Alison Bennett's Monday Mail: Sisu

We have a winner

My Christmas card competition creates a lot of joy in my office, even in the early Autumn. Having had over 400 entries from schools right across Mid Sussex, I was able to whittle it down to a shortlist with the help of local artist Kate Harries. Following a public vote on Facebook, Martha has been announced as the winner for her brilliant Christmas collage, big congratulations also go to the runners up Stanley and Albert. 

Thank you so much to the children who entered, plus all the grown ups who helped the constituency’s budding artists.

During November we will be putting the cards in envelopes, if you would like to help (in exchange for the odd mince pie and Quality Street) please volunteer here.

Care and Carers

At the start of last week I resigned as the Liberal Democrat Spokesperson for Care and Carers. I decided not to publish my reasons for stepping back, and despite press interest I am sticking to that personal commitment. 

Having been the Care and Carers Spokesperson for two years, I do want to briefly reflect on my experience. Frankly, it has been humbling to meet carers and the organisations that support them. Not only have I learned a lot about social care, palliative care, and what it is to be a family carer, the role has also taught me a lot about myself, about the precariousness of lives that seem secure and then can be upended, and about what society values and gives attention to. I am grateful that Ed Davey asked me to do this role for him, and I know that his advocacy for carers has been seen and appreciated by those who too often do not have a voice. So I am sad to step back from the role, but I am certainly not walking away. I will remain as the Chair of the APPG for Young Carers, and whether it is hospices, unpaid carers, or people working in social care, I know that as a country we need to do so much better for them.

Finally, if you are an unpaid carer yourself, and you are not already in contact with them, then do talk to our local carers’ network Carers Support West Sussex

Sisu

Today MPs will be going back to Westminster after a few weeks away for the party conference season. I have mostly been in my constituency office, but I have been to a few events too. One of them was listening to Tim Marshall, the author of Prisoners of Geography speak at the Brighton Dome as part of his How Geography Explains Our World national tour. It was a great evening, but one thing he mentioned made me jot it down. It is the Finnish word sisu which conveys something of their national character of resilience. Mindful that I probably have at least one Finnish subscriber who will understand this stuff better than I can articulate (hello Anna), I am not intending to opine on the meaning of sisu any further, but I enjoyed reading about it, and I have certainly reflected on the resilience that we expect of people in all sorts of walks of life, including those who are carers. 

Getting in touch

My parliamentary email address is: alison.bennett.mp@parliament.uk. If you need my help, please get in touch.

Best wishes,
Alison

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