15 MAY 2013
On 11th May, Claire joined a group of cross party MPs and peers to do the MoonWalk. Along with 17,000 thousand amazing women and men, Claire's group set off from Battersea Power Station to take part in The MoonWalk London, organised by grant-making breast cancer charity Walk the Walk.
Claire and her team, power walked a Half Moon (13.1 miles) through the streets of the capital at Midnight, raising money and awareness for breast cancer.
Commenting, Claire said:
"The MoonWalk was a fantastic experience and I was delighted that the group of MPs and peers together raised nearly £5,000 for Walk the Walk which has raised over £85m for breast cancer charities since the first Walk, 17 years ago.
"My legs had not quite recovered by Sunday afternoon but I managed another 3 sponsored miles around West Woods near Lockeridge where the bluebells are just coming into bloom – finally."
For more information on the MoonWalk can be found here.
To see the team's donation page, click here.
26 APR 2013
On 25th April Claire Perry, Adviser to the Prime Minister on Preventing Commercialisation and Sexualisation of Childhood, took part in a group discussion with parents to discuss their concerns around internet safety.
The event, run by the organisation The Parent Zone, gave Claire an opportunity to hear from parents about the online safety issues that worry them the most; from effective parental controls to e-safety education at schools.
Following the event, Claire said:
"Parents should have the primary responsibility over what their children do online but this meeting reaffirmed for me the fact that there is plenty more that can be done to give them the tools and the know-how to help protect their children.
"We are seeing real progress being made in this area, like providing better parental controls and having clean public Wi-Fi across the country, and we are looking to do more to help educate and inform parents of the dangers online. I will certainly be bearing in mind the important points I heard today from parents as I continue my work to help ensure we lead the world in online child safety".
20 MAR 2013
The Department for Transport are currently evaluating the economic case for extending planned Great Western Line electrification beyond the currently proposed cut-off point of Newbury. Various options are being considered which cover the stations at Kintbury, Hungerford, Bedwyn, Pewsey and Westbury. Electrification will lead to improved rail services.
There is a small window of opportunity to contribute to the evaluation process. Pewsey Train Watch have put together a survey that attempts to quantify the value that the trains contribute to local economies served by Kintbury, Hungerford, Bedwyn, Pewsey and Westbury stations. Please take this opportunity to help ensure your county gets the rail services it deserves by completing the survey.
Completing the survey should take no more than two minutes and you can complete the survey by clicking here. The closing date for the survey is 0900 on Sunday 24th March.
For further information please visit Pewsey Train Watch's website.
Please note: all submissions are anonymous and the survey does not store or hold any personal information related to individual respondents.
15 MAR 2013
Earlier this week in Westminster, Claire chaired an important meeting of stakeholders across the region, focussed on bringing rail electrification to stations beyond Newbury.
Consultants, Arup who have been appointed by the Department for Transport to lead the Great Western Electrification Extension Review Study presented to representatives from Passenger Groups in the Devizes Constituency and the Westbury area. Claire was joined by neighbouring MPs, Richard Benyon (Newbury), Duncan Hames (Chippenham) and Andrew Murrison (South West Wiltshire) and representatives from Wiltshire Unitary and Frome Town Councils.
The meeting reviewed the options under consideration and each stakeholder commented on the economic appraisal process, with a lively discussion ensuing. Arup are due to conclude the study at the end of April, and Claire and her MP colleagues are lobbying for a positive out come for the region.
Commenting, Claire said: "Ever since the decision was taken by the last Government in 2009 to only electrify the railway as far as Newbury, people across the area have been very concerned about the likely economic impact on our region. I have been working hard over the last few months to ensure that this decision is re-considered and I am delighted that we are making progress.
"The Passenger Groups from Great Bedwyn, Pewsey and Marlborough are doing a fantastic job of feeding in economic and passenger data to the Review and I am confident that together, we will ensure that this area is not forgotten. We need these vital transport links".
