It's been busy keeping track of the Budget and the changes that the UK faces as a result. However, that hasn’t pulled my focus away from Woking – and specifically from supporting our local charities.

Our town is home to numerous organisations doing incredible work in Woking and beyond. From WWF to Woking & Sam Beare Hospice, our charities are working to address an enormous range of issues.

One of these charities, Walk the Walk, is the UK's largest breast cancer grant-making charity. They have an outstanding record of supporting vital cancer care and research and this year they are celebrating their 30th anniversary. Over those 30 years they have raised more than £147 million!

Last week, I was delighted to host them in Parliament for an event marking Breast Cancer Awareness Month. It provided a valuable opportunity for parliamentarians to hear more about the charity’s work and its efforts to promote health and fitness as part of reducing cancer risk.

It is vital that charities have opportunities to engage directly with policymakers. Bringing together organisations delivering vital services on the ground with MPs and peers, helps ensure that decision-makers understand the challenges charities face and the support they need.

I think Walk the Walk may even have persuaded a few MPs to sign up for next year’s iconic overnight MoonWalk London! I'd highly recommend it to anyone looking for a rewarding challenge while supporting a fantastic cause.

Another local charity I’m pleased to support is Your Sanctuary, our local women's refuge. Last month, they hosted a conference on tackling domestic abuse, which I attended and spoke at.

One of their key asks was tackling the 2020 harm review, “Assessing Risk of Harm to Children and Parents in Private Law Children Cases”, which despite its release six years ago has not yet been implemented.

This is shocking. So, when I was picked to ask a question of the Attorney General, Ellie Reeves MP, it wasn’t difficult to choose the topic.

I pressed her on the steps she is taking to help increase prosecution rates for domestic abuse. She insists that this Government is “committed to halving violence against women and girls in a decade, and we are getting on with the job”.

However, as the evidence from this harm review shows, progress is far too slow.

Domestic abuse cannot be tolerated – as politicians it’s our duty to do all we can to fight it. I can assure you that I will continue to hold the government to account until the 2020 harm review is implemented in full.

I’ve also recently had the privilege of spending time with the amazing staff and volunteers at Woking’s homeless shelter and charity, York Road Project.

They do a great job at turning around people’s lives, but they are unable to get people into new homes if we are not building them.

In Woking alone, 2,000 town centre properties have planning permission. None are under construction, despite some having planning permission granted before the pandemic.

I’ve now raised this in the House of Commons, demanding that the Government introduce “use it or lose it” powers so that we can grow our economy and build the homes we desperately need – whilst protecting our green spaces by building them in areas they actually belong.

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