A humbling holiday

Conservative MP for Calder Valley

My annual holiday is a rare opportunity to down tools, discard the suit, no Blackberry, very little internet - and definitely do nothing that even begins to resemble work!

This summer is a little different. In parliament, I chair three All Party Parliamentary Groups - Looked After Children & Care Leavers; Fostering & Adoption; and Street Children. So when I was invited to go to see a children’s orphanage in Kerala in Southern India, it sealed this year’s holiday destination. So, I set off to witness what turned out to be an amazing, innovative and fulfilling project.

One from which we could learn in the UK on how we treat and look after our children in care. What is more amazing about this wonderful project is that it was started by a Calder Valley businessman. He had for many years traded with this part of India, and on selling his company on retirement decided that he wanted to give something back.

The result was the ‘Hope Children’s Community’.

The outcomes for the young people who live there are amazing, with every child having aspiration for their future. In our UK society where we often tend to knock those who have done well and succeeded, I just had to mention this particular businessman from the Calder Valley who has invested an awful lot of time and money into helping that community of children in India. We must not only recognise, but also celebrate the good things that many of our successful people do, and very often for no accolade.

People who often also inspire others to do so much good too, as looking at the visitors’ book there have been visits from dozens of people from the Calder Valley who come and support this incredibly worthwhile charity.