Ben Everitt, the MP for Milton Keynes North, visited a number of charities at the 2023 Conservative Party Conference in Manchester.
A summary of a few of the stalls he visited can be found below:
Guide Dogs
Ben met with Guide Dogs to hear about the obstacles and inaccessible design that hinder people with sight loss from walking the streets safely and confidently, including pavement parked cars and street clutter. He also stopped to speak with his constituent Elaine Maries and her guide dog Inca, a black Golden Retriever Labrador cross after they met previously at his constituency office to talk about refusal of access to taxis and businesses.
Alzheimer's Society
Ben also headed to the Alzheimer's Society stand to discuss dementia being the UK’s biggest killer, with 1 in 3 people born today expected to develop dementia in their lifetime. In Milton Keynes North, 3003 people are currently living with dementia and Ben heard about the importance of making sure people get a diagnosis and receive the care they need.
British Heart Foundation
At the British Heart Foundation's stand Ben was told how 27% of adults are living with obesity and 12% of people have been diagnosed with high blood pressure in Milton Keynes North. Both are associated with an increased risk of heart disease and stroke. There have been huge advances in how we detect, diagnose, and treat cardiovascular disease (CVD) over the past 60 years, helping to halve the number of people dying early from these diseases in the UK, but they discussed the importance of making sure this progress continues and doesn't slow down.
Crisis
Ben has worked closely with homelessness charity Crisis on a number of issues since becoming an MP and visited their stall at conference to talk more about their recent report into bring empty properties across the UK back into use to tackle homelessness. Their estimations suggest that over the four years to 2028, a concerted strategic approach to bring long-term empty properties back into use could result in local authorities across England providing an additional 40,000 genuinely affordable homes. Ben's work with the APPG for Housing Market and Housing Delivery and APPG for Ending Homelessness also recently saw a joint report released on how commercial to residential conversions could help tackle homelessness.