of silence and its clear association with remembrance.

For just 99p the UK public can show their respect, support and thanks to those armed forces personnel who have made sacrifices for us all. The ‘2 Minute Silence’ single will be available for download on iTunes from Sunday 7th November.

Following the Comprehensive Spending Review Fire Chiefs and MPs from Worcestershire and Herefordshire met the fire minister at Westminster to discuss potential cuts to the fire service.

Karen Lumley, Redditch County MP and other local MP’s along with the Fire Minister Bob Neill MP, met with Hereford and Worcester Fire and Rescue Service’s Chief Fire Officer, Mark Yates and director of finance Martin Reohorn on November 11th 2010.

Mr Yates said: “I appreciate the support we have received from our local MPs regarding this matter and feel reassured that the Minister has listened to and understands the challenges that a fire service like Hereford and Worcester faces with its predominantly rural geography.”

He added: “Our grant allocation from government will not be known until the first week of December so until that time I can only work on estimates and a range of different scenarios, but I do know that any significant cuts in the authority’s budget will not be easily dealt with.”

Photographed are: Bill Wiggin, MP for North Herefordshire, Robin Walker, MP for Worcester, Mark Yates, Karen Lumley, MP for Redditch, Bob Neill, Mark Garnier, MP for Wyre Forest, Sajid Javid, MP for Bromsgrove, Harriet Baldwin, MP for West Worcestershire.