Neil O’Brien, MP for Harborough, convened the first meeting of the Market Harborough Partnership recently, and paid tribute to local community and voluntary groups across the Town.
The Partnership, chaired by Neil O’Brien MP, with Cllr Phil King (Leader of Harborough District Council) as Deputy Chair, brings together a range of charities and community groups across the Town.
Attendees at the first meeting included VASL, Loros, VAL, Harborough Woodland, Sustainable Harborough, Spectrum, Howard Watson Symington Memorial, HomeStart South Leicestershire, Market Harborough & The Bowdens charity, the Royal British Legion, Shopmobility, St Dionysius’ Church, HCYC, Harborough District Council and Brooke House College, who hosted the meeting at their campus in Town.
Neil said, “It was great to hear from so many of the local charities and groups who do such brilliant work across the Town and wider District. The last 18 months has shown the important role these organisations play, and it was really useful to hear from them about the work they’re involved in and also some of the challenges or opportunities before them.
Both Cllr Phil King and I are keen to hear more from the different groups in the coming weeks and months to see how we can support their work, help to join up and dots and also work together with local schools who we’ll also be reaching out to.”
Maureen O’Malley, Charity Manager at VASL said, “We’re grateful to Neil for facilitating a useful forum bringing together the voluntary and community sector together in Market Harborough. VASL looks forward to the growth and development of this important platform for local groups to work together.”
Neil concluded, “I’d like to thank all of the attendees for joining the meeting and for everything they and their teams and volunteers have done to support so many people over the years, but particularly during the pandemic. We had another successful volunteers fair the other week where many were able to speak to new prospective volunteers who are keen to get involved, which was great to see.”
