News
Introducing Sarah Coombes
We celebrated International Women’s Day this year, which took place on 8th March 2024. The campaign this year was to help #AccelerateAction. Focusing on the need to Accelerate Action emphasises the importance of taking swift and decisive steps to achieve gender equality. It calls for increased momentum and urgency in addressing the systemic barriers and biases that women face, both in personal and professional spheres. When we inspire others to understand and value women’s inclusion, we forge a better world.
We caught up with West Bromwich MP – Sarah Coombs to find out how she accelerates action.
“I’m Sarah Coombes and I’m the new Member of Parliament for West Bromwich. I was elected in July 2024 to represent the people of West Brom, Oldbury, Great Barr, Yew Tree, Tividale and Rowley. It’s been a busy few months, splitting my time between my constituency and Parliament, but I’m very proud to be doing the job I do“.
Just after I was elected, I visited the Kuumba Centre to understand more about the fantastic work that Sandwell African Caribbean Mental Health Foundation do to provide support and care for people of African and Caribbean descent affected by mental ill health. Sandwell is one of the most deprived local authorities in the country, but it shouldn’t be the case that access to quality healthcare is dependent on where you live or your background.
I’m supportive of the work SACMHF do to address the health inequalities faced by people of colour. Improving people’s access to quality healthcare is something that I am passionate about changing and acting on during this term and future terms as the MP for West Bromwich. We’ve already made progress on reducing NHS waiting lists in Sandwell – they’ve gone down almost 10% since the election – which means that it will take less time for people to get the life-saving healthcare they need.
I think it’s also important to recognise the contribution that people of African and Caribbean descent have made to our area too. In October, to celebrate Black History Month, I made a speech in Parliament about some of the most significant black people locally – from the Three Degrees, Albion players Cyrille Regis, Laurie Cunningham and Brendon Batson – to Hyacinth Jarrett, whose hairdressing business was opened in 1970 in Bull Street in West Bromwich. It served the local community for 40 years. Her expertise in caring for black hair has been widely celebrated, and she contributed her knowledge to a national syllabus for hairdressing.
I am here to represent everyone in this constituency, and want to work hard for all, so if there is anything I can do to help you, please do get in touch with me.”
