I was really pleased to present Alex with a prize from the House of Commons to congratulate her for winning my 2007 Christmas card competition. I presented the prize at a special school assembly where I also listened to an introduction from school council representatives and answered questions from pupils about my role as an MP.

It was really hard to pick a winner this year but I loved Alex’s picture of the tired reindeer who has obviously had a busy night. I’ll now be sending hundreds of Alex’s picture to people here and round the country.

I was invited to open the newly refurbished branch of Barclays on Bank Street, Castleford.

It was great to see the shiny refurbishment with new facilities for local customers.

It was great to visit Mr Booth who received a Warm Front Grant to help him keep warm this winter.

With winter closing in and fuel bills rising small measures like fitting a ‘jacket’ on your hot water tank can cut heat loss by 75% and make a huge difference. And a Warm Front grant like Mr Booth’s can help make the big changes, making sure people keep warm whilst saving money too.

Mr Booth received a new gas central heating system through the Warm Front scheme.

I was really pleased to be invited to Redhill Junior School to talk to pupils about Road Safety Week.

It was great to see the kids getting so involved in such an important issue and the messages that they put in their posters were very hard hitting.

I was also really interested to hear their views on road safety and was surprised to hear how many had friends who had been involved in a road accident, which shows just how significant an issue this is

I was delighted to open the new deaf and hearing impaired base and new reception at Castleford High School.

Cas High School is going from strength to strength, achieving great results this summer despite the difficulties caused by the fire. The new deaf and hearing impaired base and reception are a real boost.

I was pleased to meet A-level law students from New College, Pontefract when they visited Parliament. Lots of students see Parliament on the news and learn about it at school so it was great to welcome the students to Parliament so they can see what for themselves what it’s really like.

The Year 12 group watched questions in the House of Commons, had a tour of parliament and climbed Big Ben. I also got to speak to them about my job as an MP and answer their questions.

I’m always happy to arrange tours of Parliament or Big Ben for anyone interested. Please get in touch with my office or email me for more details.

It was great to open the fish pass and pull the winning cards for the 10 children who will be in the first party to cross the new bridge.

We’ve got the first salmon in Castleford for over 100 years! It’s brilliant that alongside the bridge and new development we’re also seeing investment to improve wildlife in our area so, the lucky kids who’ll be first to cross the bridge will also be able to see the great improvements to the river and wildlife.

I was delighted to be invited to open Wakefield and District’s Housing new Castleford Service Access Point.


The new Access Centres are great and mean people can get help and advice with their housing problems here on the high street. Unlike some of the old offices, it felt more like a high street estate agents!

Photo shows Yvette cutting the opening ribbon outside WDH Service Access Point, Castleford.

I was delighted to cut the first turf for the new Wakefield Skills Xchange at Glasshoughton.

Too many of our teenagers round here still drop out of education and don’t get the experience and skills they need. So the new campus in Glasshoughton is a fantastic opportunity to give our teenagers new state-of-the-art facilities in an exciting location

I am calling on national and local transport bosses to join forces and deliver a new station at Pontefract Monkhill as part of Pontefract’s regeneration process.

Monkhill is an important station, but can still feel really isolated and unsafe at night.

Pontefract’s regeneration offers a great opportunity to make major improvements at Monkhill station to meet growing demand because we need better public transport to make the regeneration work. And it’s time to increase services to Leeds and step up the campaign for a direct route to London too.

Its really good news that the Prince of Wales hospice in Pontefract has been awarded a grant of almost £300,000 from the Department of Health. The money will be used to improve facilities within the lymphoedema clinic and to refurbish the reception area.

The Prince of Wales hospice makes an incredible contribution to our community so this new Government money is extremely welcome. But the hospice still needs local people to become Nursing Angels through monthly donations to help pay for their vital work.

Go to www.pwh.org.uk or call the hospice’s fundraising team on 01977 708868 to find out more.

It’s great news that a new free ATM has now been installed in Chequerfield Circle. This is a great result for residents who will be to able to access their money for free without having to go into town.

I launched a campaign back in January calling for a free cash machine in this location after a national report said that local people are missing out compared to other towns. But the report also highlighted Whitwood as a place where some local people are over a kilometre away from a convenient free ATM. So we need to identify a spot there that’s as good as this one.

I have joined forces with Lord Lofthouse and the Pontefract and Castleford British Legions to call for proper recognition for the Bevin Boys. The Prime Minister has said that the Government is planning to give formal thanks to those who were conscripted down the pits as part of the war effort.

Alongside all those who worked in vital industries at home during the Second World War, the 48,000 Bevin Boys were central to Britain’s victory.

But as yet, they have never received recognition. The Veterans Lapel Badge which was introduced last year has proven to be very popular I know how much former Bevin Boys would value a similar measure.

It was a great pleasure to meet and congratulate local students who successfully took part in Aim Higher event at Knottingley High School.

The event was designed help raise awareness of science and engineering in higher education.

The girls from local high schools were set the challenge of designing and building their own hovercrafts, and from the photos I was shown it looks like they did a fantastic job.

I was invited with Mayor Darran Travis to meet pupils from Three Lane Ends primary school. We had a very interesting discussion about the local community.

In particular, the pupils wanted to show us the local playground and talk about what improvements could be made.

I am campaigning to raise awareness of a new tenancy deposit protection scheme to protect private renters from unfairly losing their deposits to dodgy private landlords.

Every year, too many unlucky private renters lose hundreds of pounds to unscrupulous landlords who keep their deposits without justification.

But under a new law coming into force on 6 April, all new deposits will have to be protected through a Government-approved scheme.

Landlords who don’t comply will be sanctioned.

It was great to see such a good turnout despite the bad weather at the first of my local Maximise Your Benefits events with the Eaga Partnership.

Many found out they were entitled to new or additional benefits and people really valued the opportunity to talk through their personal benefits with experts.

Plenty of other useful tips were also shared, like how to make homes more energy efficient or how to open a Child Trust Fund.

I’m pleased that many people left knowing they’ll have more money each week than before and I am looking forward to future events in Pontefract
and Knottingley.

I am calling for a new free cash machine for Chequerfield Circle after a report has said that local people are missing out compared to other towns.

Chequerfield has two charging cash machines inside the local shops. But local people have to pay £1.50 every time they withdraw £10 when other areas get access free.

The Government has announced that 600 non-charging ATMs will be installed in areas most in need across the country. I want LINK to seriously consider The Circle as part of their review. To submit a site, click here: atm/access to cash