It’s been two years since the iconic Crooked House was destroyed by a fire. I spoke to campaigner Ian Sandall at the site about what the pub means to the Black Country and why we need to get on and rebuild it. 

We are at my tenth jobs and skills fair in Wombourne (my first since the boundary changes as MP for Kingswinford and South Staffordshire). Joining me in this episode are Dudley College, West Midlands Ambulance Service and Home Instead — just three organisations offering fantastic jobs and training opportunities.

I visited Brookfields Farm in Wombourne and spoke to Linda about the government’s new tax on family farms.It is a poor policy that will devastate livelihoods, local food production, and our beautiful countryside. It must be reversed.

Merry Hill saw my 9th annual jobs and skills fair, and the busiest one yet. A huge thank you to all the businesses and organisations who attended — there are thousands of quality jobs and careers available in and around Dudley. You can hear from some of the employers in this episode - including M&S, Ask Italian, National Infrastructure Solutions, the NHS, and HM Prison Service.

I continue my Dudley South Heroes series with Dawn Keeley — Dawn does a huge amount of volunteering with the Girlguides in Wall Heath. The girls who attend do lots of adventurous activities and work in the community, and they get a lot out of it. Dawn is a true Dudley South Hero — thank you Dawn! If you know of someone doing some good work in our community, who deserves a bit of recognition, please let me know, I’d love to get them on my community podcast. 

Trevor runs a charity called "Santa's Black Country Toy Appeal". He and his team of volunteers have been collecting toys for disadvantaged children for 26 years, and they now cover Dudley, Sandwell, Walsall and Wolverhampton. You can donate at https://bc-santa.co.uk/.

Trevor is a Dudley South Hero and joins us for this episode.

Meet Stu Bratt, my next Dudley South Hero. Stu runs a local mental health charity for men called "Tough Enough To Care". He set it up to help people struggling with their mental health, after losing two friends to suicide.

Hawbush Gardens is a real jewel in the community here in Brierley Hill. Ken Smith runs it — they use the space to grow fresh produce for local people and so much more. I went there and spoke to Ken for the first of my 'Dudley South Heroes' conversations — in these conversations you can hear from some of our amazing local people who are doing great things for our community. 

I hosted a packed jobs fair at Merry Hill shopping centre and I’d like to thank every single business and organisation that took the time to come along and speak to local people. We’ve got many thousands of good quality jobs and training opportunities in just about every industry you can think of. In this episode you can hear directly from some of our amazing employers including: Flannery Plant Hire, Waldrons Solicitors, HM Prison and Probation Service; Canal & River Trust; as well as Mayor Andy Street and an apprentice. 

There’s just over a month left until the government Kickstart scheme ends. It is a fantastic scheme that takes young people off benefits and puts them into quality jobs. They are paid the minimum wage, they learn valuable skills that they can keep for life, and it is fully funded by government. So if you’re a local business, and you haven’t yet had a chance to look into it, please do. 

I caught up with Aaron Atwal from Canal & River Trust and Dam Sood from The Indian Tavern at my recent jobs fair - they have both successfully taken on local young people as kickstarters and given them some incredible opportunities. And if you’re a business that’s participated in the scheme, or if you are a kickstart apprentice, get in touch, I’d like to hear from you!

I’m really pleased to report that Dudley and the West Midlands currently have more job vacancies than before the pandemic. And I’m talking about quality jobs that are offering quality training - in health, social care, hospitality, construction, the police, retail  - just about any sector you can think of. I recently held a busy and lively jobs fair at Merry Hill and spoke to some of the employers.

We have some excellent special needs schools here in Dudley such as Pens Meadow - I was proud to open their post-16 building 4 years ago. The issue now is that the school is spread across two sites which makes it difficult for the team to provide the care and education the children deserve. We are going to build a purpose built site that the kids deserve here at Tiled House Lane. Pleased to be joined in this episode by
Headteacher Marie and Cllr Patrick Harley.

Spring is coming and things are slowly looking up. Over the past year we’ve spent millions on helping people, families and businesses get through the pandemic. Dudley Council have done a fantastic job and I'm pleased to be to be joined by Council Leader Patrick Harley and Cabinet Member for Finance Steve Clark in this episode. 

Our local schools are doing a fantastic job taking lessons online during this challenging time. I recently joined Netherton CofE virtually for a Q&A session and the teachers and pupils certainly put me through my paces! Listen to the full session in this episode. 

Dudley’s doctors and nurses and support staff are doing an incredible job in rolling out the vaccines locally. But they are still under a lot of pressure from Covid right now. Sara Davis is a matron heading up the local vaccine programme and Diane Wake is the Chief Executive of Dudley Group NHS Trust. They join me in this episode to explain their major vaccination efforts and what they are dealing with. We can help them by staying at home. 

One positive to come out of the past few difficult months is that many people in the Black Country are taking the time to have a bit of a reset. They’re rethinking their career and taking the opportunity to retrain. And we’re lucky to have Dudley College of Technology, Black Country Skills Shop, and employers like Stiltz Lifts who are providing fantastic opportunities for local people. They join me in this episode.

Brierley Hill has massive potential and work is underway to regenerate it and turn it into a successful and thriving area. The Metro extension will help bring people to the area, and our bid has recently been submitted for funding from the government’s Future High Streets Fund. It’s a community effort - and here’s an update with Mayor Andy Street, Dudley Councillor Patrick Harley and Tim Sunter from the Brierley Hill Community Forum.

One of my priorities is to make sure local children with speech and learning difficulties get the best education and care possible. Pens Meadow  School is doing an incredible job with their pupils, despite Covid having a big impact. The school is now preparing for September and I caught up with Headteacher Marie Hunter and local dad Steve Hermon.

National Express is our biggest local private sector employer employing some 350 drivers, engineers and back office staff. They’re doing a big job preparing to keep passengers safe as they resume and increase their services post-Covid. I caught up with Richard Smith about their plans.

The Covid crisis has seen Black Country Food Bank work overtime and help some 7,000 people over the past few months. You can help Jen and the team by donating food items or volunteering. Jen Coleman from the food bank joins me in this episode.