I had the pleasure of attending a Disability Snooker Open Day at Barratts Snooker Club in Barratt Road, Northampton.

I recently had the opportunity to attend the launch of a project at the Government Art Collection (GAC) in my capacity as Minister for Arts.

Children and the Arts is an independent charity which was originally set up by HRH The Prince of Wales to work with arts venues across the UK to reach children in communities who would normally not be exposed to such cultural education.

In the last fortnight I met some young students from St Peter’s School, a primary school located in the Great Billing area of Northampton, to discuss politics, my role as a Member of Parliament and to listen to the pupil’s views and opinions on the matter.

On Monday, 10th September I attended an event in Parliament hosted by the British Plastics Federation and Plastics Europe.

On Friday, 7th September I travelled to Newcastle/Gateshead for the closing ceremony of the Great Exhibition of the North – a summer-long celebration of what the North of England has to offer in terms of tourism, art and culture in general.

On Friday 31st August, I visited the National Citizen Service (NCS), a hugely successful and popular scheme which helps 16 and 17-year-olds make new friends, improve their confidence and acquire important life skills.

The Northampton Eleanor Cross is an extremely important piece of British history, constructed over 700 years ago in the year 1291, to mark one of the twelve stopping points of the funeral cortege of Queen Eleanor of Castile, wife of King Edward I.

On Sunday, 26th August I buried a time capsule to mark 40 years of the St George’s Avenue Conservative Club.

The Club is a friendly social club for people to use and meet which first opened in 1978.

Tourism is a huge part of this country’s economy and our cultural offer is a huge part of why tourists visit the UK in increasing numbers.