Meetings with Surrey MPs

As part of a campaign to raise awareness and encourage MPs in Surrey to think about the importance of volunteering in general and youth volunteering in particular, Surrey vinvolved recently hosted individual meetings with the following MPs:

Sir Paul Beresford – Mole Valley
Jeremy Hunt -S W Surrey
Crispin Blunt – Reigate
Phillip Hammond – Runnymede and Weybridge
Peter Ainsworth – East Surrey
Chris Grayling – Epsom and Ewell

The meetings covered a range discussion points and topics and it was very encouraging that these MPs were prepared to take time out of their busy schedules specifically to meet with us. All of Surrey’s MP’s are conservatives, so it was interesting to hear their views on funding the voluntary sector in general and the youth volunteering infrastructure in particular. Whilst in all were generally supportive of the work of Surrey vinvolved and initiatives to engage young people in the county to become more active and employable citizens, two central themes were common to most of the discussions i) there will have to be severe cuts in central government spending after the election which may affect projects like V and ii) targeted initiatives will need to be put in place to address high levels of youth unemployment, and also specifically youth crime and antisocial behaviour.

Any support form MPs is welcome, especially if it will help young people. We were particularly pleased that Phillip Hammond was able to combine the meeting with a visit a project in Chertsey where youth volunteers engaged in helping to renovate a youth centre.