Godalming Nub News is pleased to welcome Godalming Town Council Leader Paul Follows as our latest columnist.

Paul is also Deputy Leader on Waverley Borough Council as the Lib Dem Member for Godalming Central and Ockford.

He will be writing regular columns for us on local issues as well as matters of interest on the national stage.

As always we are keen to hear your views: have your say on our Facebook page.

Help for those that need it during the school holidays. Many will now be aware of what happened yesterday evening. Our MP, Jeremy Hunt, voted against the temporary extension of free school meals over the holidays during Covid. He and others have given many excuses for this outcome, but for me, the reality of the pandemic has made this straight choice between doing the right thing and the wrong thing. I believe our MP made the wrong choice, and I talk more about that on Facebook. I wanted to use this opportunity to highlight the help that exists in Godalming and the surrounding villages and give assurance to those that do find themselves in greater need over the school holidays. I have had the privilege of working with a great many extremely generous residents to deliver the Godalming and Villages Community Store. It exists because of the hard work and compassion of those residents. The store is still running and will continue to do so during this pandemic. As the leader of the town council, I want to reaffirm the commitment of the Town Council to provide support for the store (GTC is providing a building, staff time and admin support) and urge residents to continue to support and donate to the store. The generosity of our community has been a sight to behold. It makes me proud to live here and be a member of this community. You may never have thought you would need a food bank or similar. The Community Store is about the community supporting its friends and neighbours during these unprecedented and challenging times. The Community Store can assist with free basic food, personal hygiene, sanitary and domestic cleaning items. The Community Fridge within the Store offers fresh produce as well as some frozen produce too. If you, or someone you know, needs support please either call the town council on 01483 523575 (Monday-Friday excluding Bank Holidays) or email using this link.

You can also get in touch with your local town councillors wherever you are in Godalming on any of the issues that matter to you