There were a lot of entries of an extremely high standard to the 2020 Mid Norfolk Parliamentary Christmas Card Design competition, and I am especially delighted to announce that the winner was Ethan Matheus, Age 6, Wicklewood School..”Stay safe this Christmas.”

The standard of entries reflects the hard work put in by all pupils and, of course, the inspiration of their teachers across our area.

Ethan receives a £20 book token this year, with Toby Aldridge ,George Balls-James and Isaac Mountfield-Smith receiving a £10 book token to be redeemed at Wymondham’s Kett’s Books..

You can view the winning design, ‘”Stay Safe This Christmas “, and the highly commended entries below:

The UK’s Net Zero commitments to Offshore Wind will make the Southern North Sea the global hub of wind energy production.

That’s why I am delighted to be continuing my leading role in the campaign calling for a proper strategic plan for connecting offshore wind power – alongside a number of Norfolk and Suffolk MPs.

Yesterday, the Government released its Energy White Paper, titled “Powering Our Net Zero Future” (see here) and Page 80 made for some very positive for all of us who have been working so hard on this over the past couple of years or so – including the many campaigners, landowners, businesses and residents involved from the East of England.

This White Paper clearly re-emphasises that we’re winning the argument and I am committed to working with colleagues to drive forward efforts to make sure that we get the right strategic plan in place for connecting this much needed, green offshore wind power.

Friday was a great day of socially distanced, Covid compliant visits and meetings around Mid Norfolk.

• Visit to Wymondham Friday Market to chat to stallholders and customers.

• Meeting with two local GPs at Wymondham’s Town Green Garden Café to discuss about their experiences during Covid and listen to their concerns and suggestions going forward.

• Visit to The Swan Pub in Gressenhall to catch up with the marvellous Save Our Swan! campaign team and hear how they are moving forward with their plans to renovate and reopen the pub (learn more about their successful campaign here and here).

• Popped into the Gressenhall Village Store to hear how the team have coped during Covid.

• Joined the Chief Constable’s briefing on County Lines for Norfolk MPs to learn more about the outstanding work our brave police are doing to combat drugs gangs in our region.

• Visit to Wymondham Abbey

• Back to the office for Wymondham Conservative branch’s Zoom meeting and Zoom Surgery meetings.

Pubs are so often at the heart of our communities and rural heritage, playing a key part in keeping our villages and towns vibrant.

That’s why, as part of my ongoing work to support our local pubs, I went to Gressenhall this past Friday to meet with Alex Begg and the Save Our Swan! campaign team for a socially distanced, Covid compliant catch up.

The campaign has been a marvellous success this year and hopes to see The Swan pub in the village renovated and reopened for the local community next year.

To learn more, please watch the video below – and visit my previous updates here and here

(Please excuse the poor sound quality for the first 15 seconds or so!)

To see these first vaccinations in Norfolk is a special moment.

A moment of hope, relief and joy for us all at the end of a terrible year. Relief for both the most clinically vulnerable – AND all the local businesses being bust by Covid, who need our High Streets, pubs and clubs to be open again.

And a reminder of the importance of our biomedical life science industry.

To see the EDP article today, please click here

Yesterday marked a rare visit to Parliament (emerging from my Mid Norfolk isolation) to meet the Chancellor, the Rt Hon Rishi Sunak MP, to talk about how we can turbocharge an innovation and enterprise recovery to #BuildBackBetter after Covid.

Mid Norfolk, and the East, is uniquely placed to embrace many of the industries and opportunities of tomorrow – with the Norwich Research Park, Hethel Innovation, A11 Tech Corridor and a host of other world leading small, medium and large sized businesses and initiatives all here around us.

That’s why I am doing all I can to promote this. If we grasp these opportunities and get them right, we can bring prosperity and jobs to our region, give our youngsters greater prospects and spark a #RuralRenaissance that ensures our towns and villages, and our High Streets, thrive.

Having spent fifteen years helping small businesses get off the ground before coming to Parliament and having previously served as a Business Minister for two years, I am a passionate supporter of Small Business. It is the true engine of our local, and national, economy.

One of my central missions since becoming an MP has been to promote hard-working entrepreneurs and small business owners in our area by trying to give them a stronger voice, and the support they need. To do this, I set up my Local Business Spotlight on my website, Rural Enterprise Bursaries and my ‘The Norfolk Way and The Norfolk Enterprise Festival’.

This year ‘The Norfolk Enterprise Festival’, teamed up with the New Anglia Local Enterprise Partnership to deliver the RESTART Festival.  The festival took place virtually, delivering two days of free, informative, and exciting sessions to give Norfolk and Suffolk’s businesses the support they need to kickstart and consolidate their recovery from the impact of the pandemic.

There was a vast array of speakers and presentations, as well as our third annual Angels Den (with £10,000 of business support from our sponsors). 

To learn more and to watch the talks back, please visit the website here: RESTART website.

I have also been a keen supporter of our local markets, and regularly visit local businesses to hear how my colleagues and I in Westminster can help them continue to grow and prosper. During this incredibly difficult year, I have made sure to advise, support and keep in touch with as many businesses as possible, as well as arranging several zoom calls, email surveys, and touching base with the Local Enterprise Partnership and Local Business Forum.

Small businesses are KEY to driving what I call a ‘Rural Renaissance’ in our area and I am delighted to be supporting ‘Small Business Saturday’ once again this year.

I would encourage everyone to take the time to visit safely and get behind their local shops and businesses.

To read more about the ‘Norfolk Enterprise Festival’, please click here