As many of you know, I am committed to helping to reduce elderly loneliness and isolation in Staffordshire Moorlands. I therefore really welcomed the Government’s recent announcement of a £20 million investment to help tackle loneliness, building on Jo Cox MP’s legacy and helping charities fight social isolation.
Feeling lonely or isolated can have such an impact on people’s lives and this fund will support charities and community groups that bring people together. The fund has been created as a partnership between the Government and the Big Lottery Fund who have equally pledged £5 million – and the Co-op Foundation who have allocated £1 million to tackle loneliness among young people.
I am proud to work with many great charities and community groups here in Staffordshire Moorlands and my Senior Tea Dances are just an example of this. The next one is in Biddulph on Friday so please do contact Erika on 01538 382421 to book.
I also welcome the Prime Minister’s announcement of plans to invest an extra £20 billion a year in real terms in the NHS by 2023-24. By investing in the NHS and ensuring every penny is well spent, we will secure the future of the service for generations to come. Under our plan NHS funding will grow on average by 3.4 percent in real terms each year.
Some of this extra funding will come from using the money we will no longer spend on our annual membership subscription to the European Union. However, as a country we will all have to contribute a bit more for the NHS in a fair and balanced way and we will listen to views how we do this.
As Simon Stevens, the Chief Executive of NHS England said yesterday, ‘This multi-year settlement provides the funding we need to shape a long-term plan.’