September 2007
CONGRATULATIONS to two of our memeber groups and their representatives.
Firstly. well done to Des Pulford of Lostock Gardens Residents Association.
He has just been awarded a National Volunteer community hero award for all the work he puts into his are as a volunteer.
His are must feel very proud to have Des as part of their community as we are proud to have him as a member of the Federation.
He stands for all we beleive in.
Instaed of rambling on I would like you to read the newspaper article which just about says it all.
Des. Pulford, 66, still feels the slow burn of anger ignite
whenever he reads or hears of opportunist thieves targeting vulnerable local
people.
He remembers the deaths of two elderly women a few years ago
in sheltered accommodation in South Shore.
They had been robbed of £9,000 by a bogus water board official.
"One was in a wheelchair, the other deaf. Within 12 months both were
dead."
The shock wave felt then has ripple effects to this day. Des is a key member of
a campaign to cordon off part of South
Shore to cold callersHelping to
secure £1,500 from his area forum as their contribution towards a borough wide
scheme.
The crusade could transform the area into a No Cold Callers zone, similar to
that already seen in Wrea Green and other areas of the country.
It would keep the wolves from the door of the vulnerable, the elderly,
disabled, or just plain gullible, and reduce the rates of distraction burglary
at a stroke.
It will also help locals look out for each other. And one man really can make a
difference. Des, of St Annes Road,
has just won a national Volunteer Hero award from the all-party Community and
Voluntary Sector Group in Parliament, in recognition of the commitment he has
shown to South Shore
in the last 18 years.
He got involved with neighbourhood watch in the early days – having observed
that the area was starting to decline.
Ask him why he continues and he points to the death of the elderly ladies. It
weighs heavily on his conscience, as a community campaigner.
"I ask myself what more we could have done to protect them. Distraction
burglary is the most despicable crime. And its impact is often felt months,
even years, later.
"It doesn't just steal possessions ... it takes peace of mind."
Rather than sit back and lament the rot in society and passing of an age when
we could leave doors open and not risk theft or worse, Des has done something
about it.
He's that sort of man – which is why his local MP Gordon Marsden was delighted
to present him with the award for which he had nominated him.
MP Marsden points out: "The Des Pulfords of this world
remind you that levels of decency and good neighbourliness still exist to be
tapped into.
"He's a model of the sort of active citizenship we desperately need to
revive our communities and neighbourhood areas.
"It's a wonderful antidote to some of the grim examples of selfish
anti-social attitudes we sometimes hear about. A lot is talked about the role
volunteer and voluntary sector in society nowadays – but in the end it comes
down to the ability of individuals to make the difference. Des has done this in
numerous ways."
Des, a former neighbourhood watch co-ordinator, recently
managed to get £20,000 for security gates and lights for bungalows occupied by
elderly people in an area vulnerable to juvenile nuisance and petty crime.
He's tireless in alerting police and politicians to potential and actual
concerns on his patch.
He also chairs the residents’ association around Clayton
Crescent, Lostock
Gardens and Nesswood
Avenue, every Christmas organises a party for up
to 70 local residents, many of them elderly or in sheltered accommodation, and
runs a weekly lottery for elderly people too. “Each Saturday they win £40,
which is like Christmas for them!”
Des is now an active member of South Shore PACT (Police and Communities
Together) and the local Area Forum. He has contributed to a conference on
improving neighbourhood policing and combating anti-social behaviour. Some of
his ideas were fed directly into the Respect initative, to police, and
Government ministers, and civil servants.
As a former member of the youth offending team, he’s familiar with the issues
of juvenile nuisance, under age drinking, drug abuse and anti social behaviour.
“We get some horrendous problems, people running amok, smashed phone boxes, and the like, because kids are bored. Some
problems could be solved with better security or more gates – just to keep kids
out.
“But there are people here, in their 80s and even 90s, who have lived here all
their lives, and they need protecting.
“The security gates have gone up between every bungalow on one estate to make
properties more secure, and I’ve managed to get four cctv cameras around there,
too, with money raised by local mediums and spiritualists!
“I’m just one of those people who can’t ignore injustice. We’re lucky, too,
because we have good local PSCOs and police –- and also an MP who works really
hard for this area.
“And I’ve been doing this for so long now that some of the kids who caused
trouble years ago have grown up and had children of their own and settled down
...and now nod at me on the streets as they pass and ask how I am!”
Well done Des!
October 2007
The second accolade goes to Grange Park Residents
Association
Or more precisely I should say to the junior residents and Maureen
Horn, the Secretary.
They have in the space of a few weeks transformed a piece
of waste land off Chepstow road into a garden haven complete with state of the
art mini dome as seen at the Eden Project in Cornwall.
The plan to do something with this land has been in Maureen’s
thoughts for several years but like anything these days lacked the necessary
funding.
Until, by good luck or good fortune it was taken up as a
community scheme of the Conservative party to coincide with the Party
Conference in Blackpool.
There were a few grumbles at the time that the consevatives
were muscling in on a predominantly Labour area but as was pointed out, the
Residents Association by constitution is a non political group and was just so
happy that someone had come along with the money.
In a few short weeks we all saw a derelict wasteland
totally transformed and apart from the monies, all credit must go to the Junior
residents and especially to Maureen who put all this together.
Another”Well done Grange Park"
Hopefully, pictures will be posted on this site shortly but to see some of these you can go to
http://www.grangeparkjuniors.piczo.com/?cr=3&rfm=y
