Southampton is a city built around the water.
The Itchen and the Test, Southampton Water and the Solent are part of our history, our economy and, for so many people, our everyday lives.
Our proximity to the water comes not only with an awareness of its dangers, but also a special appreciation and gratitude to everyone who helps save lives in our rivers and sea without judgement, fear or favour.
As the summer holidays drew to a close, it was my privilege to join trustees, volunteers, crew and supporters to welcome Southampton’s first independent lifeboat into service.
It is part of Hamble Lifeboat, an independent lifeboat charity funded entirely by goodwill donations.
And it is a great example of what can be achieved when volunteers, local organisations, emergency services, businesses and the wider community come together behind a common purpose.
Like most of you, I have been angered by some of the hostility that we’ve seen being whipped up towards lifeboat crews and the teams that support them across the region.
As the Chair of the All-Party Parliamentary Group on Water Safety, and as an MP for a maritime city, I’ve been really clear that people who save lives deserve to be thanked, not attacked.
They are the best of us; people who in an emergency sail towards danger without hesitation.
Whatever your views on channel boat crossings, lifeboat crews should have your support. They certainly have mine.
Also on the issue of water, you might have seen recently that I’ve been calling for Southern Water to be brought into public ownership.
For too long, the company has treated customers like cash cows while trust in our water system has collapsed.
Across the industry, billions have been paid out in dividends while debt has soared and too many customers are still left with sewage pollution, leaks and poor service.
The Labour Government has already strengthened regulation, with tougher penalties, new powers to block bonuses and greater accountability.
But I believe we now need to go further.
At the time of writing, my petition to nationalise Southern Water has reached nearly 1,000 signatures.
You can sign the petition on my website if you’d like to add your voice.
Finally, can I say a huge thank you to every Echo reader who came along to one of my six MP Q&As over the summer.
While I’ve held lots of coffee mornings and Pint with your MP sessions, these were my first large-scale “ask me anything” meetings and I was really grateful for the constructive and respectful tone of our discussions.
I met more than 150 people – supporters of all parties and with a range of views on everything from immigration to the environment.
Whatever your views, I hope you found them useful.
I’ll be announcing more dates soon, so keep an eye on my website and in the meantime please email me at darren.paffey.mp@parliament.uk if I can help with anything.