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I would like to start this column by welcoming both the new and returning Members of the Senedd who will be serving the citizens of Caerphilly County Borough.

My team and I work very closely with Wales’s elected representatives and their staff, and I will be meeting with them all in the coming weeks.

This has been the most divisive election in Wales in my lifetime. We are living in a time of great global uncertainty, which has led to heightened tensions and a rise in divisive rhetoric, both online and offline, throughout the campaigning period.

I call on all members to now focus on what really matters: our citizens, and to work together to deliver the best outcomes for our communities.

I have allocated more than £750,000 to community projects across the whole of Gwent, including investment in the Caerphilly borough.

Many of the projects funded this year are aimed at children and young people, giving them safe spaces to go and positive activities to take part in outside of school hours. Other projects support those who have been victims of crime or aim to build bridges between communities and public services.

In the Caerphilly borough this includes support for the Senghenedd Youth Drop in Centre and the Parish Trust in Trethomas to run youth drop in sessions, a targeted music project run by RecRock in Caerphilly town centre, and contributions to projects being run by the Caerphilly Miners Centre and Sense Hub Caerphilly.

This work is partially funded using money recovered from the proceeds of crime and helps to complement frontline policing. By tackling antisocial behaviour, for example, we are freeing up officers to spend more time addressing threats that pose a wider risk to our communities, such as domestic abuse or organised crime.

Our communities know what is most needed to address the issues in their area, and to develop projects and initiatives they need the right support. I am proud to be able to support our communities in this way, using money recovered from criminal activity to help build a fairer, safer society for everyone.