Bishop Auckland MP Helen Goodman MP supports local performance of Playing House, interactive live theatre.

Playing House is an interactive performance set in a home like yours or mine. Inside you will hear real stories from your local community. The performance has been put together by local artists and women from the local community and features an ensemble cast of community and professional performers. All the words are from testimonies of local women about their experiences. These were collected from interviews and meetings in towns and villages across County Durham and Darlington over the last few months.

During the event there will be opportunities to watch live theatre and dance, share your stories, enjoy some tea and cake, discuss the issues raised and to make your mark on our house of stories. There will be professionals available to offer advice and support. The Women’s Voices Project also has a blog where you can read about our journey and get involved.

Performances take place on Friday 26th September at Bishop Auckland Town Hall at 1pm (Women only) and 7pm.

For more information visit Playing House

The potential positive impact on local communities of plans for a proposed new wind farm in Teesdale has led them to win the backing of Bishop Auckland MP Helen Goodman.

The Windy Bank Wind Farm has been put forward for a site between the village of Woodland and the southern edge of Hamsterley Forest by County Durham firm Banks Renewables.

Having reviewed the details of the updated scheme design that was recently submitted by Banks to Durham County Council, which includes an enhanced community benefits fund worth up to £1.75m across the project’s 25-year lifespan, Helen has given her support to the four-turbine, scheme.

She believes that this funding could offer the area a chance to address a number of pressing local needs that might otherwise not receive the attention they require.

Helen Goodman says: “Labour remains strongly supportive of using appropriately-located onshore wind farm developments as part of the UK’s future energy infrastructure, and the Windy Bank Wind Farm would seem to offer a great deal to the local community alongside the green energy it would produce.

“Rural areas such as ours suffer disproportionately on a number of different fronts, including specific issues around skills development, employability and fuel poverty, and Government funding for projects addressing these areas will remain very stretched for the foreseeable future.”

“The resources that the Windy Bank community benefits fund would make available locally could make a huge difference to the lives of many people in different parts of our community, and I’m keen to see how the proposals Banks has worked up in response to comments they’ve had from local people could be brought to life using money drawn from this fund.”

“As someone who is in favour of renewable energy and onshore wind farms, and of the communities in which such schemes are based benefiting from their development, I’m firmly in favour of the Windy Bank Wind Farm going forward and would hope that Durham County Council will agree with my views.”

Helen is holding a Constituency surgery on Friday 3rd July starting at 10am at Spennymoor Town Hall, Spennymoor, DL16 6DG. The surgery is open to all constituents and appointments are not required.

If you are unable to attend the surgery but would like to raise your case with Helen please do not hesitate to contact Helen’s Caseworker on 01388 603075, email Helen at [email protected] or visit/write to Helen at 1 Cockton Hill Road, Bishop Auckland, DL14 6EN.

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Wanting to know more about how Parliament works?

You can log on to Parliament Revealed, a new educational website created by the Hansard Society. The website uses video interviews, with people involved in all aspects of running Parliament, as well as written articles, to explain four main areas: the roles of parliamentary institutions; how laws are made and scrutinised; the role and function of MPs; and how Parliament works from day to day.

The website includes interviews with such figures as Sir Robert Rogers, the Clerk of the House and Chief Executive; the Rt Hon John Bercow, Speaker of the House of Commons; and many others, discussing their roles and explaining various topics. The website also provides supporting documentation, suggested reading and downloadable presentations along with each topic.

Explore the website here.

You can also search Hansard for debates and Parliamentary Questions submitted by Helen by visiting Hansard.

Every 20 minutes someone in the UK is diagnosed with a blood cancer and around 1,800 people in the UK need a bone marrow (or stem cell) transplant each year. The charity Anthony Nolan is searching for more local heroes in Bishop Auckland constituency to join their bone marrow register in the fight against blood cancer. Championed by local MP Helen Goodman, this search is underway as the Anthony Nolan bone marrow register has been mapped across the UK by local area for the first time.

Anthony Nolan, now in its 40th anniversary year, was the world’s first bone marrow register. The blood cancer charity has been saving lives for four decades by matching remarkable people willing to donate their bone marrow to patients in desperate need of a transplant. Two thirds of UK patients will not find a matching donor from within their families; instead they turn to Anthony Nolan to find them an unrelated donor. But the charity can currently only find a match for around half of those who to come to them in desperate need, and they still urgently need more people to come forward.

Local MP, Helen Goodman, has joined the fight against blood cancer by sharing their superhero selfie for Anthony Nolan to show their support and champion the register in their community.

Helen Goodman, says: ‘I have 604 heroes on the register here in Bishop Auckland but the challenge continues. I’m hunting for more crusaders to sign up today, so we can fight blood cancer together. It is something truly heroic to give a stranger a second chance at life. This is why I’m proud to champion this cause to my constituents.’

The charity needs heroes of all ages to champion the register at a local level and help us spread the word – from schools, communities and workplaces to your own friends and family. Be a hero – find out how you can help by going to www.anthonynolan.org/superhero