Rutland and Stamford MP Alicia Kearns to welome Strictly Come Dancing star Angela Rippon to county for Great Dementia Conversation

Starting this fortnight with some exciting news, I’m delighted to reveal we will be welcoming Angela Rippon to Rutland later this month for Rutland’s Great Dementia Conversation, writes Rutland and Stamford MP Alicia Kearns (Con).

As a renowned TV and radio presenter, journalist and Alzheimer’s Society Ambassador, I’m sure Angela needs no introduction, so it’s great news she’ll be joined by a panel of experts to share their years of experience on how to make our county more dementia friendly.

‘Let’s Talk About Dementia With Angela Rippon’ is free and open to all on Friday, October 25 from 12.30pm to 2.30pm at The Barnsdale, so please do register for tickets online at www.RutlandDementia.com

Thank you to everyone who stopped by to say hello at my dementia and pension credit market stand in Oakham.

If you’d like to continue our county-wide conversation and become a Dementia Friend, meaning you’re someone who better understands dementia and how to support those living with the condition, we have three one-hour Dementia Friends sessions coming up in October, so please do sign up online.

It’s been a joy to spend so much time in our communities over the past couple of weeks, including having the honour of helping to bury a time capsule at Barrowden’s new Community Hub site.

Last year the Barrowden Village Hall Development Group and I secured £300,000 from the Government’s Community Ownership Fund, and with the help of National Lottery Community Funding, this new hub will provide a meeting place for the village to come together for the next 100 years and beyond. It’s so exciting to see an almost decade-long dream come to reality.

Working with Anglian Water, housing developers and Corby Glen’s Parish Council, together we’ve been making progress on plans to resolve the smells of sewage residents have had to endure for the last year.

Having met recently, we now have a clear plan ahead, and I hope we can end this so Corby Glen residents can enjoy their homes and community.

It was good to have my first meeting with the leader and deputy chief executive of South Kesteven District Council recently to discuss our priorities.

We covered everything from flooding and stopping the stink in Corby Glen, to leisure infrastructure, congestion in Stamford and my concerns about potentially using Canadian Solar as a supplier for the Grantham Meres Leisure Centre.

I always love visiting schools in our communities, especially when I’m challenged with the imagination of primary school pupils during question and answer sessions.

It’s been great to visit Copthill School and Witham Hall School for a tour and meetings with their headteachers.

I had a lovely morning at Rutland’s Men and Women in Sheds recently, a wonderful group for members of our communities to practice and share practical skills, tools and resources on projects of their choice.

If you’d like to try a new hobby, or practice old ones while meeting new people, do give it a go.

Last week I visited Severn Trent’s Langham and Ashwell sewage treatment works for a tour of the sites.

Severn Trent’s region stretches all the way from mid-Wales to Rutland, so it was really interesting to see the sites in action.

It was a pleasure to meet with Stamford Civic Society to learn more about all the wonderful work they do for Stamford, and how we can work together to be a voice for members of our communities.

It was also an honour to attend the official inauguration of the mayor of Stamford in Stamford Town Hall.

Last but not least, I ended a busy fortnight by joining The Barnsdale for the launch of their amazing new wellness facilities – thank you for having me.