GUEST COLUMN: Congratulations to our star swimmers, by Gloria De Piero, Ashfield MP

The Paralympics in Rio have picked up exactly where the Olympics left off for Team GB.
Ashfield MP Gloria de Piero said the 'right-to-buy' had become a 'right-to-buy-to-let'.Ashfield MP Gloria de Piero said the 'right-to-buy' had become a 'right-to-buy-to-let'.
Ashfield MP Gloria de Piero said the 'right-to-buy' had become a 'right-to-buy-to-let'.

Our disabled athletes won a whopping 64 golds in a truly memorable games and what tops off this this outstanding performance is that our own Ashfield-based swimmers have played their part. Kirkby’s Ollie Hynd has been on phenomenal form: he picked up a silver in the S8 100m backstroke in a personal best time, after already winning the gold in the 400m S8 freestyle with a new world record. He completed his games with a brilliant gold and new world record in the 200m individual medley at the weekend - a truly inspirational performance. Ollie’s training partner Charlotte Henshaw, who lives in Sutton, took bronze in the women’s 100m breaststroke SB6 final and broke the world record in qualifying.

I am so proud, they are amazing ambassadors for Ashfield. Many congratulations to them on their successes.

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People having their benefits stopped for unclear reasons are one of the major causes of severe financial hardship in areas like Ashfield. A lady from Sutton got in touch with me recently at her wit’s end because her disability living allowance had been stopped and she was struggling to make ends meet. I got in touch with the Department for Work and Pensions on her behalf and After looking at her case again, the DWP said that it would restart her DLA payments straight away and they issued her with back payment of £936.90.

Accidents happen – even when you are on holiday – and though you may be covered by travel insurance, that does not mean that problems cannot arise. The mum of a young lady from Huthwaite got in touch with me after her daughter broke her leg while on holiday in Greece. She was in a private hospital and in need of an operation, but her insurance company said she needed to be transferred to a public hospital for them to fund it and there would be a 10 day wait. This young lady was desperate to get home so she could have the operation here and her mum got in touch with me to see if I could help this happen. Just a day after I got in touch with her insurance company, she had been assessed as fit to fly and booked on a flight home that same day. This was an excellent result and I hope she is now recovering well at home.