Cirencester Primary School

I was extremely pleased to have the opportunity to pay a visit to meet the Headteacher of Cirencester Primary School, Mrs Foster. This school probably has the worst school premises of any in the constituency and at long last, after prolonged lobbying by myself and others, the County Council has granted the school a significant capital sum to enable a substantial refurbishment and rebuild to take place.

I was delighted to be able to view the innovative plans which are in the final stages of approval prior to letting the contract which when completed will make an enormous difference to the school. Notwithstanding the current state of the school buildings, the school has a good Ofsted rating and they are looking forward to expanding in the future.

Upper Rissington Community Liaison Group

I then chaired both a pre-brief and public meeting of the Upper Rissington Community Liaison Group (URCLG). There has been an enormous number of very serious problems with the developers at Upper Rissington and the purpose of this meeting was to ensure that they adhere to the terms of planning conditions.

I noted that there is still important work to do with this development, particularly on the health and safety aspects in the public spaces.

Stratton Court Care Home

I was very pleased to have been invited to the opening of the new nursing home and retirement village at Stratton Court in Cirencester.

Sir Geoffrey Clifton-Brown opening the new Stratton Court Care Home

The complex has 60 en-suite rooms that cater for a range of 24/7 specialist care categories there are also separate palliative, respite and dementia care units with access to their own GP over three floors. This has been a huge development for Cirencester and I have campaigned hard to ensure that this vital new retirement complex has been completed.

Hyperion House Extension

Sir Geoffrey Clifton-Brown breaking the gound of the new extension

Onto Fairford and the Hyperion House care home where I was delighted to begin the construction on the new extension. This £2.5 million project will give Hyperion House a 31-bed extension and create many new jobs for the area. In addition, they are planning a discharge facility in the old building which will help to reduce the burden of hospital bed filling in the NHS.

National Star

Finally, I was honoured to attend the 50^th anniversary gala dinner of the National Star charity held in the wonderful surroundings of Gloucester Cathedral. The National Star College, in my constituency and nationally, does vital work to support young people with the most complex and life-changing disabilities. The gala dinner raised £55,000 for the charity and was excellently hosted by Jeremy Vine.