I am ... a campaigner. But not usually a "protest" campaigner, more a "partner" campaigner. I work with and within the community that will gain from the campaigning, alongside the planners and providers who will help achieve our goals. I live in the South Ward of Melksham, and for the purpose of local activity, THAT is my community. Over the years, I've had successes and failures. But in reality it's sometimes hard to know which is which - or indeed which results I have had a piece in promoting, and which would have happened anyway without any of the campaigning activities of mine and those standing alongside me. It's made all the harder to analyse where we have made a difference when there are far too many people claiming credit for successes in which they had little input - even things which they opposed at the time, but have proven to work and be popular.

First picture today - my national award from the Sheila McKechnie Foundation. Sheila McKechnie was the dynamo behind Shelter, and the Consumer's Association (Which? magazine). Sheila passed away in 2004 (tragically young), but today the foundation in her name champions, supports and trains those campaigning for "a confident and powerful civil society in which people work together to drive change". The award was not expected - and is made all the more precious because it's an award to campaigners by other (professional) campaigners who looked at all the work that goes on behind the scenes to make a positive difference. Big event - presentation at the House of Lords (well, it was supposed to be, but got moved because of the Westminster terror attack a few days before).

In Melksham, I am known for my help (when all seemed lost) to get an "appropriate" train service back. The joke a decade ago was that we had two trains a day - and they were too early, and too late to be of any real use. Miss the 06:15 from Swindon and the next train was 18:44. We have gotten back to a train every couple of hours - still a poor service ("appropriate" would be hourly) but passenger numbers have risen from 3,000 journeys per annum to 75,000. I was one of the founders of the TransWilts Community Rail Partnership - a move from protest (where we had to start) to partnership and I remain active in encouraging further development to that appropriate service, which (various sources agree) will take passenger journeys up to in excess of 250,000 per annum, even CoVID setback allowing. I am no longer a director or Community Rail Officer; in the summer of 2018, TransWilts moved on with a board on which every member has local government experience, and a professionally trained Community Rail Officer to replace me, and (see above) I offer them full credit for the Melksham Hub Cafe, cycle hire, and car park changes. They are also doing a good job for Corsham, Wilton, Devizes and other rail aspirations. I do remain active in promoting rail use to, from and through Melksham with the pure-volunteer Melksham Rail User Group (and we get listened to where it matters ;-) ) and I am available to TransWilts as a volunteer.

But whilst I might be known for rail stuff, I have been involved with lots more in the background. Historically as President of the Chamber of Commerce, I was the one who walked into Cooper Tires and enquired about land in the town for the Campus - my thought was not Melksham House but it came out of the discussions, with two other options looked at and ruled out for good reason. Also with the Chamber of Commerce, there was a great deal of hard work, but with only limited success in joining and encouraging Town Centre businesses. We weren't the only ones to try - a separate trader's association sputtered along for a while but has now gone. Perhaps, better, the current Town Council activities which bring in dedicated staff to do the work where the traders themselves are mostly too busy - err trading!

On local buses, I will claim credit for the bus meeting at Canberra on Spa Road just more than a year ago, helping to voice local opinion as to the most appropriate Bath - Melksham - Devizes service for the future as First pulled out. Whether there was a real danger of us losing evening and Sunday buses, I know not, but the outcome of the work by Wilts Council and Faresaver was their retention ... which was what we wanted, and was not what happened when First pulled off the Chippenham - Melksham - Trowbridge route a few years earlier, leaving the last bus back from Chippenham at around 17:30 rather than 22:16. To this day, that route has no Sunday service, though it has had it in the past.

Also on the Buses, and current, the Government announced "Bus Back Better" on 15th March - a funded scheme with a lot of positives that mirror our Option 24/7 campaign and plans of 2016 - a half victory in that we and the public got Wilts Council to retain funding for most supported bus services, when they had asked the community in a consultation to choose between 50% cuts and 90% cuts. I notice - cheeky - that candidates with the Wilts Council majority party are now telling the electors how good they have been with buses. Maybe, but that's not what they had planned; they had to be pushed very hard. I believe I can help further with buses under Bus Back Better - things like buses to the station (where a lot of background work has already been done) from Queensway, from Longford Road, and from the top of Campion Drive. Buses to the station in 2012 would have been pointless as there were no trains to connect with. But with the trains running in 2021, it now makes sense. Why drive to the station when you can get the bus? For some families, will you even need that second car?

You'll see in my election leaflet that I attended both the climate protest in Bristol in February last year, and the Black Lives Matter event organised locally here in Melksham - indeed in the South Ward - in June. I believe, passionately, in looking after our planet to pass it on in good sustainable shape to our children and grandchildren, and also in levelling up the playing field of life for everyone irrespective of ability, gender, age, colour, politics, creed, views or other differences. These are national and indeed global issues as well as Melksham ones - but I will put my heart into promoting them, and indeed following them through not just in word but in deed. Some voters may be put off by these views; I understand that. I am not going to promote myself to the ageists and racists we have in our community by hiding those views. But I will talk with you and show you what a wonderful community we have here, strengthened by its diversity.