Community spirit blooms in village makeover courtesy of PCC

A village is toasting the completion of a new floral makeover thanks to funding from Police and Crime Commissioner Joy Allen.

The intergenerational project in Pelton has seen youngsters working side-by-side with elderly residents in the village to spruce up communal areas with fauna and flora to instill a sense of pride across the community.

The project has been led by Neighbourhood Warden John Smith in partnership with Pelton Parish Council and has involved pupils from Roseberry School and Pelton School alongside the Pelton Youth Project Team.  

The young volunteers have been working with older residents from the local nursing home and Resident Associations,spending time outdoors carrying out gardening tasks and working together as a united team to improve the environment.

The PCC provided a grant of £1k toward the cost of bedding plants, compost and new planters as well as materials to fix existing containers.

Police and Crime Commissioner Joy Allen said: “I am so proud to support this project and give these community spaces the colourful revamp they deserve.

“We know that improving the local environment encourages pride and deters crime and anti-social behaviour, and I take my hat off to everyone involved for dedicating so much time to making this scheme a success.

“Alongside improving the appearance of the village, this project has fostered stronger links between all generations and will continue to encourage these relationships to flourish with the sharing of ongoing maintenance duties.”

Safer People Safer Places is a key priority in the PCC’s new Police, Crime and Justice Plan, with the Commissioner vowing to establish and fund area-based crime and ASB partnerships in hotspot locations to facilitate intelligence-led, data driven, problem solving partnership approaches.

Last summer, the PCC agreed to match the parish council’s existing funding arrangements to double the volume of dedicated patrols carried out by the Neighbourhood Warden from 4.5 to nine hours per week. This has provided John with more time to focus on the parish’s core safety priorities and increase the flow of intelligence to the local policing team.  

The uplift has brought sweeping improvements to the local area, with ASB down in the summer months and reduced reports coming in, new opportunities for volunteering for residents including anew school litter picking club and robust action against several issues identified by locals as causing a nuisance including abandoned vehicles and fly-tipping.

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