Lovely to spend some time at Holy Trinity Church in South Woodford with Rev Abi Todd! Faith spaces like this are cornerstones of community life, and it was great to hear more about their ongoing work and engagement with local residents.

Over the Parliamentary recess, I feel it is important to visit our local foodbanks and recognise the essential help they provide. It was fantastic to meet Paster Dave, who leads the Meet the Need food bank. Meet the Need is supported by 38 volunteers, and it runs every Wednesday and Thursday at Elim Pentecostal Church, Hainault Road.

Every Friday, Cann Hall Masjid’s food bank warmly opens its doors to the entire community, as it has since the start of the COVID-19 pandemic. While it’s a sad reality that food banks have become a feature of our communities over the last decade, I wanted to visit our local ones and celebrate the vital support they offer.

Brilliant to see Redbridge Foodbank in their new home in Woodford last week. This site provides so much more space for volunteers to prepare donations for people in need.

From ASB Forums to talking climate change with constituents, July was a busy month. Here is some of what I got up to: Facilitated two public Anti-Social Behaviour Forums in Redbridge and Waltham Forest. Urged the Foreign Secretary to consider sanctions on Israel’s Defence Minister. Held a meeting in Parliament with FirstPort to tackle spiralling charges affecting local leaseholders.

Fantastic to meet the team at Leytonstone’s newest High Road store - Marks and Spencer this week. Really good to hear that staff are recruited locally and several have been helped to find jobs here with a DWP partnership scheme.

The horrifying suffering and starvation in Gaza have left many of us in shock. The distress and pain felt across our communities in response to this ongoing catastrophe are both profound and entirely justified. These are the actions I am taking to support an immediate and permanent ceasefire in Gaza and to advance urgent efforts aimed at alleviating the suffering of the Palestinian people.

Recently in Parliament, I held a meeting with representatives and workers from Prospect Union, one of the largest unions representing civil servants and workers in the defence and energy sectors.

The killing of over 800 Palestinians near GHF distribution points illustrates the cruelty of Israel's aid blockade, a policy that weaponises starvation and ensures UK aid – £129 million in the last year – cannot be delivered to those who desperately need it.

I recently had the pleasure of hosting Mark Fuller from Comic Book UK in Parliament to talk about the vibrant UK comics scene - a sector booming with a projected growth of around 8.6% annually over the next few years!

This week, I have been leading a UK delegation to Zambia, the country of my birth, as Trade Envoy to Southern Africa. This visit centred around the launch of a $300m development investment platform for small and medium sized companies that is being funded by the UK through British International Investment.

Following concerns which have been rightly raised by Cllr Jo Blackman about the growing nuisance of illegally adapted e-bikes, I recently spoke in my colleague Dawn Butler’s important debate on Phone Theft to highlight how these bikes are now increasingly being used to commit phone thefts and criminality across our community.

I’ve written to the Home Secretary urging action to expand medical evacuations of seriously injured children from Gaza through Project Pure Hope. So far, only two children have been granted visas to receive life-saving care in the UK, even though our hospitals are ready to help more. Project Pure Hope is entirely funded by charitable donations, so treatment and transport come at no cost to the public purse. All that’s needed is for the Government to grant the necessary visas.

It’s now been a year (and 10 days!) since I was elected as MP for Leyton & Wanstead. Thank you so much to everyone who’s supported me and for all the conversations we’ve shared.  As we head into year two, I’m excited to keep working hard for our community - whether that’s pushing for more accessible public transport, tackling antisocial behaviour, or championing improvements at Whipps Cross and more.

Delighted to host a roundtable last week with the UK and Zambian High Commissioners, bringing together UK businesses from mining, renewable energy, agriculture and development to discuss our shared growth and critical minerals objectives.

Fantastic to join local PC Anna Cork from the Cann Hall Safer Neighbourhood Team at the Public Sector reception in Number 10 Downing Street last week.