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Stephen McPartland, Member of Parliament for Stevenage, set up a website last year to help council and social housing tenants take advantage of up to £77,000 discounts to buy their homes. The free online service,  www.righttobuystevenage.com, has the support of successive Housing Minister's and has helped many people own their own home here in Stevenage. In fact, the Government has now created Right to Buy Agents who will help you free of charge through the process, as Stevenage once again leads the way.

Stephen said, "Almost a hundred families have taken advantage of the discounts on offer and bought their home off Stevenage Borough Council in the first year we launched the website. We all know that Housing is a big issue in Stevenage, especially as Stevenage Borough Council is raising rents faster than anyone else in Hertfordshire and providing a poor service. Many tenants are just fed up with a Council that does not care about them."

"Well, having the Right to Buy your home is getting easier all the time and I am delighted the Government have now introduced Right to Buy Agents to help with this important decision. Your home could be a valuable asset for you and your family and an investment for the future. Home ownership could give you more freedom to make the changes you want to your home. This could be your first step on the property ladder and with a bigger discount of up to £77,000 now available, this could be the perfect time to decide if it is the right choice for you. It also helps the whole community, because the money is used to build more social and affordable housing, so it is a great deal for everyone."

The Right to Buy Agent Service can help you understand your eligibility, the level of discount you could get, or guidance on affordability and working out the costs involved, they are there to help. They can also assist you in filling out your application and will be able to provide practical information on taking those next steps, for example organising a mortgage, finding a solicitor or arranging a survey.

Advisers are available Monday to Friday, 8am until 6pm. You can call 0300 123 0913, email This email address is being protected from spambots. You need JavaScript enabled to view it. or even chat online with them at www.righttobuy.communities.gov.uk/agent-service

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Turning Point’s Hertfordshire Community Mental Health Services (HCMHS) celebrated Turning Point’s 50th anniversary with a gala day at their Midpoint Service in Stevenage.  Service users, staff, families and friends as well as partner organisations and the Member of Parliament for Stevenage, Stephen McPartland, and local councillors gathered together to celebrate with live music (including performers from Turning Point’s Milestone service in London), refreshments and games.

Lord Victor Adebowale, Chief Executive of Turning Point opened the day by saying that Turning Point has “provided many firsts across the last 50 years” and that the “Community Mental Health services in Hertfordshire were still one of the few services dedicated to providing a one stop shop for individuals with complex needs and dual diagnosis.”

Stephen McPartland MP, who also spoke on the day, said, "The staff, clients and partners make Turning Point an amazing resource for our local community. I know it is valued by local people and it was a pleasure to meet so many individuals who I have known for several years. They really have benefitted from the support Turning Point offers and are the real reason we are celebrating."

Carol McNeil, Operations Manager at Turning Point’s HCMHS said, "Thanks to everyone who attended for their support of the service and thanks also to Stephen McPartland, our local MP, for celebrating with us. We have already raised £1,164 through the event which will be used for a trip for service users and families. I am so proud of all the staff at the service and how they have worked together to make this event happen."

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Stephen McPartland, Member of Parliament for Stevenage, had a busy time dropping in on as many Macmillan Coffee Mornings as possible again this year.

Stephen McPartland MP said, "It is always a privilege to be invited along to so many of the coffee mornings held in our area to raise funds for Macmillan. There are more and more being held every year and I am proud to attend as many as I can.

"I am delighted we have now opened the new Lister Macmillan Cancer Centre earlier this month. This £3 million state of the art Cancer Centre at the Lister Hospital is already having a massive impact on patients, families and staff. There is fantastic support for Macmillan locally and these coffee mornings really do help bring our community together to make a difference."

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EYS Stevenage are hosting an ambitious Macmillan Coffee Morning with a twist, as they will be celebrating with the theme of a Mad Hatters Tea Party and invited Stephen McPartland, Member of Parliament for Stevenage, along to see how their preparations were going.

Stephen McPartland MP said, "The learners I met were absolutely fantastic and the venue looks amazing, I cannot wait to pop back in and see it finished on Friday. I love the support Macmillan Coffee Mornings get locally and I spend the whole morning visiting a number of them."

Stephanie Maccioni, a tutor at EYS, said, "This will be EYS’ second year of taking part in the national event and our target is to beat the funds we raised last year. The real key for our success lies within our community and the support throughout."Our learners have been working very hard this year to put on a great show in support of Macmillan so we would like to invite everyone and anyone to come along. Please bring along little ones to meet the Alice in Wonderland cast while you enjoy a cake and a cuppa!"

