Welcome to my blog

Hello, and welcome to my blog! It's been a busy weekend, with the election less than 3 weeks away... We were out early on Saturday morning to do some press work ahead of our election launch at the Town Hall. We did a take off of the Abbey Lane Beatles album cover to draw attention to our demands for more money for pedestrian crossings.

Later on we had our official launch in town, where we presented a bill for £120 million for extra heating costs caused by badly insulated homes. It's common sense that we need to put huge efforts in to insulating all our current building stock to a much higher standard, and also introduce really strict controls on the quality of insulation and energy efficiency in all new homes.

There's no excuse, it costs no more to build better quality and better insulated homes and the savings we'll make in the long run will be enormmous. We will regret in future not spending the money now to insulate all our older buildings properly, but people cannot be expected to do this on their own it needs the Council and the Government to take up this issue in a serious way.

I've spent much of the rest of the weekend making sure all our latest newsletters have gone out as planned and organising more of our activities over the coming weeks in the run up to the election. With the registration deadline for voting only 3 days away, I fear we need to do more to ensure as many people are registered as possible. I've also been replying to emails from interested people who may wish to join and drafting a reply to a query on waste strategy from an elector. I even managed to squeeze in time to buy some new shoes and go to a BBQ at a friends! It's all go really, I think perhaps I could do with a Personal Assistant... Offers of help muchly appreciated!!

There's something about Rob...

Rob is 25 and has been involved in political activity and pressure groups since the age of 13. He graduated from Sheffield University in 2003, where he was active in People and Planet and the Environmental Action Group.

He established the Sheffield Young Greens group and stood in the Broomhill ward in the 2004 council elections. He fought a dynamic campaign in the 2005 General Election in Hallam performing well on the hustings. In 2006 he made a serious bid to become a Green councillor in Broomhill.

After leaving university, Rob started secondary school supply teaching, which he still does alongside his work as a self-employed kitchen fitter, mainly working on building sites. In the next couple of years, he plans to set up his own sustainable kitchen business, creating kitchens from local sustainable wood. Rob enjoys DJing dub and reggae and dance music, mountain biking and Tai Chi.

As a young person, Rob is worried about the future of our society and our planet, particularly climate change and the world's oil supply running out. "My generation will have to deal with many of the problems caused by the greed of previous generations. I think it is essential for young people to get involved in politics and stand up for their own futures and values and get the representation they deserve."

Education and democracy are key issues for him. "I would like to see learning made more enjoyable and accessible for young people. What they are learning should seem useful and relevant to them. Children should be given a world view and an understanding of important global issues." Rob welcomes recent improvements in school meals "I would like more school allotments where children learn to grow vegetables and more time spent on learning how to cook proper, healthy meals. I would also like education to be geared towards health, independence and respect for others instead of just boosting the economy."

Rob believes votes at 16 and proportional representation are key issues within democracy. "I am spearheading a Young Greens Campaign to lower the voting age to 16 and introduce PR for all elections in the UK. This will help young people become engaged with politics and their futures."

Rob understands the importance of students and local residents living in harmony in Broomhill. "This is a key issue for anyone who wants to represent the ward. I fully support the "sshh" campaign to encourage students to consider their neigbours at night and would seek to extend it if elected".