The Bradley Stoke Journal

Filton and Bradley Stoke MP Jack Lopresti is to once again run the Bristol Half Marathon this Sunday (11th September), to raise money for the Royal British Legion (RBL), Stoke Gifford Branch, Poppy Appeal.

The Royal British Legion is the country’s largest welfare charity. It spends £1.4 million every week supporting current and ex-servicemen and their families.

The Poppy Appeal, which actually runs all year, round helps to fund this welfare work.

Mr Lopresti said:

“I have once again been pounding the streets of Filton and Bradley Stoke over recent weeks as part of my final preparations before taking part in the Bristol Half Marathon”

“I will be running this year to raise money for the Stoke Gifford Branch of the Royal British Legion of which I am proud to be a member. As I’m sure you are aware The Royal British Legion provides welfare to the whole Armed Forces family – serving, ex-Service and their dependants.”

“We also campaign on a range of issues affecting Service people, we are the custodian of Remembrance, run the annual Poppy Appeal and are one of the UK’s largest membership organisations, which this year celebrates its 90th Anniversary.”

“The work that the Stoke Gifford Branch does for veterans and their families locally is really crucial and I find the hard work of all the members truly inspirational.”

“If you can give just a small donation towards the fundraising effort for the Legion, every penny really does count and the more we can raise the better.”

Read on to find out how to sponsor Mr Lopresti or help out with the local Poppy Appeal in October and November »

Local MP Jack Lopresti has opened his new constituency office in Bradley Stoke’s Almondsbury Business Park.

The official opening took place on Friday (3rd September), attended by Cllr Janet Biggin, Chair of South Gloucestershire Council, and Cllr Ben Walker, Mayor of Bradley Stoke, along with other local councillors and supporters.

The MP for the constituency of Filton and Bradley Stoke, who entered Parliament on the back of a 6,914  majority in the 2010 General Election, told The Journal:

“After searching for many weeks, it was great to find somewhere accessible and within budget in Bradley Stoke, which was always my preferred location for a constituency office.”

The MP is understood to have initially sought an office at Bradley Stoke’s Willow Brook Centre, but had to drop the plan because the rents asked exceeded his parliamentary allowance.

His chosen office is in the same complex as that of Bradley Stoke Town Council, which, ironically, is currently examining the possibility of moving to a more central location in the town.

The constituency office will house two members of staff – an office manager and a case worker – and will initially be open from 9am to 5pm, although there are plans to introduce a later closing time from 1st October.

Mr Lopresti continued:

“The office will also be a drop-in centre where people can come and see myself or my team if they need help or would like to bring a local issue to my attention.”

“Meeting with people face-to-face is something I really enjoy and discussing the issues that are affecting their lives is an important part of my job; I will do whatever I can to help.”

The address and contact details of the constituency office can be found on The Journal’s ‘Contact your Concillors, MPs and MEPs‘ page.

Read on for details of Mr Lopresti’s twice-monthly surgeries »

Bradley Stoke’s newly-elected Conservative MP Jack Lopresti has vowed to make the fight to secure faster, more reliable, broadband coverage across his constituency one of his top priorities.

The pledge came after Mr Lopresti organised a meeting with the new Communications Minister, Ed Vaizey MP, to highlight the long-standing issues with broadband connections in the Bradley Stoke area.

As a result of the meeting, Mr Vaizey has promised to write to both BT and Virgin Media to ask why the service has not been upgraded, and the reasons behind the delay in providing fast broadband across the town.

The MPs were joined at the meeting by a delegation of local Councillors, including Bradley Stoke Mayor Ben Walker and Cllrs John Ashe, Robert Jones, Brian Hopkinson and Sarah Pomfret.

Speaking after the meeting, Mr Lopresti said:

“I was delighted to be able to not only secure this meeting with Ed Vaizey MP, the new Communications Minister, but also that he agreed to write to both BT and Virgin Media to see exactly why the service isn’t better than it is.”

“Yet that is what we must aim for, and as soon as possible. This meeting allowed us to present our case to Ed Vaizey MP directly, we asked him to look into the issue on our behalf, and he has agreed to do just that.”

“This is such an important issue for so many people in and around Bradley Stoke, that it deserves to be treated as one of our priorities.”

“This issue has proved to be a real challenge already, and it will take dedication and hard work to ensure that our broadband connections are improved to the proper and deserved standard.”

Because Bradley Stoke doesn’t have its own telephone exchange, being served instead from Almondsbury or Filton, ADSL broadband reception is poor or non-existent in many areas of the town. Although some users are able to choose cable broadband as an alternative, many do not have this option due to the incomplete coverage of Virgin Media’s network.

Read on to find out how Bradley Stoke has missed out in recent BT upgrade announcements and let us know what broadband speeds you’re getting in your street »

Jack Lopresti, recently elected Member of Parliament for the new constituency of Filton and Bradley Stoke (FABS), has made his maiden speech in the House of Commons.

Mr Lopresti’s big moment came during a debate on the Strategic Defence and Security Review on Monday (21st June), in which he urged the government to do more for the welfare of soldiers returning from conflict zones around the world.

The new MP, who took his seat in the chamber at 2:30pm on the day of the debate, described the wait before he was called to speak at 7:50pm as “nerve wracking” and says he was anxious “not to let anyone down”.

As tradition dictates, he opened his seven-minute speech with a message of thanks to his predecessor(s) – in his case, Doug Naysmith (Bristol North West) and  Roger Berry (Kingswood).

Mr Lopresti then went on to reference some of the defence industries active in his “wonderful” constituency, including EADS, Airbus, Rolls Royce and GKN.

There was particular praise for the “new and fantastic” A400M military transport plane being developed by Airbus, which Mr Lopresti noted will have its debut in the south-west at the Royal International Air Tatoo at Fairford on 16th July.

Also warranting a mention were the University of the West of England (UWE) and Frenchay Hospital (of which Mr Lopresti said he would “continue to fight for its existence as a community hospital”).

Returning to defence matters, the new MP said  (of soldiers returning from war zones around the world):

“… it is time for this country, and this Government, to take seriously the ongoing issue of the welfare and, in particular, the mental health of so many of our returning heroes.”

Mr Lopresti went on to relate some of his experiences as a serving Territorial Army soldier in Afghanistan before calling on the government to “honour their commitment to renew and strengthen the military covenant”.

Related links:

• Full text of Jack Lopresti’s maiden speech (TheyWorkForYou.com)
• Video of Jack Lopresti’s maiden speech (TheyWorkForYou.com)