"People are deeply disillusioned and turned off by the way politics is conducted these days. A new generation of us face the task of rebuilding trust in Parliament and MPs. That can only be done by hard work at the grass roots - putting people and place before party and getting out and listening to people's day to day concerns."
Launched in the Griffin in Attleborough, the evening is intended to be an informal chance for local people of all political persuasions and none to drop in and meet George and air their concerns. "Over 40 people came to the first event which was very encouraging. Most people dont want to join a political party or go to a political meeting but everyone on Thursday seemed to value the chance to talk through their concerns and find out what I was hoping to do for them if elected. It was also a fun and civilised evening, supporting our local pubs which the Government are neglecting. This is a small way I am trying to re-connect politics with the people we are here to serve."
George is looking to take Politics in the Pub around the whole constituency over the winter months - if you would like to suggest a pub in your neighbourhood which he might visit, please email george@thenorfolkway.co.uk or call 01842 929 748.
"Our local Police need our suport. Like so many communities in Britain, parts of Dereham have been experiencing serious anti-social behaviour and drug and drink related disorder and crime. A small number of people - sometimes even one family - can wreak terror on whole communities. It is essential our Police are given the freedom to fight criminals, and the public given the safeguards to help them."
Norfolk has a great tradition of community self help and volunteering. But too often we lose out on the funding which goes to the big cities. Project Rainbow in Watton is a great example of people voluntarily making a huge difference to their community. They need our support.
George is riding the 130m bike ride in 5 stages, each one promoting a different theme of The Norfolk Way campaign (previous stages promoted the EDP's Shop Here scheme, Post Offices and Pubs.) The tour comprised 25 miles from Litcham to Watton:
- Litcham:seen off by Mike Fuller, owner of The Village Butcher, top local butcher selling all seasonal local produce.
- A thriving village with Post Office, butcher, pub humming with activity as people bought weekend provisions.
- Necton - Met Frank Woodward, Chairman of Necton Parish Chairman, Jane Harding, Chairman Lt Dunham Parish council) and the landlord Dave at the Windmill pub
- Heard about serious local issues: day centres, need for a roundabout on A47, village flooding, and anger at the costs of government "consultations".
- N Pickenham - Met landlord Mike, Councillor Jill Ball and Wil Smith, young entrepreneur founder of TTSR Ground Maintenance, and visited the American War Memorial.
- Heard how the village has lost its Post Office, but a resilient pub (good Sunday lunches), and local councillor fighting to protect services.
- Met Wil Smith - an inspiring example of a young Norfolk entrepreneur building a business from Pickenham
- Ashill - visited Ashill Community Centre and youth club, meeting manager Joice.
- Looked around Ashill's fantastically well equipped community centre with catering, entertainment and sports facilities, and the great youth club helping to provide some amusement for youngsters, and heard how hard it is to raise funds to maintain this facility many villages would love to have.
- Watton - visited The Surge community centre and met:
- Carla Keen, Fran Leveridge, and Harriet from award winning Watton dance troupe Dance Unleashed,
- Fiona Southward, founder, Bev Page, George Boulter from Ecobugs (young environmental voluntary group of students at Wayland High School addressing waste, litter, recycling and environmental issues - keeping the school clean from litter & promoting pollution awareness),
- Tony Abel, Paul and Marion Adcock, Julian Horn, Cllr Claire Bowes and Jan Godfrey (Wayland Partnership)
- PS Ogbourne and PCSO Joe Jermy.
Meeting Head Mervyn Rolfe and students on a visit to Wymondham College, George praised the concept of state boarding schools of which Wymondham is a rare example, and the local Governors, Teachers, Pupils and Parents who make it such a success.
"We need to get away from the stale '2 tier' education system and encourage a diversity of schools to cater for different needs, expand choice and highlight different approaches to driving up school standards" said George.
"Wymondham College is a great example of a state school which is delivering an excellent education within the state system with an ethos of excellence, choice and mixed provision which we need more of".
An amateur Charity Concert was held at Salle Church on Saturday 24th October in aid of the We Care Appeal which now stands at £950,000. There is now a big push to reach the £1 million mark.
A great show was put together by The Old Wild Rovers and David Hardy who sang sea shanties and traditional and popular folk music supported by Norfolk's finest and funniest performers. Special visual effects of a golden maritime age brought the evening alive as well as a fantastic light show performance outside the church.
The aim of the EDP We Care Appeal is to raise £1 million to establish an enduring Charitable Trust, the Norfolk Millennium Trust for Carers, which gives practical and financial support to carers in Norfolk.
'For most people it is a rewarding experience and they do it because they want to. But there are times when the sense of frustration or sheer exhaustion makes their task almost too much to cope with.'Lady Mary Colman, President of the appeal.
For further details please contact Tom Harrison of the Old Wild Rovers (Tel: 07785 731804) or Paddy Seligman, Chairman/Trustee of the EDP We Care Appeal (Tel: 01263 768339).
Eleanor and George raised £450 for Help for Heroes in Norfolk taking part in the 2009 Superhero Challenge which seemed a fitting tribute as it was Armed Forces Day that day too.
He believes that as a result of the generosity of the sponsors the event raised c£5000 for the Quidenham Childrens Hospice.
George said:
"The Norfolk Superhero challenge is a great event which celebrates Norfolk's Nelson heritage and great outdoors in a spirit of adventure: a great antidote to excessive modern health and safety.
