Please support Harlow Talking Newspaper’s bid to be the East of England’s Digital Hero

Voting is open for East of England Digital Heroes and I am calling on people to vote for Harlow Talking Newspaper.

Should Harlow Talking Newspaper be one of the 12 UK charities to benefit from£70,000 worth of technology grants from TalkTalk it will spend its grant on new digital recording equipment.

Jenny Lushington, a volunteer at Harlow Talking Newspaper for the blind and partially sighted, is up against two other regional finalists to be named the East of England’s Digital Hero after being nominated by Harlow MP Robert Halfon.

Harlow Talking Newspaper does such great work in the local community and it would be marvellous if they could receive enough support to be awarded the £5,000 grant.

I have twice volunteered at Harlow Talking Newspapers during my Social Action Week and have been amazed at the efforts that go into producing the weekly recordings which are circulated to many people in the local area.

To vote for Harlow Talking Newspaper go to http://www.talktalk.co.uk/digitalheroes/ and follow the links to the regional entries.

Eleven of the Digital Heroes winners will win £5,000 to put towards enhancing their digital project while one overall winner, determined by a judging panel, will receive a grand prize of £10,000.
All 12 winners also get free broadband from TalkTalk for 12 months.

Jenny has been a volunteer at Harlow Talking Newspaper for the blind and partially sighted since the first edition in 1979, and is now vice chairperson.

She organises rotas of volunteers and still reads out stories from the local newspapers, onto memory sticks which are distributed every Friday morning.

Jenny said: "The Harlow Talking Newspaper runs as an efficient team each person contributing to the whole, so in voting for me you would in reality be voting for the whole team of volunteers who regularly give up a few hours of their time year in and year out to provide a sound recording for the blind and partially sighted people of Harlow."
Voting is open until Sunday, November 18.

Supporting campaign for free meals for college students

I am supporting the Association of College’s No Free Lunch? campaign calling on the Government to extend the provision of free meals to college students.

If a 16 to 18-year-old from a disadvantaged background studies in a school sixth form, Academy or Free School they are provided with a free meal.

If the same student chooses to study at a further education or sixth form college they lose that entitlement.

I sponsored Nic Dakin MP’s Bill before Parliament and spoke in favour in a Commons debate on the issue earlier this year.

This disparity which sees students treated differently according to where they choose to study is inherently unfair.

I fully support the No Free Lunch? campaign and hope that this issue can be resolved as soon as possible so that all students in my constituency are treated equally.

The Association of Colleges has lodged a petition on the Number 10 website calling for an end to this unfairness.

To sign the petition, go to http://epetitions.direct.gov.uk/petitions/31069

WEEKLY NEWSLETTER - Backing call for tougher sentences for killer drivers

HIGHLIGHTS - Backing call for tougher sentences for killer drivers
TOUGHER SENTENCES FOR KILLER DRIVERS - I have given my support to a new campaign to introduce tougher penalties for dangerous drivers who kill. The website www.StopDangerousDrivers.com was launched last week with the backing of victims’ families, charities and cross party support in Parliament... Read more

FUEL DUTY - Once again I have raised the issue of the planned increase in fuel duty in the House of Commons. During a debate this week I again highlighted that the Treasury's planned 3p fuel duty rise in January will cost motorists an extra £60 a year.

BEER PRICES - During a debate in the House of Commons I was able to highlight the issue of rthe cost of beer, as part of a debate on the cost of living. I recently attended the Campaign for Real Ale’s Harlow beer festival, which was supported by small independent breweries. I believe that the big breweries have a role to play in the cost of beer generally and that we need evidence to understand whether they are partly responsible for keeping beer prices high.

SMALLER SHOPS IN HARLOW - I was sent  a fact sheet,by the Association of Smaller Shopkeepers giving some useful facts about smaller shops in Harlow.. To read the fact sheet, click here

ROBERT HALFON’S DIARY

Met with James Smith at Harlow Enterprise Centre office

Attended Grandparents' Association event at the House of Commons

Welcomed Nigel Hall and Ben, Winnie and Michael Kibirango for a tour of the House of Commons

Met with representatives from three Harlow-based businesses with a shared vision on personal development

Held a constituents' surgery at the Citizens Advice Bureau, Harlow

Met with Harlow Council chief executive Malcolm Morley

Met with members of Epping Forest Youth Council and Harlow Youth Council at the Civic Centre, Harlow

