Wealden Conservatives were pleased to welcome the COP26 President, The Rt Hon Alok Sharma MP to the constituency to meet students at Hailsham Community College and to visit an emission-free van business based in Lower Dicker near Hailsham.
Mr Sharma was joined by Wealden's MP, Nus Ghani, the Leader of Wealden District Council, Bob Standley, hard-working Hailsham county councillor Gerard Fox, and Cllr Toby Illingworth the Chairman of Wealden Conservatives.
Ahead of the annual Hailsham Community College Careers Fair, the COP26 President visited the school to talk to Sixth Form students about his responsibilities, UK’s leading role in keeping climate at the top of the international agenda and about delivering greener future and greener jobs.
"It was a fantastic opportunity for the students and the class engaged the President in insightful questions about not only the goals of the COP26 Climate Conference, tackling global warming, and holding other countries to account and act upon their promises, but also about Parliamentary procedures and Ministerial responsibilities", said Cllr Standley who is Lead Member for Education at East Sussex County Council.
MP, Nusrat Ghani remarked that it was an absolute pleasure to welcome the COP26 President to the school and give the students a once-in-a-lifetime opportunity to discuss Britain’s leading work on tackling climate change and inspire them to consider careers in delivering these goals. "The questions from the floor were a great testament to the fantastic education they are receiving at Hailsham Community College, and it was great to see the students’ passion for the environment and greener future,” she added.
Apprentices in action
Mr Sharma was able to see young apprentices from the college on his visit to nearby JLC Group (pictured above. This multi-disciplined UK engineering company makes fully-electric vehicles on-site in Lower Dicker near Hailsham. The emission-free vans are designed for city couriers, airports, seaports, local authorities, distribution centres or warehouses. The vehicles are assembled on-site, providing training packages, jobs and vital experience to young apprentices from local colleges including students from Hailsham.
Nusrat Ghani said: “JLC Group are a fantastic local business making transport at our key infrastructure hubs such as airports and seaports greener, whilst providing valuable experience and jobs to young Wealden engineers. The commitment to accelerating the transition to zero emissions vehicles was a key part of the COP26 UN Climate Change Conference in Glasgow and I’m pleased to have had the opportunity to showcase to the President how Wealden companies are leading the initiative and contributing to delivering this goal.”
