Home
Local News
Parliament
Articles
Speeches
Richard
Media
South Norfolk
Contact
RSS

  This article appeared in The Diss Express on 8 July 2005

Show of strength for our farmers

In his regular column, Diss Express columnist and South Norfolk MP Richard Bacon casts his eye over more local issues.
free web page hit counter  

 

The Royal Norfolk Show is quite simply one of the best agricultural shows in Britain. Visiting it last Thursday, it's easy to see why. The mix of first-class livestock, rural pastimes, hi-tech machinery and special events offers something for everyone.

After welcoming HRH The Duke of York to the Show, I met with a group of Norfolk farmers at the National Farmers Union stand.

Local farmers are worried about the proposed EU sugar beet quota cuts and fear lost jobs and price cuts of up to 50%.

The NFU is taking 200 beet growers to the European Beet Rally in Brussels on 18 July to protest over the EU's reform proposals. Contact the NFU if you want to be involved.

Among many other exhibits I also visited the Royal Norfolk Agricultural Association's education marquee and saw the excellent conservation display put together by pupils from Archbishop Sancroft High School in Harleston.

Health Costs

Recently I presented Norfolk Gliding Club with a certificate to mark the club's success in obtaining a £5,000 national lottery grant from Awards for All England to train more gliding instructors.

Gliding is a thrilling experience and I would encourage anyone to have a go. I enjoyed my second flight from the club’s headquarters at Tibenham Airfield, under the expert eye of Instructor Tim Davies who is benefiting from the grant with some advanced training.

To find out more about gliding, call Norfolk Gliding Club on 01379 677207 or visit www.ngcglide.co.uk.

Charity Sun Visors

Mondi Packaging (formerly Bux Corrugated) at Pulham St Mary is a respected local employer with a big heart. The company, which has good links with local schools, set a competition for Norfolk schoolchildren to come up with a design for car sun visors made from the company's corrugated card. Mondi Packaging asked me to present prizes to the winners.

						WINNERS: From left, Harleston Primary head Roger Walsh, Megan Lawn, Marilyn Walsh, Richard Bacon MP, Karen Roberts and Sarah Chubbock of CLIC and Mondi Packaging MD Melvyn Mabbutt, with the winning design

WINNERS: From left, Harleston Primary head Roger Walsh, Megan Lawn, Marilyn Walsh, Richard Bacon MP, Karen Roberts
and Sarah Chubbock of CLIC and Mondi
Packaging MD Melvyn Mabbutt, with the
winning design
 

The overall winning entry has been printed up and 2,000 visors have been donated to the Pulham St Mary voluntary fundraising support group of CLIC Sargent, the UK's leading children's cancer charity, who will sell them to boost local funds. Mondi Packaging also gave the three winning schools handsome cash prizes.

Overall winner Georgia Elsey of Harleston Primary, whose design features on the visor, and joint runners up, Dereace Guttery of Dickleburgh Primary and Rose Chubbock of Pulham Primary, each received book tokens.

I congratulate Mondi Packaging's Managing Director Melvyn Mabbutt and his staff on such an innovative scheme.

▪ Need to see your MP? You can make an appointment to see Richard by calling 01379 642769.

 


Printable
Version

Go to top Back to
Article Index