Local Election Candidate for Ecclesall
I am 51 years old, and married with two sons aged 14 and 16. I have been qualified as a psychiatric social worker for over 20 years, and have worked for the past 10 years in emergency mental health services. I have lived in Greystones since 1997 and stood as a Green Party candidate in recent council elections. We walk to the local shops on Banner Cross and Sharrowvale Road for our food shopping and rarely use mainstream supermarkets. Apart from the fact that the local shops tend to be cheaper, their bread, meat, and vegetables tend to be of better quality.
.
Through my work, I have had more than a quarter of a century’s experience in advocating for people who have needs which have not been properly met by statutory services, such as Housing, Social Services and Health. If I was elected I would bring this experience, and my skills in negotiation to the role of councillor to ensure that people in my community had a powerful voice in their dealings with local services, and were considered with fairness for the support to which they were entitled.
As a Green Party councillor, I would press for Quality Bus Contracts to ensure we in Sheffield could benefit from better and cheaper bus services and more control over routes and fares. More bus usage means less car use. An immediate environmental gain! I will support “Walking Bus” services to local schools, run by volunteers. They benefit parents because they do not have to take their children to school. They benefit hildren who socialise more and have exercise which they would not have if they were sat in the car. They save car journeys and the pollution they cause.
Cuts to vital public services, benefits and pensions are not needed if the government:
• Closes massive tax loopholes
• Gets more people into work
• Cuts Trident nuclear missiles
• Taxes the money markets
• Taxes bank profits and cuts bonuses
Greens say create 1 million new jobs by investing in renewable energy, public transport and housing. Scrap tuition fees and reinstate the Educational Maintenance Allowance.
The Green Party says NO to cuts and YES to investment in jobs.
