Blogging will be light....

.....or even non existent over the next two weeks. Tomorrow I will be joining a group of volunteers from the Conservative party in Rwanda who are working on a five separate projects and I will be helping with Rwandan businesses. I have decided not to take my laptop and I am unsure when I will have access to a PC so I am reverting to pen & paper to keep a diary of my activity & observations while I am there & will post a full account when I get back.

Never having previously visited Africa, I was very interested to hear from last year's volunteers about their work and what they found and I am really pleased to have the time to go this year. I have been provided with some useful and interesting background about the genocide that took place in 1994 and expect to be moved by the memorials we will be visiting. I will be interested to see how much the people I meet are keen or willing to speak about that time. I have done some research on two of the businesses I will be visiting, one of which is a manufacturer of toilet tissue called Supa which is a product range I am very familiar with from my Central Catering Supplies days, and the second is a producer of pyrethrum, about which I knew nothing until a week or so ago. The company is Sopirwa and their website is here. I am looking forward to meeting the people in both firms and hopefully passing on some of the experience I gained in my business career.

I'm also getting lots of advice from Victoria who spent 6 moths in neighbouring Tanzania during her gap year. Something of a role reversal & she has given me lots of tips & ideas. I know I will miss my family while I'm away, but I'm looking forward to a whole set of exciting new experiences. Lots of details later.

Pledge to reduce knife crime

It seems that barely a day goes by without hearing about another victim of knife crime somewhere in the country. Something that we thought was a feature only of big cities affected our own community a couple of months ago when a young man lost his life after a fight involving knives in the centre of Rugby. For those who say something must be done a knife amnesty is taking place in Rugby now and people, particularly young people are signing a pledge on a wall outside the church where Kevin Wright died. I heard Mark Beech, Reverend of St Andrews speak about his plan for this at the Civic Service and told him how I supported his idea. I was pleased to add my pledge which is to do my best in whatever role I can to make a better future by supporting anything which will reduce this awful crime.

This is an issue we adressed in a survey of opinion we conducted in June, when we identified a great deal of support for Conservative proposals. These include increasing the dection of knives in peoples possession when they are out by increasing the numbers of police on the streets and a stronger deterrent by ensuring that those found in possesion are convicted. Firm law and order stuff, but the appoach which in the long run will make the difference we all want to see.

Pressures of being a candidate

I was saddened to learn that my colleague, Simon Rouse has decided to stand down from his role of Parliamentary candidate in Nuneaton. I understand that the pressure of work and family has meant that Simon has felt unable to keep working in the constituency as hard as he has done so far and he has chosen to allow someone else to take over. This is an enormously courageous decision on his part and I am pleased to see from the ConservativeHome article and comments, including from Chairman John Waine, here, that the sound people of Nuneaton both respect and understand this. From my own experience there in 2005 and now in Rugby, I know just how demanding this role is and I appreciate how lucky I am to be at a later stage in my career and able to concentrate on being a candidate.

Bulkington Carnival

I joined a full set of Bulkington Conservative Councillors at the Carnival on Sunday. This was the third time I attended having been first in 2005 when I was candidate for Nuneaton. With the village transferring to Rugby for the next election it was great to be there again and to see the tradition of the Carnival maintained. We each have buckets as they expect you to work in Bulkington and we each gathered coins which became heavier as the procession travelled further and funds were raised for valuable comunity projects.

Proud Dad

I spent yesterday in Newcastle at our daughter, Victoria's, graduation ceremony. She received her degree in English Literature from The Chancellor, Lord Patten, who was at one time MP for Bath and who spoke brilliantly, offering great encouragement to Victoria & her friends as they all move off in different directions.

Royal Show

I spent yesterday at the Royal Show where I was able to sympathise with those who believe that the show is becoming less of an agrigultural event than in previous years. Certainly there was less stock around than I have seen before with numbers of sheep dramatically reduced by movements restricted due to the outbreak of blue tounge disease. Most of the farmers I spoke to won't be impressed by today's announcement that there will be no cull of badgers to help deal with the transfer of bovine tb and will see this as just yet more lack of support for what is already a difficult industry to be in.

Binley Woods' Refurbished Pavilion

The village of Binley Woods occupies an important role in my life as that is where I spent the first 17 years of my life. My parents owned three houses there increasing in size with each move as our family grew. On Sunday I was pleased to be invited to the opening of their refurbished pavillion on the playing field where I spent much of my childhood playing football. The opening was conducted by Mayor Bill (as he was introduced by the Chairman of the Parish Council) and all three Councillors representing the village at both Borough and County were there. I met several people who told me they remembered me in short trousers & so had an enjoyable afternoon accompanied by a walk down memory lane.

Veterans Day

On Friday I attended the Veterans Day Celebrations organised by the Bulkington Branch of the Royal British Legion. Veterans Day is a nationwide celebration of the contribution made by all who have served in the Armed Forces as a way of raising public awareness. I know from my time as candidate in Nuneaton (when Bulkington was part of that constituency) just how hard working the British Legion is there and the event consisted of a service in St James Church where I enjoyed the address by the Venerable Ian Watson, Archdeacon of Coventry, himself a former military man, followed by the laying of wreaths and a march past by the Coventry Ex Servicemens Corps of Pipes & Drums, 30th Signal Regiment from Bramcote and many others. It was a formal event which caused me to consider the role of the military today and the tasks we ask them to perform and gave me the opportunity to meet up with many friends from the Nuneaton side of Rugby constituency.