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Wednesday, 28 April, 2010
 | REBECCA HARRIS |
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Last night, I attended a hustings event at St.George's Church, organised by the Christians and Candidates initiative and chaired by Bishop Michael Nazir-Ali, the former Bishop of Rochester.
I haven't previously taken part in a public hustings, so I didn't entirely know what to expect. As it turned out, I thoroughly enjoyed myself, and found the whole experience really interesting and worthwhile.
Given the background to the event, the questions put to us candidates were often very different from those we usually encounter as we're out campaigning on the doorstep. We got into some serious ethical and moral areas. The fact that I for one was unused to these sorts of discussions during my political activities rather underlines the point that the organisation behind the event were making - too often Christian considerations and beliefs are sidelined or marginalised.
Anyway, there was only a bit of heckling at the end, to remind us all it was still a General Election hustings. And I think there was probably one thing all the candidates, despite their political differences, agreed on at the end of meeting - with his authority, complete grasp of the issues and professional management of the proceedings, it was just as well Bishop Michael was not standing as a Castle Point candidate.
Monday, 12 April, 2010
| REBECCA HARRIS |
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We have had a great first week of campaigning, but we also managed to do something to support the two great UNICEF shops in the Borough too.
Andrew Mitchell, the Conservative Shadow Secretary of State for International Development, was in Essex on Friday, so I arranged for him to present Benfleet UNICEF with two awards they had won for their fundraising achievements in 2009.
Andrew and his team arrived at the Benfleet High Road shop to be met by a crowd of local UNICEF helpers and supporters. One of our council candidates, Andy Sheldon, who recently raised funds for the charity's work in Haiti by getting a decent hair cut, also left the political campaign trail to join us.
Castle Point has the only two UNICEF charity shops in the country and, between the Benfleet Branch and their sister shop, Second Time Around, in London Road Hadleigh, they raised over £40,000 to support children's rights and welfare in the developing world last year.
Diana Hawkins, who originally founded the Benfleet shop over thirty years ago, stressed that the awards where not just testament to the work of the staff and volunteers but also to the immense generosity of the Borough's residents who shop there and donate all the goods.
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