LAST weekend was the Maindee Festival. With a bit of luck with the weather, the organisers carried off yet another brilliant and successful event, and deserve our massive thanks.

The parade was its usual joyful - and colourful - triumph, and the festival was packed. Maindee Festival Association joined up with the Big Splash to work together on a weekend of fun, and the organisers of both did a great job.

I have written before about the sense of community spirit and unity that events like this build, and as we head towards nearly 20 years of the Maindee Festival it is so pleasing to see it continue to thrive and grow.

TOWARDS the end of May, Rosemary Butler AM and I jointly organised an event at Rodney Parade for charities and community groups to find out more about Lottery funding.

We wanted to give local groups information on Lottery funding programmes, and opportunities to discuss projects with people from the Big Lottery Fund, Heritage Lottery Fund, and the Gwent Association of Voluntary Organisations.

It was a well-attended and very positive event. If you’re involved in a charity or community organisation in Newport East, and want more information about how to find funding for local projects, you can contact me at john.griffiths@assembly.wales or on Newport 222302.

IN my previous column, I wrote about the General Election about to take place. I am obviously delighted that Jessica Morden was reelected with an increased majority here in Newport East, along with many other Labour wins in Gwent.

However, UK-wide it was a much more disappointing result for Labour, and we now face a majority Conservative Government. It is important politicians listen to the electorate, and important for Labour to understand why we were not able to win more support than we did, without losing our core values as a party.

The result presents a real challenge for the Welsh Government and Local Authorities. We will soon see the implications for public services and on ordinary families as a result of spending cuts over this parliament.

Decisions made in Westminster are important, but we must seek to take every opportunity we can to use the power of democratic government at the Welsh and Local Authority levels to improve our economy and our public services.