The Member of Parliament for Eastleigh, and Minister at the Department for Digital, Culture, Media and Sport, Mims Davies, recently visited The Queen Elizabeth 2 Centre at River Hamble Country Park to meet Manager Phil Oates, staff, volunteers and service users and see the newly opened Gold Day Service building.
The QE2 Activity Centre provides activity sessions, day services and holiday opportunities for people with disabilities, their families and carers. The new building includes a state of the art sensory room, extensive changing facilities and a large multi- purpose room complete with kitchen, which is where Mims met with a group of people for a coffee and a chat.
Reflecting on her visit, Eastleigh MP and DCMS Minister Mims Davies said:
“It was really great to visit the QE2 Centre, set in the countryside, surrounded by trees and woodland plants breathing fresh air on a sunny morning – I immediately felt calm and relaxed being in such a green environment”.
“The new Gold Day Service building is fantastic and already service users, staff and volunteers are seeing the benefit as more people are using the facilities. The sensory room is incredibly calming, the multi-use room is used for yoga classes and coffee mornings and I had some great questions asked during my Q&A session with the young adults I met. Asked if I had any pets, it was a good excuse to show them all a picture of my dog, TJ, who regularly accompanies me to the constituency.
“The opportunities, support and care centres such as the QE2 offer is incredibly important for the community and I would like to thank Phil and everyone involved for their tireless devotion and work in supporting vulnerable people.”
“It’s so important for our mental health to take time out from our busy schedules and reconnect with nature, even if it’s for 10 minutes, it makes you feel great! We are fortunate that within the Eastleigh constituency we have many wonderful green spaces to explore and as we gear up for the school Summer holidays, I would encourage families to get outdoors and take advantage of our open spaces.”
Also commenting, Queen Elizabeth Centre 2 Trustee, Jerry Hall said:
“It was great to see Mims at the QE2 Centre to visit our new building for day service users. She spent lots of time answering questions from our young adults and even offered a trip to Parliament for us all which would be a great experience and something we will definitely progress in the autumn!”
Committee Member Steve Wildin added:
“Mims was really friendly and relaxed and took time to talk with everyone. She commented how lovely it was to be amongst the trees and peaceful countryside. We are very proud of our new building and Mims is always welcome here.”
Hampshire County Council Cabinet Member and Eastleigh Borough Councillor, Judith Grajewski said:
"I know that setting up the QEII Centre was one of the late Godfrey Olson OBE's proudest achievements, probably the one closest to his heart having served as the Centre's Chairman for 35 years, and he would be delighted to see it so passionately supported by Mims as the local Member of Parliament."