'First and foremost, Happy St David’s Day'

MP for Wrexham

First and foremost, Happy St David’s Day - Dydd Gŵyl Dewi Hapus. St David’s Day is a brilliant opportunity to celebrate what makes our nation special, bringing Welsh communities together in the process. Today, I will be taking part in the St David’s Day Parade in town, kindly organised by Wrexham Council and Menter Iaith Fflint a Wrecsam and I am looking forward to seeing our community out in force in celebration. As the parade, and our town’s St David’s Day celebrations more generally, were not able to go ahead last year due to the pandemic, this year’s parade will also be particularly special.

Last week, I had the pleasure of visiting Ipsen on the Wrexham Industrial Estate with the Secretary of State for Wales, Simon Hart, following their recent investment of £24 million into the site, which has seen Ipsen’s footprint across the region grow extensively. During the visit, the Secretary of State and I met with the Site Manager and other senior figures to hear about the most recent developments and, having supported Ipsen since becoming the MP for Wrexham in 2019, I was excited to see the growth in their site and to be able to hear from the company about their future plans. Ipsen are one of many great businesses here in Wrexham and their history is deeply interwoven with that of our town too, so their continued commitment to doing business here is welcome.

Of course, I was also thrilled to be joined by the Secretary of State for Wales, which gave me the opportunity to further showcase Wrexham and what our town has to offer. The visit also gave the Secretary of State the chance to reiterate the UK Government’s commitment to Wrexham, to our local economy and to helping create a pro-business environment in which innovative companies like Ipsen can expand.

Last week I also met with a constituent, Neil Tunnah, and a representative from the Council for a town centre walkabout to discuss disability access across Wrexham. Neil is visually impaired, and he recently got in touch with me to say that he wanted to share some of the challenges in Wrexham that those who are visually impaired – or have other disabilities – face when trying to shop, socialise or work in the town centre. As a result, I joined Neil and the Council on a walkabout to hear about the experiences of those that are visually impaired and to discuss how these experiences could be bettered.

I have also been working with veterans’ groups across Wrexham in preparation for Armed Forces Day, which is coming up later in the year. Armed Forces Day is a great way to celebrate the excellent work of our Armed Forces and veterans and I am pleased that this year Wrexham will be hosting a major event on June 18th to mark the day! Finally, my healthcare campaign is still ongoing, and I am very grateful for all the contributions so far. The responses I have received have highlighted why this campaign is important and, if you would like to add your name to it, you can do so on my website: https://www.sarahatherton.org.uk/health-care-wrexham.

As always if you are resident in Wrexham and need my assistance with any local or national issue, please make contact with me by emailing sarah.atherton.mp@parliament.uk.