Today I visited the FareShare office and depot in Deptford.

FareShare is an award-winning charity created to tackle hunger and food wastage in the UK.  It rescues good quality surplus food - which would otherwise go to waste - and distributes it to over 700 charities and community projects across the country.

The majority of FareShare's surplus food comes from manufacturers, and all of the major retailers have encouraged their suppliers to work with the charity to minimise food waste.

Last year the food redistributed by FareShare contributed towards more than 8.6 million meals, feeding 36,500 people a day.

It is a tragedy that in the current climate more and more people are struggling to afford nutritious food for themselves and their families.  FareShare helps to support those most in need by supplying food to hostels, day centres, women's refuges and children's breakfast clubs.

The charity is doing a fantastic job and I am proud to have them in my constituency.

The Charity Commission is advising people to check that they are giving to a registered charity when approached for donations.  

According to an independent ICM poll commissioned by the Commission and the Fundraising Standards Board, 2 in 5 adults across the UK do not make any checks when approached by a collector for a charitable donation.

Carbon monoxide poisoning can have very serious consequences.  At this time of year it is especially important to be vigilant, as most people will be using their boilers more than usual.

The Heating and Hotwater Industry Council has come up with five tips to help people stay safe over the winter:

• Get your boiler service annually, both for safety reasons and to save money in the longer term.
  
• Make sure your heating engineer is Gas Safe Registered and ask to see some ID.
  
• As well as being Gas Safe Registered, an installer can belong to the Heating and Hotwater Industry Council national benchmark scheme.  Membership provides added reassurance that your engineer is competent.
• Fit a carbon monoxide inside your home.
• Be aware of the symptoms of carbon monoxide poisoning.  The six main symptoms are: headaches, dizziness, nausea, breathlessness, collapse and loss of consciousness.

I waited until the final day to submit my response to the consultation so that I could have the benefit of reading the many expert ones copied to me.

Clearly we have a huge fight on our hands, but the reaction of local people has been fantastic.  I have never known a petition on any local issue to receive such support.

I have sent a copy of my submission to the Secretary of State and together with colleague MPs am seeking a meeting with him.  Please click here to read my submission in full.

On Wednesday 12th December 2012 I took part in an Opposition Day Debate on NHS Funding.  I took the opportunity to air my views on the restructuring of the NHS in South London and the proposed closure of the A&E and Maternity Services at Lewisham Hospital in my constituency.

I reminded Jeremy Hunt MP, Secretary of State for Health, that when David Cameron was in Opposition he named Lewisham as one of the 29 hospitals he would personally defend.  Lewisham is a successful, solvent and highly regarded hospital.  120,000 people use the A&E department each year, and more than 4000 babies are born in the maternity unit.  It is crazy that our borough should be forced to lose these excellent services. 

My colleague Heidi Alexander MP (Lewisham East) also took part in the debate.  You can view our contributions below (my speech begins at 14:59:50 and Heidi's begins at 3:58:28).

This morning Heidi Alexander (MP for Lewisham East), Jim Dowd (MP for Lewisham West & Penge) and I delivered copies of the petitions to save Lewisham A&E and Maternity Services to Downing Street. We were accompanied by many of Lewisham's dedicated local campaigners.

At the time of writing more than 22,000 people have signed the online petition.  If you have not already done so, the petition can be found here.

We also delivered a petition signed by more than 300 Lewisham doctors, as well as another signed by over 650 GPs and healthcare workers from across South East London.

The deadline for responding to the consultation is midnight on 13th December.

Related Press:
Petition Against Lewisham A&E Closure To Be Handed In (BBC News Website, 07/12/12)
Lewisham Hospital Closure Petitions Handed In At Downing Street (News Shopper, 07/1/12)

The Care Quality Commission is launching a new email service.  Local residents will be able to sign up to receive an email alert when the Commission is planning to inspect or publish a report about one of their chosen health and social care locations.

This is a great opportunity for people to stay up-to-date with health and social care provision at the places that matter to them.  We all want to make sure that the care we receive or arrange for others is of the best possible quality.  The Care Quality Commission's alerts will make it easier for people to get involved in the process and remain informed about care in their area.