Hello and welcome.

I’ve been receiving an ever-increasing number of emails in recent months and have been looking at new ways to spread the word about my activities in both Parliament and the constituency. I’ve decided to start a seasonal newsletter for constituents, which will be packed with stories about my local visits, meetings and campaigns, as well as looking at government policy and its impact on us in Lewisham North. It would be too much to try and cover everything, so each edition will focus on a few key topics from the last few months. I hope you enjoy it.

I would also like to wish everyone in Lewisham North a wonderful Christmas and New Year break. My office will be closed from Christmas Eve until 2 January, but we will pick up emails and phone messages when we return. If you require emergency assistance over the holidays, there is a list of useful contacts on my website: https://www.vickyfoxcroft.org.uk/contact/

I look forward to seeing you all in 2026!

Best regards,

Vicky Foxcroft

Regeneration.

Over the last few years I have been working with the Deptford councillors and residents on plans to regenerate the Woodpecker Estate using the £50k NCIL grant awarded by the council. At our most recent community meeting in October, we discussed how we can make the area a nicer environment for residents to live and work. If you want to add your voice to the conversation, fill in my survey here.

We also arranged for Woodpecker to have its first ever Christmas tree this year. I really enjoyed the lights switch on event, which featured crafts, singing and even a visit from Father Christmas! It’s great seeing the seeds of change planted a few years ago start to show signs of growth in this community.

Youth Services.

Too many of our young people continue to face real barriers in accessing work and building their skills. I’m proud that Labour recognises this challenge and is committed to action. The Government’s £820 million expansion of the Youth Guarantee and £725 million investment in apprenticeships aim to provide young people with job and training opportunities, matching skills with local job needs.

Earlier this month, the Department of Culture, Media and Sport published ‘Youth Matters: Your National Youth Strategy’. This strategy – the first of its kind in 15 years – focuses on making sure young people are seen and heard, supported by someone who cares, and given something to do and a place to go. It will deliver up to 250 new or refurbished youth centres and 50 Young Futures Hubs,  backed by over £500 million of investment.

Locally, Lewisham Council has already received £500,000 in government funding through the Better Youth Spaces programme to upgrade all adventure playgrounds and youth clubs in the borough. In October, I visited the newly re-opened Riverside Youth Club, which benefited from the scheme, with Evelyn Councillors Will Cooper and Rudi Schmidt. The £1.2 million project was delivered by the council in partnership with Youth First and Millwall Community Trust. Now open six days a week and fully fit with a football pitch, basketball court, music rooms and sports hall, Deptford’s young people are already enjoying the space. Great to see national policy already bearing fruit in the constituency.

Culture, Media and Sport.

I’ve always been proud to represent such a creative constituency and, as a woman from a working-class background who did a BTEC in Performing Arts and a degree in Drama and Business, I understand the value of creative access. Through this training in the arts, I gained skills and experiences that I still use now as an MP.

Since I became a backbencher, I held a Creative Industries Roundtable at Trinity Laban with creatives who live or work in Lewisham North. This was such an important opportunity to hear about the challenges people have been facing and how I, as your MP, can feed concerns and ideas back to Parliament and push for change.

The following month, I also achieved a long-term goal by being elected to the Culture, Media and Sport (CMS) Select Committee. I hope to be able to bring some of the issues you have raised with me to the committee for further investigation.

Locally, I am always keen to visit arts organisations and over the last few months this has included Arts Hub Studios, Arts Network, Music Room London and ACME Studios. All of these champion a similar message: access to arts and music should not be preserved for the privileged few. I hope to focus on this in my new role on the CMS Select Committee and do you all proud!

Schools.

One of my favourite parts of working as an MP is visiting local schools. Questions can range from what I do in a day to whether I like chocolate – you can never predict what children will ask!

This autumn, I visited:

• St James Hatcham to meet students, teachers and parents
• Oak Gardens Primary School (formally Lucas Vale) to celebrate their new name and branding
• Grinling Gibbons Primary School to congratulate them on receiving two awards for their outstanding commitment to race equality
• Haberdashers Hatcham College to talk with sixth form students about Government policy and my role an MP

If you know a school that would like a visit, please get in touch with my office via vicky.foxcroft.mp@parliament.uk.

I know from conversations with constituents that the current Special Educational Needs and Disabilities (SEND) system is not working. The Department of Education is  running a national consultation on this at the moment and I encourage families to contribute their thoughts and experiences. You can find out how to get involved and have your say here. The closing date for contributions is 14 January 2026.

Health.

Ensuring all Lewisham North residents have access to healthcare has always been a top priority for me and I frequently write to Ministers and local healthcare services on behalf of constituents.

I have been pleased to see how much progress the Government has made on this since the general election. One of the practical ways Labour is helping people right now is by freezing NHS prescription charges.

I also welcomed the Government’s new HIV Action Plan, which sets out a comprehensive framework to prevent, test, treat and reduce stigma around HIV. Backed by a £170 million investment, it aims to end new HIV transmissions in England by 2030.

Another health-related highlight of the autumn was joining an event with Sickle Cell Shine, spotlighting a condition which disproportionately affects our borough. Lewisham and Greenwich NHS Trust serves one of the largest sickle cell populations in the UK, with around 450 adults benefiting from dedicated clinical services and specialist care locally.

Small Businesses.

For Small Business Saturday (SBS) this year, I visited small businesses in the ward. SBS is an annual celebration of the 5.45 million small businesses in Britain, which together employ 60% of our workforce and add £2.4 trillion to our economy.

The Government announced a Plan for Small and Medium Sized Businesses (SMEs) in July which ensures the stability, investment, and skills are in place for them to thrive. The strategy includes tackling late payments, unlocking access to finance, and upskilling workers – all which will massively benefit the 4030 SMEs in our constituency.

After visiting local enterprises on Ladywell High Street – including Plenty’s, Wilson’s and Oscar’s, all owned by local entrepreneur Joel Falconer – I got into the Christmas spirit by picking up gifts for loved ones at the St Mary’s Christmas Market and the Art Hub Studios Xmas Market in New Cross. As well as creating good local jobs with decent wages, these vital businesses build up the community institutions we all depend on.

If your organisation, community group or business would like a visit, please get in touch with my office via vicky.foxcroft.mp@parliament.uk.

Here to Help.

If you think I could be of assistance, please get in touch with my office on vicky.foxcroft.mp@parliament.uk and I will see what I can do to support you. My regular advice surgeries take place online via appointment and in-person walk-in. Find more information here.