Last week was one of my favourite weeks so far as an MP - writes Dan Aldridge, MP for Weston-super-Mare.

As part of UK Parliament Week, 24 events were held by schools and uniform groups like the Scouts, across Weston, Worle and the villages.

I met with hundreds of children and young people, taking some of the most brilliant questions as we learned together about the work of Parliament, how they can make a difference and how I can represent their views better in Parliament.

It was such a huge privilege; the kids we met were incredible and working with them in this way really is one of the biggest joys of this job and I'm so grateful I get to do it.

(Image: Dan Aldridge MP) UK Parliament Week (UKPW) is an annual event, spreading the word about what Parliament is, what it does and how you can get involved.

It’s a great way to find out new things about UK Parliament or be reminded of things you might’ve forgotten!

In 2023, over 1.6 million people took part in every nation and region of the UK, and countries all over the world.

I was so excited to visit a number of schools in our town and saw over 300 children and young people throughout the day.

We answered many, many questions from them, ranging from why I decided to run for MP, what’s the most exciting thing about my job (being able to park under Big Ben is definitely still up there!) through to the challenges we face in our constituency.

I know how amazing our schools and teaching staff are here in Weston, but it really was on show for all to see this week.

I had conversations with so many children about such diverse issues, from the wars in Sudan and the Middle East, the cost of living, the Trump presidency, climate change, to being safe online and in public spaces.

Slightly different in tone but no less clear in their views, some children had a very clear agenda around the unacceptable speed of zip-wires in the Haywood Village play park.

(I've already written a letter to Cllr Ciarán Cronnelly about this on their behalf).

Top quality lobbying!

(Image: Dan Aldridge MP) These young people really demonstrated empathy and an understanding of what’s important to them - it felt like future politicians and the brilliant future of our town were sat in the room with us.

We took away a lot of questions and we’ll be back in touch soon once we’ve spoken to other partners.

What really struck me was the concentration on every child’s face when we spoke to them.

I was blown away with everyone’s contributions and I wish I could have stayed longer with you all; I will be back.

Remember - we really do enjoy receiving your letters and love answering them so don’t forget to remind your teachers to schedule in some time to write to us.

I will continue to visit schools over the next couple of months and the team and I will start to make regular appointments and share all the news and exciting things happening in Westminster that we know schools and groups will want to be involved with.

We can also arrange visits for children of any age - whether that's primary classes learning about democracy, students taking Politics as an A-Level, through to groups keen to learn about Westminster and what it means to be in Government - we’d welcome you all.

(Image: Dan Aldridge MP) Look out for news in January about our Summer School initiative - we are working with a number of really exciting businesses to bring this to Weston.

It will be open to 14+ years, where we will look at what democracy means in the 21st century, how you make change happen, how you use your voice for good and the importance of voting.

Day two will be filled with lots of fun with partners like Google, TikTok and Vodafone - we will be thinking about careers and jobs, but we also want to make sure our young people are safe online and these great companies will help.

Linking back to education, I held my second surgery over the weekend which focused on Special Educational Needs and Disabilities (SEND).

This is something really close to my heart, having worked in SEND for five years as well as helping my family - my brother has autism and we struggled for many years to get the right support for him.

It was great to have Claire Shiels (Director for Children’s Services at North Somerset Council) in the meeting with me; this partnership approach to delivering for families is essential.

We met some absolutely incredible families facing some really tough situations.

Thank you for taking the time to come and meet with me and Claire, and we will be in touch soon.

Our next surgery is on Friday, December 13 - this will be an appointment-only surgery but will be open to anyone that has issues they would like to discuss with me.

Please remember to email Daniel.aldridge.mp@parliament.uk if you would like an appointment, along with a brief outline of what you’d like to discuss.