Street Champions Celebrate Their First Birthday
Bedford’s Street Champions are celebrating
their first birthday this week.
On Wednesday 24th March current Champions and
other members of Pride in Bedford will be planting trees and
English Bluebells in the West Lodge area of Bedford Park. They will
also be unveiling a new dedicated park bench.
Anyone can sign up to become a Champion for
their street, area or village. When they join they are given a
handbook listing all the details they need to report issues in
their area as well as easy access to equipment such as litter
pickers and graffiti wipes.
Champions are encouraged to report issues in
their area such as broken street furniture, weeds, graffiti, road
or pavement defects as well as taking part in local clean ups and
other community events.
There are currently 96 Champions signed up
across the Borough both in the urban and rural wards and since
March 2009 they have:
Organised 21 events (litter picks and bulb
planting)
Given at least 244 hours to attend volunteer
events
17 champions have had graffiti wipes to use in
their area
Many Champions have also contacted other
agencies or bodies to sort out issues such as fencing and arranging
for graffiti to be removed from railway bridges.
Mayor of Bedford Borough, Dave Hodgson, said:
“To attract 96 Street Champions in just the first year is a
terrific achievement and the work they do is something we can all
be proud of.
“However, there is still more we can do.
Becoming a Champion is a commitment to making your local area
cleaner and greener and taking pride in your neighbourhood.
This is something we all want and I hope the number of street
champions continues to grow– regardless of how much time people are
able to give.
“The planting and the dedicated park bench in
the West Lodge area of Bedford Park will be a fitting testament to
Street Champions and the work they do across Bedford Borough.”