Met with Harlow TUC secretary David Forman

Campaigning at Coppice Hatch stall with Clive Souter

Met with Barn Mead residents, Harlow

Robert Halfon's latest media releases

Harlow MP Robert Halfon backs campaign to give killer drivers tougher sentences:
A new campaign to introduce tougher penalties for dangerous drivers who kill has been given support by Harlow MP Robert Halfon... Read more 

Robert Halfon's latest media coverage

THE SUN WEBSITE - Handout plea over fuel duty: Fuel duty could be frozen if ministers axed handouts for rich pensioners and cut benefit fraud, an MP has claimed... Read more

HARLOW STAR (1-11-12 edition, p8) – MP hails ‘fantastic’ turnout for biggest-ever jobs fair: More than 1,500 jobseekers flocked to Harlow Leisurezone for free career advice at the town’s biggest-ever recruitment event…

HARLOW STAR WEBSITE - Hundreds of jobseekers attend Harlow's biggest-ever recruitment fair: More than 1,500 jobseekers flocked to Harlow Leisurezone for free career advice at the town’s biggest-ever recruitment event... Read more

TELEGRAPH WEBSITE - George Osborne's 3p rise in duty 'will squeeze households for years': George Osborne's planned 3p increase in petrol duty will strain household finances for another three years and cause more pain than it raises in tax, campaigners warned today... Read more

Backing campaign to give killer drivers tougher sentences

I have given my support to a new campaign to introduce tougher penalties for dangerous drivers who kill.

The website www.StopDangerousDrivers.com was launched this week with the backing of victims’ families, charities and cross party support in Parliament.

It aims to pressure the Sentencing Council to review the guidelines which prevent Judges from handing out the tough penalties these killer drivers deserve.

It also asks the Government to consider abolishing the more lenient offence of causing death by careless driving, so anyone whose bad driving results in a death is prosecuted for causing death by dangerous driving.

Figures revealed in support of the campaign show one in three of those convicted of causing death by dangerous or careless driving escape prison.

Such inadequate sentences leave families who are already devastated by the loss of a loved one feeling justice has not been done.

Victims’ families often feel let down by the justice system when a dangerous driver who kills a loved one receives a lenient sentence.

The maximum sentence of 14 years has never been used and only one in ten of those convicted went to prison for more than 5 years. That’s why I’m backing this campaign to give drivers who kill the tough sentences they deserve.

The leading road safety charity Brake is already backing the campaign.

Brake deputy chief executive Julie Townsend said: “This campaign is crucial because letting off drivers who kill with lenient sentences, or sometimes no jail term at all, implies that driving dangerously, even when it results in loss of life and terrible suffering, is only a minor transgression.”

Some useful facts about smaller shops in Harlow

I was sent this fact sheet, by the Association of Smaller Shopkeepers. Some useful information.
RHH

Harlow Jobs Fair

Rob with Job Centre Plus

Rob with Passmores School Students

Rob with McDonalds employees and
Tony Fagg 

Rob with Rainbow People 

Rob with Anglia Ruskin University

Harlow Jobs Fair

Harlow exhibitors setting up

After many months of organising, Harlow Jobs Fair took place on Friday at the Leisure-Zone.

It was a very special day. Not only did eighty-five businesses and local organisations attend, but over fifteen hundred job-seekers came through the doors. The Jobs Fair would not have been. Made possible without the support of Harlow College, Harlow Jobs Centre Plus, SEETEC, Rainbow Services and sponsorship by Tesco's, Smiths and other volunteers like Ian Hudson from the Chamber of Commerce, Mike Jackson and the Deputy Mayor of Bishops Stortford, Cllr Janice Elliot.

We were lucky to have Monster, and other recruitment specialists offering training on CVs and interviews. Companies from Asda to Barclays and our public services in the NHS and armed forces were offering vacancies. Harlow Trade Unions (the local TUC) were also there to offer advice on employment rights.

Around six-hundred jobs have been created this year in Harlow, with the number of apprenticeships up in the past year by seventy-eight percent. But unemployment remains a serious problem, with many finding it very tough to find work. That is why I decided to set up the Jobs Fair - an event I would like to do again in 2013, providing we can raise sponsorship and support.

Hopefully, with the many companies at the Jobs Fair offering employment, Friday's event will have made a real difference.

You can see more HERE on this Video by Harlow TV.

RHH