Keyham people who have had a big impact on the local community have been honoured at a special event.
They were recognised for their efforts by Keyham Neighbourhood Watch, working with the St Johnstone Social Club, as part of the nationwide Great Get Together event, which was inspired by the late Jo Cox MP, who was tragically killed in 2016.
Keyham Neighbourhood Watch believe strongly in the words quoted by Jo Cox in her maiden speech in Parliament: “We are far more united and have far more in common with each other than things that divide us.”
Kev Sproston, chair of Keyham Neighbourhood Watch said: “We are trying hard to demonstrate that we are not the stereotypical curtain twitchers and that the Neighbourhood Watch is moving forward to a new era whilst keeping the same core values.
“We are keen to bring communities together and celebrate everything in our area, and that starts with some of the great characters and unsung heroes we have living right here in Keyham. It’s our desire to do events like this and make the community a safer, friendlier and generally a more desirable place to live. “
Part of the day was rewarding heroes of Keyham throughout the years. The Neighbourhood Watch posted on their social media asking for local residents to nominate who they thought deserved recognition for their community efforts and were delighted when the nominations started coming in.
“There are so many community champions in Keyham, these unsung heroes deserve a chance to shine, and be recognised for their great work,” said Kev.
Awards presented included:
Shirley and Alan Snell who have been fostering for more than 40 years. Truly outstanding and dedicated people like this are often not recognised but their dedication deserves huge merit.Therefore, this loving couple were the first on the list.
Paul Hill and Dene Terry, who set up Keyham Kolts FC enabling children of all ages to play football. Paul and Dene have gone from strength to strength and the club is often praised for its set up. They were the first in Plymouth to have a purely autistic football team.
Laura-Anne Mervyn, who set up Hidden Lives, a support group for non-visible disabilities’ and chronic illnesses, as she felt more support was required for people with these conditions. This group has gone from strength to strength and proven to be a huge help for many.
A total of 14 people were awarded certificates by Cllr Bill Stevens and Cllr Kate Taylor at the event, which was attended by more than 120 people.
Nigel Cross the social representative from the Neighbourhood Watch and bar manager of the St Johnstone Club said he was ‘overwhelmed with the success of the day and that it’s a dream job to be involved in events like this.’
Other local people who were recognised for their community efforts were:
Margaret Finnan – For her work in developing an old building into the Pelican Centre, also in her retirement she remains active as a director of the Wolseley Trust)
Rosanna Eveleigh – A founding member of Clean Our Patch when it first started and has been active in Pluss helping people with disabilities find work.
The Cooke Family – Mother Tracy has been an active member of the Scouts helping develop young minds and is also a mum to seven amazing children who themselves have become community champions from raising money for charities to litter picks in the area.
Chelsea and Karen Wheeler – Mother and daughter who were recognised at the Plymouth Community Awards with daughter Chelsea winning Young Carer of the Year twice and nominated for Carer of the Year this year with her mother Karen. Karen not only juggles looking after her husband Ron Wheeler, who has been diagnosed with Motor Neurone Disease (MND) but she supports her daughter Chelsea to pursue her dreams of acting and dance.
Kelly and Emma Harrison – Two success stories of Hidden Lives, Kelly and Emma have Fibromyalgia a hidden disability meaning the body can be in constant pain, which was coupled with extreme anxiety. Through Hidden Lives and their own hard work and dedication they are becoming super confident and are now Hidden Lives mentors planning to help others in the future by talking about their experience and journey.
Roger Hill – Roger has been part of the Keyham community for many years with his DIY shop on Station Road. This family run shop has supported generations of the community.
El Clarke – El started Clean our Patch with locals from Keyham last year. Since then Clean Our Patch has travelled around the city with people from all over Plymouth taking part. It has become one of the most influential movements in Plymouth being talked about at the full council several times and El was recently invited to Westminster for her efforts along with her partner Ash.
Clean Our Patch has helped many people in a common goal of
having cleaner streets and has become fantastic in building up community spirit. Keyham was the first to raise money for equipment so locals can use equipment to keep their streets clean.
This encouraged seven councillors to give community grant money to Clean Our Patch, for further equipment and other materials, to keep their wards cleaner. A proud achievement for the Keyham based couple.
Ron Wheeler – Ron has Motor Neurone Disease and is largely bed bound. One of Keyham’s most influential people, he has led the way on proving that having a disability should not slow you down, this has been proven especially with his artwork. With modern technology he has developed how to do art with just the movement of his eyes, although a slow process the art work he produces is outstanding. Ron has been signed up by an agent and his work is soon to be displayed in London as he is doing shows.
His daughter Chelsea collected the award on his behalf from Cllr Taylor. Ron was there on Facetime the whole way and even was part of the photo and gave a short speech of thanks.
Nigel Cross said: “Community is about involving everyone, we were not going to let Ron miss this just because he’s stuck at home. I think this is an example of what the Neighbourhood Watch is trying to achieve, we plan to play a big role in making Keyham a bigger and tighter community. We are proud to host events like this and given the public response and support, we will continue to do this for many years to come.”
