1.  Reading activities

Where possible, try to include reading into your everyday activities. For example, you could ask your child to read your shopping list and then help you to find these items at the supermarket by reading the overhead signs. The trick is to try and make reading feel more fun, instead of a chore.

2.  Make a reading den
Creating an area within your home which is dedicated to books is a great way to encourage reading. You could make a cozy den with a box full of books, or a reading corner with posters on the wall. Perhaps you could include your child’s favourite theme, like pirates or space to make reading time even more appealing.

3  Creative writing

Regular reading will also help your child when it comes to creative writing exercises at school.
If your child enjoys reading a particular book, you could set them a challenge to create their own ending to the story. Think of what parts of the storyline could be changed in order to achieve a different outcome.

4.  Reading for relaxation

If your child struggles with stress or has trouble sleeping, encourage them to start reading. By focusing on a good story, your child will be able to forget about their worries and begin to relax. Teach your child that they can always use a book and the power of their imagination to take them away to somewhere new.

5.  Reading apps

​Finally, use technology to help your child enjoy reading. Smart phones and tablets are ideal for downloading fun and interactive reading apps. These apps provide safe spaces for reading without parents worrying about unsafe content online. You can choose what your child can access within these apps; use timer features and monitor your child’s reading progress.
 

3. We recognise that there is real imbalance in the world between the Northern and Southern hemispheres. We simply want to help the people in difficult circumstances because we believe that to help people makes them more likely to be our friends, and less our enemies.  When things are not in balance, they fall over. Without balance our world, or our country, will never really be safe, and at the moment we see the balance between those who have, and those who have not, becoming worse and worse.

4. It is this belief in ‘one world’ that leads, in part, to our stance on the EU referendum.  We are very democratic in our Green hearts! I believe that the EU referendum was not fought with anything like accurate information and because of this was not democratic in the real sense.  The ‘remain’ side never really believed that we vote to leave (and frankly neither did Boris Johnson).
 
Let’s say I go to have an operation I can only give my consent knowing all the facts, and all the risks; if I am sold PPI without then giving me all the details I get my money back.  Where in the referendum was ‘this is going to really mess up Ireland?” or “we’ll be paying the EU at least £39 billion just to leave?”……...The reason we support an immediate new referendum - and were involved at the start of a People’s Vote campaign -  is because now we really do know what it would mean to vote ‘leave’ or ‘remain’.  This new vote will be taken with our collective eyes fully opened, and if it’s to ‘leave’ then we will leave.  At our core, the Green Party believes in democracy, we believe people will do the right thing in the right circumstances with the right information - essentially, we believe in people!

4. Another big difference between Greens and the rest, is that we want you to work less, we want everyone to have more time to spend with family, finally learn to play that guitar (ok, that might be just me)  or whatever; have access to green spaces and time to go there; feel less anxiety and angry. Our collective improving emotional wellbeing would reduce the cost of health services and everything that goes with it for families and communities. We are not simply here to work; we are here to live!

5. For this reason, and many others, we want to promote a Universal Basic Income - £92 per week paid into every citizens’ bank account. As we earn more this basic payment is reclaimed in tax. The idea that this would somehow result in people giving up work has no basis in reality or evidence from where it’s been tried in practice, we would still work as we’d want more for ourselves, there would still be people with much more money than others, Amazon would still be delivering your Christmas presents (but paying tax)  It isn’t impossible, think about how many families get Child Benefit every month into their accounts.  Think about how it could remove the whole benefits system, student loans, old age pensions and give people security.  

6. Locally, or course, is where we believe decisions should be made, and the best decisions for our communities are made. We would create Citizens Assemblies and the right of constituents to call for a sitting MP to be removed, making it easier to get rid of corruption and self-interest. What is needed is more control for the people who use the services and not leaving to an MP to try to create change.  

The Green Party would provide free public transport across the constituency, monitor air pollution, pay to reopen the Ivanhoe railway line that runs through Desford to passengers, and provide a safe cycle path alongside it.   

We would spend the money, raised through specific taxation to restore, and provide parity of, the funding to Leicestershire County Council with other councils in England, and our local NHS Trusts necessary to ensure that services are local and accessible.  We would make it illegal to profit from an NHS service. Provide enough money to reopen Surestart centres, and build quality local housing with a strategy that only small estates could be built, attached to existing villages and towns, that are relevant and affordable to local people, with a clear answer to ensuring that schools, transport and doctor surgeries have capacity to absorb the new families.

Your local candidates make promises, but be careful to consider what candidates tell you they can do about health, transport, creating jobs or other important issues for our local towns and our villages: remember to ask them “how?”  
                                              
Now, I thank you for reading this and considering the ideas, and you’ll see that I hardly mentioned climate breakdown (I presume you already know where we stand on that - and how dangerous our situation is if we don’t do something big and do it now. All I’ll say is that as far as ‘Green New Deals’ go; the original is always the better than the copy. Who do you believe will do what is necessary without distractions?

https://campaigns.greenparty.org.uk/manifesto

                    

    IF THESE PRINCIPLES SEEM TO BE ALONGSIDE YOUR OWN, A VOTE FOR GREEN IS THE BEST WAY TO  LET THE OTHER PARTIES AND THE GOVERNMENT KNOW

Being an MP requires many qualities but these are a good three to start with.

Local

Don't get me wrong, I believe a candidate can move to an area, become an MP and make it their own over time but growing up here, going to the local schools here and knowing the local community gives me a huge advantage over some of the other candidates.

Whilst I grew up in Hinckley and that's where I live now, I spent 4 years living in the village of Barlestone which helped me to understand how village life differs from living in the town.

People in villages face different challenges from those in towns. Whilst many in towns are concerned about traffic and parking, the concerns of villages are often with a lack of employment in the area, especially when new developments take place without the sufficient infrastructure that will create jobs.

Whilst good quality, reliable public transport is very important to those in towns, to those in villages it's a necessity. Recently bus services have been cut across the borough in our villages with some of the smaller villages having had their bus services slashed entirely.

This is unfortunately what happens when private companies operate public services in the interest of profit over the needs of our local communities, something a Labour government will end by bringing transport networks back into public ownership.

Positive

Positivity is what being an MP should be all about. Anyone elected into the House of Commons should always be thinking about how they can make a positive difference to their local community.

Whatever I do in life, whether it be at work or in politics, I always look towards a positive outcome. I'm always looking at how I can influence change rather than concerning myself with anything that's outside of my control.
​
Right now, I'm focused on becoming the next MP for Bosworth. I'm taking action by campaigning across the constituency. Labour finished second to the Tories in Bosworth here at the last election and I believe we can do better. I'll be doing everything I can to win as many votes as possible to make that a reality.

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