Dear fellow residents of Rye and Winchelsea,
I am Simon McGurk and I am one of your Labour candidates in May’s election. I have valued recent opportunities to visit homes and businesses, to listen to what matters most to you and to have conversations about how we can do better by Rye and Winchelsea. I chaired a well-attended meeting in Winchelsea New Hall in February where our local fire fighters, East Sussex Councillors, former Hastings and Rye Labour MP Michael Foster and current Parliamentary candidate for Labour, Helena Dollimore, made the case to protect our local Fire Services. Cheryl Creaser, my fellow Labour candidate and serving Town Councillor chaired a similarly well attended meeting at Tilling Green Community Centre.
I have a long history of getting things done by listening and working alongside people, examples include – re-designing care services for a large council by working alongside residents and front line staff together; as a volunteer trustee saving a housing charity for young people and again, as a volunteer trustee, guiding a mental health charity to become the largest and best care provider in their area. I believe it is results that matter but results that work for everyone.
Me and Cheryl are committed to coordinated and effective action to save Rye Pool and protecting our Fire Service. I am a long-term member of Rye Leisure Centre and I live a few hundred yards away; I used to use the pool and I still use the gym so please believe me when I say I have a stake in saving the pool. The chaos we have had to endure under this Conservative government has directly affected us locally: the pool’s closure as well as placing our Fire Service at risk are important examples. The elections in May are an important opportunity to send a message to the government telling them how you feel about the crisis we are in as a community and as a nation.
This is where our five local pledges for Rye and Winchelsea come in. They were composed by me and Cheryl after listening to you and based on our own experiences of living, working and volunteering here. Our pledges are:
- Fight to Save Rye Pool
- Championing our Local Businesses
- Cleaner, Greener Transport
- More Affordable Housing
- A Fairer, Greener Future
I want to use my experience, my history of achieving change in community and public services, my strong community values, to be our voice and to get things done for Rye and Winchelsea.
Simon McGurk
