Category — Matthew's blog

It could have been a Dr Who episode seeing so many human-like scarecrows at every turn…

Like most community events that happen in Elford, it was extraordinary.

An idea to raise funds for some of the village’s local projects, the scarecrow festival had never been tried before but organisers hoped as many as twenty scarecrows might be strategically placed around the village for visitors to judge.

In the end when I went along on the Sunday of last weekend’s event there were a staggering seventy scarecrows all of which had been put together by local people.

It really was a bit weird because some of the figures were so lifelike from a distance that one which I saw, sitting on the side of the road, actually turned out to be a real person chilling out in the sunshine and sipping tea.

And between the events, the raffles and the general fund raising Elford community projects and the village church found themselves several thousand pounds better off. 

I find it amazing that no matter what it is, Elford people come together to make more than seems possible, both community and fundraising wise out of every event they hold. If you could bottle that community spirit you’d make another fortune!

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Staffordshire’s business support fund has now helped business expand and safeguarded hundreds of jobs…

Nine months ago we launched the Staffordshire Business Support Fund to help businesses of up to 50 employees with loans of up to £50,000.

It was part of our Manifesto commitment developed in the hope it would boost Staffordshire’s economy in the absence of help from banks.

As a Conservative I want business to get on with being business and wouldn’t normally subscribe to local government duplicating what banks, as finance providers, do already.

But, and it’s a big but, good and viable businesses are being prevented from expanding and thriving because banks have pulled down the shutters on new borrowing and in some cases are actually removing borrowing or reducing it for less than logical business reasons.

That’s up to the banks as businesses I guess. And as central government is finding, getting banks to do things they don’t want to do is just about impossible… even when we as the public own some of them!

So in this particular situation we decided the County must intervene to help fill a gap where banks are clearly failing to support the Staffordshire economy.

I’m pleased to see that the original policy decision is bearing fruit and has resulted in one of those rare occassions where we can see that a policy has directly led to clearly identifiable and positive results on the ground… in the form of economic growth and jobs.

The first million pounds we’ve provided is all but used and we’ve just agreed a further half million because of the success of phase one.

And for anyone who is concerned, believe me, the criteria and security around the public money is every bit as strong, if not stronger, than banks would require. To ensure that, we’ve commissioned the financial sector to administer the scheme on behalf of the County.

In reality, with interest and fees it will be of minimal cost to tax payers in Staffordshire. With the successful outcomes so far I believe it is excellent value for money and the gap filling and market stimulation nature of this policy is just what local government should be doing.

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A great opportunity to gain experience, learn about the public sector and launch a career…

We are moving limited resources available into a real push for jobs for young people in Staffordshire.

Over 70 posts available at the County for apprentices in a variety of posts

My Cabinet colleague responsible for skills and the economy is rightly focussing efforts on getting people into potential jobs at an early age despite the overall financial difficulties and temptation to sit back and let things happen in an uncertain environment.

Youngsters over 16 years old have the opportunity of a first paid job which hopefully could lead to a future career.

Efforts are also under way to encourage business across Staffordshire to take opportunities to help young people into work using the scheme.

Find out more here.

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The Canwell Show is an event which keeps rural traditions alive and offers broader attractions to all…

We actually went to the show earlier this month and travelled straight from it to catch a ferry to Mont St Michel in France, hence my only now writing about it.

As the West Midland’s largest agricultural event you’d expect it to enjoy great interest from diverse and enthusiastic visitors. And this year was no exception.

Thousands enjoyed everything from horse jumping, traditional farm animal competitions and old tractor displays to more general things such as food halls, market stalls, new car sales and giant bouncy castles. Really a mixed bag of interests set amongst the beatiful Canwell countryside, warm sunshine and the odd heavy shower.

It’s important to maintain the rural way of life and also good to offer the opportunity for those who don’t live in farming areas to experience more of our rural economy and life.

The Canwell Show does both those things and that’s why I was very happy to support it by going, and also with some money from my County Member’s Local Community Fund.

And, I can also highly recommend a visit to the beautiful Mont St Michel area of Normandy!

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