On Friday I had arranged for our Hammersmith MP, Andy Slaughter, to visit POSK and meet the new re-elected Chairman, Marek Laskiewicz. Also the two local Ravenscourt Ward Councillors, Liz Collins and Patrick Walsh, were also invited. This was an easy task for me as Andy and I have cooperated in the past and I have invited him to meet a number of organizations here, and we have shared political platforms. Also they are all fellow Labourites and as a past Labour Councillor and parliametary candidate (twice), we were all on the same wavelength, at least politically.
The meeting in the POSK gallery went very well. Marek and the new Secretary, Monika, guided the three of them on a tour of POSK, showing them the new Atrium, some of the larger halls, the theatre, the library, the bookshop, and finally the restaurant, where we stopped for a coffee. Marek seemed very pleased with the meeting and he got the councillors to agree to include POSK events in the Hammersmith Council calendar. Liz Collins and I stayed to have dinner at the restaurant and we chatted anout "cabbages and kings", notably, our families, the budget, the war in Ukraine, the plight of Poles in Belarus and the attraction of Polish cheesecake. We also talked of the possibility of POSK provided her and Patrick with space for a monthly surgery. From my own experience as a councillor, I remember that surgeries are mostly held in lonely places, like school buildings late at night, and particularly for women councillors, there is the question of security. In POSK, with as permanent daytime and evening reception staff, they would undoubtedly be safe. I mentioned it to Marek after she left and he thought it an excellent idea for improving council-POSK relations and providing a little extra income.
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