I had the privilege of being invited to speak at a rally in solidarity with the people of Ukraine in Newport city centre a couple of weeks ago.

It took place in front of the Westgate Hotel on a Sunday afternoon that had seen its fair share of rain but the weather turned fine just in time for the start of the rally. I was among a number of local politicians who were invited to speak about this dark chapter in European history.

We all condemned this naked act of aggression of Putin which has caused so much death and destruction in its first month.

I also spoke about the bravery of the Ukrainian people and the humanitarian response of local people in donating money and goods for Ukraine.

Many, many families are struggling right now due to the cost-of-living crisis and it has been heartening to see the compassion that has poured out of communities in Wales towards Ukraine.

For me – and many others - the highlights of the rally were a speech by a girl living in Monmouthshire with a Ukrainian mother, as well as a speech from Olga, a Ukrainian woman who moved to Wales four years ago with her family.

Both spoke so passionately about the terror that has been inflicted on Ukraine, it was impossible not to be moved.

It was pleasing to see that people in the rally had given so generously to the collection box Olga’s daughters were taking around the crowd. That money will be used to buy essential medical supplies to take out to Ukraine. Many parts of the country are without even basic pharmaceutical supplies such as painkillers.

In the last month, I had the pleasure of being hosted in Magor by members of the campaign group seeking to secure the first walkway train station in the UK in more than a century.

The plan is for the station to be accessed on foot or by bike, thereby moving thousands of car journeys off the busy and polluted B-road which runs through the community. I was excited to hear of the ambitious and exciting plans by Ted Hand, a founder of the group campaigning for the station. I had no hesitation in giving the project my full backing and I look forward to seeing it come to fruition in the coming years.