Last week marked the last full meeting of Torfaen Council before this year’s local elections.

Of course, the work of councillors will continue until the end of the term, but it seems an opportune moment to comment on what has been an extraordinary few years.

Since 2017, our communities and public services have faced not only the pandemic, but also the back end of a decade of austerity draining their funding. It’s not been easy, but thank you to every councillor and council employee who’s fought hard for their communities and kept services going.

Without you, our schools wouldn’t run and our young people would suffer. Without your efforts, social care for those in need would be a shadow of itself, meals would not be delivered, need in our communities would be unmet, services undelivered.

I know we don’t always get it right, and we must always work hard to improve services. But I’m proud of how our councillors and council workers have adapted to the challenges posed in recent years, especially by covid-19. We’ve worked hard to keep people safe, alongside other services and so many fantastic local volunteers.

There’s a lesson in that experience, about the impact we can have when public services act as catalysts, working with the community rather than just doing things to people.

I see that impact in our Play Service here in Torfaen. They’ve been given a much-deserved award at the National Playwork Awards in Eastbourne for the work they did during the pandemic. They helped run our childcare hubs for key workers and vulnerable children. They delivered play packs to families and created resources for home schooling during lockdowns. They helped with other services which had to adapt, like refuse and recycling and free school meal deliveries.

That’s quite a change from their usual role running the Play Service, which they do in such an inspirational way. They make a huge difference to the lives of young people, especially those with disabilities or additional needs, and to the lives of those young peoples’ parents or carers. Thank you to all of the staff and volunteers for everything you do.

That’s just one example of the difference council services can make. That work can only go on with your support and funding as residents, so thank you too.

The appalling invasion of Ukraine shows how we cannot take our society, our democracy or our freedoms for granted. I’d like to thank the people of Torfaen and Gwent for their generosity and support for the people of Ukraine. We’ve shown our support by lighting up our Civic Centre in the colours of the Ukrainian flag, but we stand ready and willing to do more if we’re called upon, in the tradition of compassion and humanitarianism we have here in Wales.