Wednesday – Royal British Legion in PCH

RBL will be in Portcullis House Atrium between 8am and 6pm, we invite you to come over and find us for a chat about our new Caseworker guide and how we can work together. The Poppyride challenge for MPs and Peers is happening at the same time, so why not pop along and while you MP is taking part in the ride, you can chat with us.

The Royal British Legion have recently published and re-launched their Caseworker Guide, specifically designed for MPs and their caseworker staff. RBL has always had great engagement and collaboration on a cross-party basis with MPs and their support staff. This caseworker guide is a practical tool to help MPs to better support and understand their constituents from the Armed Forces community. It is packed with key information, helpful points of contact and advice on how they can better help and support their constituents, including veterans, currently serving personnel, regulars, reservists and all their families.

RBL has an extensive amount of welfare support available to those who fall into that broad category of ‘the Armed Forces community’ and we support thousands of people every year. We cannot do that on our own and collaborate closely with other service charities, local government and national government agencies. It’s important that MPs are aware of the wide range of support that is available to their constituents and where they can refer constituents for help.

RBL does not shy away from the many challenges that the Armed Forces community face, many of which are unique to those who serve and the incredible support provided by their families. We also seek to dispel myths and share the most recent information and data about what it means to be a member of the Armed Forces community in 2024. Please encourage your MPs and colleagues who work for them to download the RBL MP Caseworker guide and join the partnership of support.

You will find the link to the Royal British Legion MP Caseworker guide on the w4mp resources for caseworkers page on Parlinet.

Parliament Choir Concert in London

Edward Elgar’s oratorio ‘The Dream of Gerontius’

Time: 6:30pm
Date: Saturday 22 April 2022
Location: St. John’s Smith Square, Westminster, SW1
Tickets: click here

The Parliament Choir and Southbank Sinfonia present Edward Elgar’s oratorio ‘The Dream of Gerontius’

The Parliament Choir welcomes as a member anyone who works at the UK Parliament – Members, their staff, and parliamentary officials. We rehearse on Monday evenings, when the Houses of Parliament are sitting, usually in the Chapel of St Mary Undercroft off Westminster Hall.

Of Boys and Men’. Richard Reeves

MPs and their staff are invited to join the APPG on Issues Affecting Men and Boys when they hear from Richard V. Reeves, Senior Fellow in Economic Studies, Brookings Institution, Washington D.C. on the findings from his new book ‘Of Boys and Men’

Date: Wednesday 16th November 10.15 am for 10.30-11.30am
Venue: Archbishop’s Room, Millbank House, 3 Millbank, House of Lords, London SW1P 3JU
Chair: Nick Fletcher MP, chair of the APPG.

Why the Modern Male is Struggling, Why It Matters, and What To Do About It.

Originally from the UK, Richard’s former roles include Director of Strategy to the then Deputy Prime Minister, and Director of the think-tank Demos. In 2017, Politico magazine named Richard one of the top 50 thinkers in the U.S. for his work on class and inequality.

Men are losing ground in the labour market, falling behind in education, increasingly missing out on family life – a position that’s even worse for Black men.

• The gender gap in college degrees awarded is wider today than it was in the early 1970s – but in the opposite direction.
• The wages of most men are lower today in real terms than they were in 1979 while women’s wages have risen across the board.
• One in five fathers are not living with their children.
• Men account for two out of three ‘deaths of despair’, either from a suicide or an overdose.

Previous attempts to treat this condition, from all political angles, have made the same fatal mistake – of viewing the problems of men as a problem with men.

This book shows how the basic social structures defining masculine maturity and success have been shattered, and how they can — and must — be reinvented.

Members’ Staff Roadshows

Please note that links to the old Parliamentary intranet have been removed as of October 2023. Please use search on ParliNet to find relevant current details, if available.

https://parlinet.parliament.uk/house-of-commons-members-staff/

Members’ Staff Roadshows – Refreshed: Launch event for the North West region

The Members’ Services Team (MST) have recently taken ownership of the regional constituency events (or roadshows). We very much intend to return to face to face roadshows in due course, but in the meantime we have consulted MPs’ staff and other stakeholders on what our virtual roadshows might look like. We are therefore piloting a new type of virtual roadshow that will have two phases:

A short launch event on MS Teams, where the MST will ask you what you would like included in the roadshow. The first launch event is on Thursday 15th July at 09.30 for the North West region.

As well as constituency based staff, we want to hear from staff who work in Westminster, whose constituency is in the North West. If you work for an MP in this region, you will receive an email asking you to vote on whether you will attend, and if you vote yes, you will then receive an invite to the roadshow itself. At the launch event, you can let us know what subjects you would like to discuss, and which of the break-out groups we are planning will be beneficial for you. We will not be having presentations from House services, but staff from those services will be at both the launch event and the roadshow itself. Your views will be key and we really want to hear from you.

The actual roadshow event will then follow the launch event between 4-6 weeks later. For the North West region, the roadshow is on the 7th September at 09.30 and will be virtual.

It is really important that you register for the event, so please vote; and if you haven’t received an email, please contact [email protected].

The next event will be for staff working for MPs in Scotland, and further details will follow.

See more here

Wellness Working Group Virtual meeting: Kooth, Mental Health Support for Children and Young People

Wellness Working Group Online Event

Kooth.com, Mental Health Support for Children and Young People
Time: 11am – 12pm
Date: Friday 16 April 2021

Dr. Lynne Green, Consultant Psychologist and Chief Clinical Officer and Gareth Evans, Director of Accounts and Engagement for Kooth will cover what Kooth is for children and young people, how to talk to parents about Kooth, how to access their services and discuss some case studies on the work they do with children and young people.

1 in 5 children and young people suffer from mental health illness in any given year. Kooth.com is commissioned by the NHS and Local Authorities to provide anonymous and personalised mental health support for children and young people, providing end to end support whatever the need.

To join this meeting, please email [email protected]

As always, please feel free to share this event with your colleagues and encourage them to join the Group.