Welcome to my regular column for my constituents.

It's easy to take for granted everything that Lewisham has to offer and miss what is right under our noses.

This week I was lucky enough to visit the Blackheath Conservatoire and meet their director. The Conservatoire is an attractive cultural centre with a full calendar of musical events as well as classes in areas as diverse as wine appreciation, English literature and drama. The Barbican is a good distance from Lewisham and the Royal Festival Hall hasn’t quite re-opened so do take advantage of this cultural resource on your doorstep. 

Whilst in Blackheath, I also visited John Ball School and spoke to the pupils in the school council about Parliament and democracy. I always enjoy visiting local schools and, as usual, the questions were varied and insightful. 

In the country a lot of attention has been focussed on the historic events taking place in Northern Ireland. After the meeting between Gerry Adams and Ian Paisley it was confirmed that power-sharing would commence from 8th May. Exactly twenty-eight years ago the Conservative MP Airey Neave was killed by a car bomb as he left the House of Commons. It’s a mark of how far we’ve come in a relatively short space of time that such a terrible event seems inconceivable today. 

Finally, and as this photo shows, I’ve been pursuing my role as Democracy Minister by encouraging people to vote. The Electoral Commission has an informative website at  www.aboutmyvote.co.uk

• Let me know what you think about the site and voting issues in general.