Montgomery Church in Wales school got involved in UK parliament week.

Pupils completed their ballot papers before going to the polling station to elect the school councillors for each year group.

Constituency MP Craig Williams met years 4, 5 and 6 virtually and answered a number of questions which the children had prepared.

These covered a wide range of themes, including the role of an MP, the debate about free school meals in the holidays, the coronavirus pandemic, and the recent vote on agriculture standards.

Mr Williams has offered to meet with the school council later in the year and the school will be looking to engage with representatives from all political parties to build the children’s understanding of how politics works.

Meanwhile Mr Williams also met virtually with Montgomery Rangers.

The Rangers raised a number of questions as part of their involvement in UK Parliament week, with issues discussed including several relating to the pandemic such as school exams, the impact of living so close to the border and face masks in schools.

The Rangers were also interested to know what a typical day in the life of an MP was like, and to ask Mr Williams about his voting record, especially on issues such as the gender pay gap.

Welsh language business offer

Members of Montgomery Tourism Committee along with local businesses met virtually with Sioned Pugh, the Mid Wales advisor for Helo Blod.

Sioned explained how businesses could get help putting a little Welsh into their activities, signs and social media by using the free Helo Blod service for their promotion and marketing.

Jill Kibble, chair of the tourism committee, said: “Visitors and customers enjoy being in a country with its own distinctive language and culture, especially in a border town like Montgomery where a step or two takes them over the Dyke.

Any business or charity can register with Helo Blod and receive up to 500 words translated into Welsh each month, or have up to 1000 words of their own Welsh text checked.

For further information, see the Helo Blod website or contact sioned.pugh@heloblodlleol.cymru

Appeal for gifts

Sarah Voice and her young son are collecting new unwrapped toys and gifts for children of all ages and adults at the Montgomeryshire Family Crisis Centre.

Sarah has been collecting and donating items for MFCC Christmas since moving to the area several years ago.

She said: “I came across MFCC and learnt about the invaluable support they offer to men, women and children experiencing or affected by domestic abuse.

“Knowing that most families arrive at the centre with very little, I decided to try and collect and donate items every year. Due to the generosity shown by the local public, the donations have grown each year.”

The centre also works in partnership with the Salvation Army, and the foodbank in Llanidloes, sharing some donations with these other organisations.

Already supporting this initiative are Montgomery Church in Wales School, where the children will be creating advent calendar hampers, Sarah’s work colleagues at the Shrewsbury and Telford NHS Trust, and several businesses who have offered to act as drop-off points for donations.

Donations of new unwrapped toys and gifts can be made from now until Sunday, December 13 and there are boxes for these located in Montgomery at The Ivy House Cafe and Post Office, as well as at Tesco Welshpool, Morrison’s Welshpool, The Talbot Hotel Berriew and Tesco Newtown.

For further information, Sarah Voice can be contacted on s.voice@outlook.com or 07756805190.

Windows competition

To add to the Christmas spirit in the town, the Montgomery Christmas Festival Committee are organising a Christmas display window competition themed ‘Christmas celebrations’.

An entry form needs to be completed, and is available from montgomeryfestival@gmail.com or at the Bunners Shop.

Please return the form by November 28.

The windows will be judged the week before Christmas, but all entries for businesses must be mounted and on display before November 28 with residential property entries on view by December 12.

The committee has secured money prizes from local companies RVW Pugh, Montgomery Waters and SJ Roberts Construction.

Meanwhile the Christmas lights switch on will be live streamed this year.