Julia Lopez, the Member of Parliament for the Hornchurch & Upminster constituency, visited a number of charities at this year’s Conservative Party Conference which matter most to residents.
This year’s Conservative Party Conference in Birmingham brought together dozens of charities and organisations which residents have written in about during the last year, presenting the ideal opportunity for Julia to hear more about their work and how she could support as an MP.
High on the agenda were visits to The British Heart Foundation, Marie Curie, Dementia UK, Guide Dogs and Cancer Research.
Starting with her meeting at the British Heart Foundation, Julia heard about their campaign to address the ‘UK Heart Care Crisis’ and push for better prevention, focus on minimising waiting lists and breakthroughs for cures and treatment.
The BHF estimated that around 10,000 people throughout the Hornchurch & Upminster constituency suffer from a heart or circulatory related illness.
Mrs Lopez then visited Marie Curie to hear about their work to fix end of life care and ensure that everyone gets the support they need in their final days. Ensuring that people have good end of life support has been a key priority for Julia, having recently also dropped into the hospice funding event in Parliament to show her support for St. Francis Hospice.
A cause which residents often write to Julia about is Cancer Research UK. Julia met with the organisation to discuss the important work the charity is doing to both prevent cancer and improve survival rates for those who are diagnosed with the disease. Their campaign ‘a turning point for cancer’ is focussed on reducing wait lists for those diagnosed with the disease, as well as working to minimise the number of preventable cancers.
Many residents also wrote to Julia about visiting Dementia UK to hear about the important work that the charity does to support people in Hornchurch & Upminster living with the condition. Havering has one of London’s oldest populations and so their work is particularly valuable for many residents locally.
The final stand which residents wrote to Mrs Lopez asking her to visit was Guide Dogs, one of the UK’s leading sight loss charities. Julia visited the Guide Dogs stand to hear about their Open Doors campaign, raising awareness about the devastating impact of guide dog owners being illegally turned away from businesses and services.
Commenting after conference, Julia said:
“I’m pleased to have been able to come along and speak to a number of charities at this year’s Party Conference. Residents often write to me, asking that I speak to the charities that matter most to them and offer my support as their Member of Parliament. It’s been a privilege to speak to a few of those charities today and I’d like to thank them for taking the time to tell me about their campaigns.”