"Being Armed Forces day we wanted to do our bit to support Help for Heroes who do such great work looking after our brave service personnel who have given so much for us all."
- Started 3 years ago by Mark Lapping and Simon Wilson Stephens. The event begun with 13 teams in 2007 and now has grown to a 40 teams (80 people)
- Organised by Sarah Green and Jessica Lapping
- Small, local and very personal event with fantastic atmosphere and genuine true amateur spirit.
- Based at Burnham Overy Staithe, Norfolk. The event takes participants through the creeks at Overy, around some of North Norfolk's most beautiful scenery and along Holkham's spectacular beach.
- Event consists of: 1 mile swim up the creek from Gun Hill, 4 mile kayak through Overy and Norton creeks, 40 mile bike ride and a 8 mile run along to Holkham and back to Burnham Overy Staithe via the beach with the final mile across the muddy marshes.
Prizes:
- the Lord Nelson Trophy for the fastest male team,
- the Dame Edna Shield for the fastest mixed team and
- the Lady Hamilton Cup for the fastest all female team.
We also have 2 new trophies this year:
- the Local Norfolk Heroes Trophy donated and created by Big Blue Sky, Wells for the fastest Local team, and
- the Centenarian Cup donated by Rosalind English for the fastest team with a combined age over 100!
There were 3 teams this year with a combined age of over 100.
The event does not force competitors to raise money but the organisers try and make some money through the event and this year chose to donate any surplus to EACH- figures not yet finalised but hopefully near £5000
We had a lot of support from local businesses who offered equipment or prizes to help cover costs of the event.
These include:
- Fat Birds Don't Fly in Hunstanton
- Big Blue Sky, Wells
- Paragon Print and PAkaging and Paragon Flexibles
- Lyngs Country Goods, Great Massingham
- Elgoods Brewery, Norwich City
- Tesco, Fakenham
- Adnams Wine, Holkham
- The Hoste Arms, Burnham Market
- The Dabbling Duck, Great Massingham
- Barsbys Produce
- Preva Produce
- The Crown, Rudham
- Mr and Mrs Edwards
- Hallgarten Wine
- Annas of Burnham Market
- Gun Hill, Holt and Burnham Market
- Ketts Country Cottages, Fakenham
- Edward Parker Wines
- Country Fairs Office
The event would not be possible without the huge support of many people locally both on land and sea who help to marshal the event including the Wensum Canoe Club who were a new addition this year and invaluable with safety in the swim.
Photo: George and his wife Eleanor go the extra mile to support Help for Heroes
"I was delighted that we were able to get Nick Herbert MP to come to meet local farmers in the summit to promote the importance of Agricultural Research and Development to UK plc as well as to our local economy. If we are going to play our part in meeting the global population and sustainability challenge, and rebalamcing our economy away fromover-dependence on the City, we will need to be investing more in our core science and agricultural R+D" said George.
George Freeman, founder of 4D Biomedical, and Nigel Brown, chairman of the Greater Cambridge Partnership, are looking at how to raise the funds.
The pair believe it would provide a boost to the economy of Norwich and the ports of Great Yarmouth and Lowestoft.
Mr Freeman said they want to see if it is feasible to bring together private and public funds to build the line.
'Unlock potential'
"East Anglia has woeful road, rail and broadband links," Mr Freeman said.
"We will never unlock the potential of this region unless we can get around."
He said a Cambridge business investor told him that he was not interested in companies in Norwich because ""they are too difficult to get to".
"Investing in a modern rail, road and broadband infrastructure will allow us to accelerate innovation, spread prosperity, and reduce congestion," he said.
New rail franchise
Mr Brown, who used to work for Cambridge-based investment bank N. W. Brown, said: "You only have to look at the effect which the Victorians had on the districts in which they built their new railway lines.
"Houses, commerce and wealth will always follow. Many new houses are being planned for this region but no one has thought about the communications.
"Many of the trains in the region take longer than they did in the 19th Century."
One option they are looking at is to start a new regional building society, with the power to raise its own new bonds, offering higher yields to investors than government bonds.
Approaching the existing rail operators will be the next stage.
Mr Freeman said if the project were to work it would need the Government to grant a 20 year franchise to run the operating companies and Railtrack businesses.
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The sell-out summit was organised by George Freeman, and sponsored and hosted by the award winning Hunters Hall conference centre at Castle Farm, Swanton Morley.
George Freeman, founder of the Norfolk Way campaign, said: "Our small businesses are the lifeblood of our economy. Whilst irresponsible regulators and bankers in London are bailed out with billions of pounds of our money, local businesses are being hit by collapsing consumer spending and a refusal by banks to lend. Norfolk's rural businesses are hit especially hard.
"Over recent years our leaders in London have forgotten that finance is just the oil of the real economy engine. We need to get back to a more balanced and sustainable economy in which finance is the servant of real business.
Mark Prisk MP, Shadow Minister of State for Small Business, said: "Government needs to recognise the difference between the Banking crisis, and the Real Economy crisis it is now causing. Well run businesses are now being crippled by the regulatory failures which have allowed greed, cheap credit and speculative financial engineering to get out of control. We supported the Government in its urgent action to prevent banking collapse, but we believe too little attention is now being spent on preventing a crisis in the real economy - which the banks ultimately rely on."
