Update from Councillor Ludwig Ramsey

My Open Surgery sessions will be at 10am on the 5th August, 2nd September and 14th October at Chesterfield Library.

If you’re worried about the cost of living crisis we have lots of information about grants and help available.

We can discuss any issues that you are concerned about such as parking or street lights.

You can also contact me using the details below.

Contact me!

There are various ways that you can contact me:

Phone: 07773 744696

Email: ludwig.ramsey@derbyshire.gov.uk

You can write to me at Derbyshire County Council, Matlock, DE4 3AG

You can also send a direct message via my social media accounts below: @ludm.ramsey

@LudRamsey

NEWS FROM YOUR DERBYSHIRE COUNTY COUNCILLOR

Serving

Windrush 75th Anniversary Celebration held at Chesterfield Library

I thoroughly enjoyed the Windrush event at Chesterfield Library in June. It was a great celebration where we heard stories from those who were involved. There was also some great artwork on display.

The event was organised in partnership with the ACCA, Chesterfield Library, Chesterfield Museum and DPCC. The Mayor, Mick Brady and Mayoress Cllr Suzie Perkins attended the event too.

During the event Sushri Wells from the Asian Association of Chesterfield was surprised with an award from the High Sheriff to recognise her work in our community.

Pushing for Equality

A Derbyshire County Council general council meeting was held on Wednesday 12th July. I attended and proposed a motion for Derbyshire County Council to commit to being a more diverse council. I also proposed that we declare that we will do better at looking at equality and diversity issues. To achieve this we will mainly be looking at best practise across the country.

DUWC Celebrate 40 years of helping the people of Derbyshire

2023 marks the 40th Anniversary of Derbyshire Unemployment Workers Centre. The DUWC provide help, advice and representation to people out of work or struggling with health conditions and disabilities as well as those on low hours and low pay.

The milestone was marked during a ceremony on the 28th June. Assistant General Secretary of the TUC Kate Bell unveiled a mural at the Chesterfield headquarters depicting the people, events and achievements of the last 40 years. I was happy to attend the event and celebrate the team’s achievements.

Please get in touch with me if you have any local neighbourhood issues.

Don’t put friendship off

When someone joins our friendship group, after a few months we check in on how things are going for them. A recent response was “we wish we’d joined sooner”. We love to hear these answers, but we feel less joyful thinking about that bit of time where they’ve been missing out enjoying the wonderful extra dimension upping your social life can bring by joining a local friendship group. It’s understandable. Making friends as an older adult does feel different to schoolyard days. You might think you haven’t got much to contribute to conversation, or that everyone has a full quota of friends already. On both fronts, this is not the case. You have a unique story and take on things to share, and there is always room at the table for more people to join our friendly group.

If you’re delaying giving something new a try, my advice is to remove as much uncertainty as possible. Take the first step and get in touch with the group’s organiser. Ask them how it all works. Where do you park or where is the bus stop? What happens when you get there? How many people are expected and what are they like? Event hosts are often well versed in helping newcomers to settle in. This is absolutely the case at Derbyshire Peak Oddfellows.

We've now around 250 members in our local group, mostly retirees, and some meet up regularly in and around Chesterfield and across Derbyshire. We get up to all sorts – walks, lunches, talks, coffee mornings.

There’s lots of perfect first‐try events coming up and September is actually our Friendship Month ‐ with all events open to interested people to ‘try us out’. We’re hosting a coffee morning on Saltergate on Wednesday 6th September at 11am where you can come along to find out more. We have loads of other events going on too.

Call me on 01246 273076 / 07933 626720 or email trudy.ford@oddfellows.co.uk and I can talk you through any of our events. Or you can look us up at www.oddfellows.co.uk.

Give us a go. There’s nothing to lose. You never know, we could be your new favourite thing.