Bristol North West - My Reality Library! (There's no magic wand...)

Funny what grabs attention. An interview I did with a former Labour MP, Chris Mullin, prompted me to write an article for Conservative Home on why it IS important for MPs to get stuck into local campaigns and local activities.

The talented editor of the Conservative Home site called it "The Importance of Being a Fairy Godmother." The title then prompted an hilarious, if slightly spooky Bristol Post mock up of me, with my face planted on a fairy with 6ft long legs, sitting on a chilly looking piece of bark.

I wasn't going to argue, especially since I would very much like 6ft long legs and a nice pair of wings, but the reason why constituency work, and getting involved in getting stuff done with and for the local community is so important is precisely because it can't be done by waving a magic wand. 

If it could, it might be nice , but you wouldn't learn anything - and although it's tough, and tiring and frequently stomach-clenchingly frustrating doing it 'the long way' ( no wand),  its all that which makes you understand how policy and politics really work in reality, once it leaves that magic bubble of Westminster, where so often people really do think words are the same as actions, and a speech in the House of Commons is the same as a magic wand...

Lamplighters Victory at last!

Celebrating Lamplighters with Champers!

Oh, there were doubters. "It won't happen" people said as we persistently, and possibly rather obsessively campaigned to get the wonderful "Lamplighters Pub" re-opened once again.

It's been a saga.

Back in 2009, it was shut under Enterprise Inns ( one of the big pub companies who are notoriously bad landlords, tie their tenants to buying their beer at hugely inflated prices, charge above market rent and generally seem to see their role as a property manager to pay off their debts, rather than a pub company.)

Hearts sank. It is seldom a pub that shuts ever has a pint poured again.I set up a petition - www.savethelamplighterspub.bristolpetitions.com to try to show a potential buyer that this place was a little gold-mine. ( After a bit of investment)

Then hope arose as Churchill Properties bought the pub and claimed they were adamant it should stay as a pub. But residents had heard that kind of stuff before and took some convincing. However, as a beacon of light ( no pun intended) Churchill Properties were every bit as good as their word - and set about looking for someone to run it as a pub.

Meanwhile, our dear old Lamplighters was being decimated by weather and vandals, and was becoming a far cry from the beautiful historical building we all knew, and turning into a sad disheveled relic. It was soon apparent that the only way it would be a viable venture was if some of its extensive pub garden was granted planning permission for some houses to fund its significant renovation.

That was the next battle. I remember at the 11th hour, just a day or so before the deadline, working with Planning at the Council to try to get it all sorted. And at the 11th hour it was.

But still no buyers...  and now it was 2013.  Four long years had passed.

So if Mohamed couldn't go to the mountain, as the saying goes, the mountain would come to Mohamed. ( In a sort of way) and we decided to see if we could run the pub as a community. I put together a survey for residents to try and find supporters, skills and everything we might need to set about turning it into a community pub. The prospect was somewhat daunting, but it felt like we had no choice, if we weren't to give up.

Then came the shining knights on their metaphorical stallions: Dominic Gundry-White and his wife Kathie. Dominic is business partner with the amazing Norman Routledge, who is currently transforming our beautiful Kings Weston House. They stepped in to buy the pub to turn it into their home, and a successful food-serving family pub.

The only thing to do was to open a bottle of bubbly to celebrate! But there's still a lot of work. If you want to get involved, get in touch with me, and I'll pass your name on to the owners. They will need all the help they can get.

A bottle of bubbly outside a new venture is one thing, we'll all really be celebrating when its a pint from behind the bar of our newly resurrected, much loved Lamplighters Pub. Beacon pub of Bristol. Cheers!

Intermission

Er, slight gap in blogging over the festive period and that horrid damp start to January.... ahem. Talk amongst yourselves...

Christmas Starts Here! Brailsfords light up Brentry

Fireworks go up, as the lights come on

 It's become more traditional than opening your advent calendar; Every year Lee and Paul, the now notorious Brailsford Brothers, light up Christmas for Brentry and Beyond.

Two years ago, they starred in a Channel 4 documentary on Britain's greatest Christmas Lights, and you can read about them this year in our very own Bristol Post.

every year, the Brailsford Bro's add more and more lights!

Very proud. My first Christmas Present. I'm going to wear it in the House of Commons. Shhh...

 I always tell the story of how I  came across Lee in his garage, fiddling around with wires and large snowmen one boiling hot September afternoon, some years ago now, already preparing for Christmas. 

Now the Brailsford Brothers hope to smash the £20,000 mark in raising money for Wallace and Gromit's Grand Appeal.

Gromit's had a big year, this year. But still found time to support @brailsfordxmas

Each year, the spectacle gets bigger and better -this year it was almost hard to get to see the house for the crowds, and as the count-down went off, the fireworks went up. Amazing!  We are also now lucky to have some really brilliant local talent performing to get us all in the festive mood.

This year was a bit special for me- as Lee and Paul gave me my first Christmas present - my very own Brailsford Lights hoodie which I will wear with pride! I've been dared to wear it in the Chamber at the House of Commons. So shhh... watch this space... and don't tell the Speaker...


If you missed the lights - turn-on, don't worry! You can enjoy the festivities again on Christmas Eve, and the lights are on every day until January 3rd between 5-10pm.

You can also donate online at www.brailsfordlights.co.uk 

Or by texting rixy88 and £1, £5 or £10 to 70070.

Boxing Clever for Mental Health and Life Chances With Living Legends

In the presence of Legends! Bristol's Chris Sanigar and Frank Bruno

 It is very seldom you get to meet two boxing legends within two days.
I remember watching the Bruno vs. Tyson fight, and I remember, still with devastation and dread, the Michael Watson fight, that changed the way boxing safety was policed for ever.

Since then, both these living legends have soldiered on through very tough times. Frank's mental health issues were made very public, and doctors said that Michael Watson would never walk or talk again.

But both men are not only walking and talking, they are taking up the fight to help others through the sport they love. Frank Bruno is supporting Empire Boxing Club's new scheme, helping people with mental health, through boxing, in conjunction with the mental health services. I went to a session and saw how uniquely effective boxing can be. 

The amazing Michael Watson: 2nd row, third from the left

Michael Watson was in Parliament to launch "Fight for Change" - a Lambeth based charity, helping young people find a career and a future for themselves through boxing. As professional fighter, Jevon Young said,  "Boxing saved my life. I probably wouldn't be here now if it wasn't for boxing".

The All Party Group on Boxing , of which I am chair, is working on a report to shine light on all these remarkable schemes. I have never, ever seen anything tackle those toughest social challenges like boxing. We waste so much money on interventions to the 'hard to reach' which don't work. For so many, only boxing has the reach, and for so many, it's definitely the right hook.

Find out more:  www.fight4change.org.uk/‎

Or about Empire Boxing Club  HERE