'Democracy in Action day for schools'

MS for Delyn

Last week, pupils from Year 5 at Ysgol Bryn Coch in Mold visited the Senedd and it was lovely to be able to welcome them and have the chance to chat to them about the issues they care about. While there, they also took part in their own debate and vote in the old Assembly Chamber in Ty Hywel on school summer holidays. The students’ visit also included a tour of the Pierhead Building and an opportunity to check out the Curlew Project, a collaboration with artist Sean Harris that other pupils from their school took part in. I visited the school back in July to hear about their ‘Mold community’ topic last term and the children asked some insightful questions about becoming an MS, improvements to our parks, homelessness, health and fire rescue services.

At the weekend, I attended a long service presentation for Unite Union members from north Wales, which included two of our local legends – Terry Renshaw and Barry Scragg – who’ve both clocked up 60 years of service. It’s an impressive contribution to our movement that very much deserves to be recognised and it was a real privilege to be able to join them for the presentation.

A couple of weeks ago, the Welsh Government announced the extension of the bursary scheme for NHS staff which aims to train and retain more staff to work in our health sector. The NHS Wales Bursary Scheme provides a package of financial support for healthcare students who commit to work within the healthcare sector in Wales for up to two years post-qualification and includes both tuition fees and an element towards living costs. It’s vitally important that Wales is seen as a destination to train the next generation of doctors, nurses and specialists and that, once qualified, they stay to live and work in the NHS in Wales providing much-needed care.

In Wales, the Welsh Government invests 14% more in health and social care than in England and there are more healthcare professionals working in NHS Wales than at any time since devolution – in the last 10 years, there has been a 11% rise in nurses and the number of consultants has increased by 25%. During the summer, Bangor University started to recruit students to the new North Wales Medical School to start their courses in September 2024 – the school offers 140 funded places for medical students each year and it will help Wales to train more medical students and ensure that training opportunities and the provision of qualified doctors are spread across Wales and it’s a real boost for north Wales.

This Friday I’ll be holding my Democracy in Action day for schools across Flintshire with my colleague Jack Sargeant MS. It’s important that young people have a voice, both locally and nationally, and since being elected I’ve visited many schools and met with school councils and held Democracy in Action events with students from secondary schools across Delyn. The students will learn more about devolution, decision making, as well as having the opportunity to outline what they want to see for young people in Wales in the future. Young people have so much to say about issues that are specific to their futures and I’m expecting that there will be some debate on offer too – these students will be the people driving Wales’ future.

Finally, do you have any children’s winter coats that are no longer in use? Holywell Town Council has started an appeal for any warm coats which can be reused and donated as part of its Eco Uniform Pop Up stall – just drop them into the town council offices in Holywell during office hours.

As always, if you would like advice and/or support, please don’t hesitate to get in touch on any of the following contact details – 52 High Street, Mold, Flintshire, on 01352 753464 or by email hannah.blythyn@senedd.wales. You can also keep up to date via my Facebook page – www.facebook.com/HannahBlythynForDelyn. Constituents are, of course, welcome to contact my office to arrange an appointment to see me, you don’t need to wait until an advice surgery.