People in Lower Penn and Wombourne are rightly concerned about plans to force large Battery Energy Storage Sites onto our villages.

These developments are not sustainable, they’re out of character with our rural settings, and they raise serious safety questions. 

If there was a fire, how would emergency services even access the site? 

Local people must have a real say over what happens in their communities. We should be able to protect our green spaces and farmland from inappropriate industrial-scale developments. 

I lay out the facts in this short episode. If you agree, please sign my petition, which I will be presenting in Parliament to make sure our voices are heard. 

Across Staffordshire, victims lost £20,000 on average last year.

Scammers are getting smarter— and they won’t stop just because Christmas is over.  As we begin 2026, please stay alert. Trust your instincts. And think twice before sharing any personal or financial information.

At my recent Older People’s Information Fair in Perton, I spoke with Megan (who's 80 year old partner had money stolen from his bank account), as well as Dudley Building Society and Staffordshire Police, about the latest scams doing the rounds and how we can stay safe. 

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.