Guildford MP Impressed With National Citizen Service ‘Showcase’

Published on: 2 Aug, 2016
Updated on: 3 Aug, 2016

Ann Milton talking to those who have participated

Ann Milton MP (right), talking to some of those who participated in the National Citizen Service programme

Local teenagers demonstrated the new skills they have learnt through participating in the National Citizen Service (NCS) programme in Guildford.

Anne Milton, MP for Guildford, joined the young people at the University of Surrey on July 26 for a “showcase” event at which they demonstrated their newly acquired skills.

NCS is a scheme which brings together 16 and 17-year-olds from different backgrounds to complete a series of personal and team challenges and make a difference in their community.

Following an action-packed stay at an outdoor centre, participants spend a week learning a new skill in a university-style setting. In the final week of the programme, the young people run community campaigns, which allow them to use their newly acquired skills in a practical setting.

During her visit, Anne Milton from Guildford and was able to say a few words of encouragement.

Having watched the showcase, Anne Milton said: “It was wonderful to see just how much the much National Citizen Service has done to change the lives of young people in Guildford.

“This is a one off opportunity available to all young people giving them an insight into the lives of others they otherwise would not see.”

Zarith Croft, 16, Surrey from the NCS programme said: “I found it exciting to have the MP, Anne Milton, at our showcase, to listen to us and see what we’ve been doing. Especially because we want our voices heard and the showcase was really fun.”

Group shot of the participants with Ann Milton

1,900 young people from across Surrey will take part in NCS between June and September.

The activities were organised by The Challenge, the UK’s leading charity for building a more integrated society and the largest provider of NCS in England.

Responses to Guildford MP Impressed With National Citizen Service ‘Showcase’

George Potter Reply

August 3, 2016 at 10:43 am

I find it amazing how our MP can pop up for photo opportunities on a regular basis yet always manages to disappear completely whenever there’s a contentious issue (like the EU referendum, or the Local Plan, or same sex marriage) and avoids expressing anything approaching an opinion or showing leadership until it’s all over.
Bernard Parke Reply

August 3, 2016 at 9:56 pm

How can this be said about our MP?

She did not disappear on the referendum. She organised debates. As for the Local Plan this is very much in the court of your elected representatives on Guildford Borough Council.

Do you remember some saying “The green belt will stay?”

As for same sex marriages surely this is very much in the field of our church leaders. What do they say in this matter?
George Potter Reply

August 6, 2016 at 1:56 pm

I can say it quite easily.

In the referendum Anne Milton organised debates but avoided expressing her own opinion on the subject until after the polls had closed. A rather elegant act of fencesitting rather than being honest about her own position so that her constituents can decide whether they feel that her views adequately represent their own views in parliament.

Other MPs in Surrey, such as Jeremy Hunt and Michael Gove managed to express their views plainly enough.

On the local plan she could doubtless express an opinion publicly, and perhaps put public pressure on her Conservative colleagues running the council, but instead all I’ve heard from her is platitudes. Housing is a major issue in Guildford yet our MP has remained virtually silent on the topic instead of showing the leadership we desperately need.

Same sex marriage was a matter of a change in the law which was a very divisive issue among the general public. As a parliamentarian it was her duty to have an opinion on the issue. But, while she eventually voted one way in parliament, up until the vote itself she studiously avoided saying how she’d vote and seemed to do her best to tell everyone what they wanted to hear without committing herself either way.

When we vote for an MP we vote for someone to represent our views in parliament and for someone to show leadership in the constituency we live in.

As it is, Anne Milton seems determined to sit on the fence on any controversial issue to avoid having to express her opinion and the only leadership she seems to show is popping up at media opportunities to get her face in print.

I don’t know about Mr Parke but personally I’d call that the actions of someone who seeks to pander to everyone as political cold feet in order to avoid ever risking losing votes by being honest about holding a potentially unpopular viewpoint.

I’d much prefer an MP who disagreed with me on contentious issues and was honest about it than one who tries to be all things to all people.