The EYS Stevenage Mad Hatter Macmillan tea party will begin at 11:00 and will finish at 14:00 at EYS Stevenage, 38 Park Place in the town centre.

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The Stevenage branch of the Ahmadiyya Muslim Community (AMC) invited Stephen McPartland, Member of Parliament for Stevenage, along with representative of a range of community groups and other local bodies to join them at a lunch to celebrate the two Muslim Eid festivals with local residents.

After the formalities, the event began with an introduction to AMC by Sagheer Ahmad, President of Stevenage branch of AMC who explained about the charitable work that the community does in the local area. Some of the guests then spoke a few words, including a representative from Hertfordshire Police. A delicious lunch was then provided which was enjoyed by all.

The event was a great success with Stephen McPartland MP saying, “I am pleased to join the Ahmadiyya Association in their celebration of Eid Milan as I have in previous years, and enjoyed the incredibly warm welcome as well as the wonderful food. I am proud to have the Ahmadiyya Association in our community.”

The community looks forward to holding more events like this in the near future.

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Stephen McPartland, MP for Stevenage, visited the Post Office branch in the Westgate centre, Stevenage to cut a ribbon to mark the extensive refurbishment as part of the Post Office's major investment programme.

Stephen McPartland MP said, "I am very pleased to visit the team at Stevenage Post Office today following its remarkable transformation. The modernisation of this branch is great news for Stevenage, giving the staff here the best possible platform to serve the community.

"The brighter, more welcoming, open-plan environment and new self-service options mean that customers and staff can interact more easily and get the important things done in a far more pleasant environment.

"These are really positive changes and I am sure the community will continue to support the branch as it continues to develop, including through the expanding financial services range."

The new-look branch now has new open-plan counters, as well as a dedicated counter to accept mail. Three new self-service kiosks have also been introduced, giving customers sending letters and parcels even more options as to how they access Post Office services, reducing queue times.

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Stephen McPartland, Member of Parliament for Stevenage, called for action on pancreatic cancer as part of a Parliamentary debate about pancreatic cancer awareness, diagnosis and research.

Speaking after the debate, Stephen said, “Pancreatic cancer is a disease that kills far too many people and for which very few treatment options are available. Survival rates of less than 4% are not acceptable.“Nearly half of pancreatic cancer patients are diagnosed via emergency admission, double the rate of that for patients of other cancer types. We need to do more in terms of GP education and improving the referral systems to improve early diagnosis.

"There is the potential for new, advanced radiotherapy techniques to help improve patient outcomes. These need to be made more widely available to patients around the country. I am proud that our NHS hospital trust was given the first CyberKnife, so it has the evidence required for advanced techniques and advanced radiotherapy.

"However, we need to improve access more and that is why I will continue to campaign for a radiotherapy unit locally and repeat the success achieved with the new Lister Macmillan Cancer Centre that offers patients chemotherapy treatment locally."

The debate had been called after an e-petition reached the necessary 100,000 signatures to trigger a debate in Parliament, and campaigners met Stephen McPartland MP and others to raise awareness.

Pancreatic cancer is the fifth biggest cancer killer in the UK and mortality rates continue to rise unlike for other types of cancer. People diagnosed with the disease currently face a chance of survival of less than 4%, the lowest survival rate of any common cancer, with many patients being diagnosed at a point when the cancer has spread to other parts of their body.

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For the fifth year running Christ The King church in Symonds Green was the venue for an early Macmillan World's Biggest Coffee Morning.  Organised by Chrissy Cass and her team of volunteers the coffee morning raised almost £950, making it the most successful year yet.

Stephen McPartland, Member of Parliament for Stevenage, was invited along and said, "It was a real pleasure to attend the first of many Macmillan Coffee mornings and I would like to thank all the volunteers who made it happen, as well as those who came along to support the event.Macmillan Coffee mornings raise huge amounts of money to help many local families. I was proud to help open the new Lister Macmillan Cancer Centre, a £3 million pound project which is another step forward in improving our cancer treatment facilities locally."

Chrissy Cass said, "I would like to thank the devoted team of volunteers, who work and give their time each year, I could not have achieved it without their support."We would like to thank everyone who came to support our Friday Coffee Morning in support of Macmillan Cancer Care, it was great to see so many people from the community come down and give so generously, including the continued support from our MP Stephen McPartland."

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