Councillor honoured by students

3.55.50pm BST (GMT +0100) Thu 24th Apr 2008

Liberal Democrat Councillor Chris Ward (Onslow) was awarded Honorary Membership of the University of Surrey Students' Union (USSU) at their annual student award ceremony last week.

Alex Collins, President of USSU, gave a kind speech about Chris' work over the last six years as both an active students' union member and as an elected councillor for the past year. There was particular mention to Chris' involvement in campaigning for CCTV in the Tesco underpass, where the Conservatives on Guildford Borough Council were forced to back down from resistance over installing cameras at the underpass both in the face of the campaign led by Chris and the unfortunate spate of attacks that followed last summer.

Chris said, "It is a great honour to receive such a prestigious award from the students at the University of Surrey. University was without a doubt the best years of my life and I'm glad that through representing the university population, both internally and later as a borough councillor, I have helped improve their experience of living in Guildford. The safety of all my residents in Onslow will always be of paramount importance to me."

Chris first got involved in campaigning for the Tesco underpass CCTV in 2003 when he was a fresher at the University of Surrey. Throughout his time at university he held many elected positions, including Editor of barefacts (the student newspaper). He was elected to Guildford Borough Council in May last year for the Onslow ward.