Last Friday, I had the pleasure of meeting soldiers and their spouses from The King’s Royal Hussars in Tidworth. In particular, we talked about the plans for Army 2020 rebasing which will mean that many Army families will be able to put down stronger roots in local communities, and children benefit from more stability in education.

I followed this up on Sunday with an informal visit whilst out on a bike ride, to the Wyvern Gliding Club in Upavon, which is the largest gliding club in the Army Gliding Association. It was incredibly interesting to hear all about gliding, and that it is possible to see the whole of the Devizes Constituency from 3,000 feet!

I was particularly interested in the club’s work with Battle Back, a MoD programme which enables seriously injured service people to participate in adventurous sports as part of their rehabilitation. I have promised to return for a formal visit, but as I am scared of heights I am not sure that I will go up!

This week I am meeting the Wiltshire Clinical Commiss-ioning Group to discuss plans to improve primary care provision in Devizes – ambulance response times and local X-ray services are also on the agenda. I am also meeting First Great Western to review the improvements at Bedwyn Station and to discuss the plans to increase the number of car parking spaces. Whilst in Great Bedwyn I am looking forward to popping into the Bedwyn Village Bakery, now under the ownership of David and Jackie Snell, and with a real emphasis on ‘local’.

Also in Great Bedwyn, I will be holding a ‘street surgery’, an informal addition to my local advice surgery programme. I will be outside Bedwyn Bakery today between 11am and 11.30am so if you are in the area do pop along and say hello, or chat about any concerns you may have, or areas where I may be able to help.

Finally, it’s Dementia Awareness Week, a condition which affects so many people and their families, including mine. I am delighted that huge progress has been made in the delivery of dementia services by many local organisations in Wiltshire. In the last 12 months, waiting times for a dementia assessment have fallen from around 11 months to less than four weeks, with many local GPs having specialist training and are now able to prescribe drugs for the early stages of the disease.

Don’t forget, it is Euro election day, so please use your vote.