William is an energetic people person, with a passion for life and his local community. Since leaving education, William felt he had lost touch with people and wanted to do something to reconnect.
William made contact with MacIntyre's Great Communities Project and quickly became an active and enthusiastic member. He threw himself into social activities, including MacIntyre's monthly nightclub Infinity at PJ's, Ciaran's Film Club and the Bowling Social.
Peter Connor, Great Communities Co-ordinator in Warrington said:
"Will shared that he really enjoyed a unit of study at college called 'Community Action' where the group went out to the local park, working with the ranger team to litter pick and cut back bushes and hedges."
With this in mind, Peter met with local businessman Christian, who runs The Thirst Alternative, a water cooler supplier based in Warrington.
Peter added:
"Christian cares about the local area and in particular the local park next to where his business is located and where he and some of his team do Park Run. He mentioned that the police community support officer (PCSO) team were educating people on where people hide dangerous items, such as sharps and knives and what to do if they come across them.”
It wasn't long before Peter and Christian introduced William to the PCSO team. William was then supported to bring together a group to work on making the park a safer place for the public.
William and his friends, local businessman Christian and a small team of local PCSOs went to Victoria Park, spending the morning cleaning up the area and learning about knife crime.
Despite the bad weather, the group worked really well; filling ten bin bags with litter and even found a scooter that had been dumped in the bushes.
Fortunately, the team didn’t find anything dangerous, but PCSO Tony passed on the skills and knowledge on how people hide sharps and knives and what to do if they were to find them.
After the session, Christian invited everyone to his office for a hot drink to thank them for all the hard work.
Christian said:
"William did a fantastic job in organising the clean-up with the PCSO team, he was both well organised and enthusiastic with the hard work we did. Well done William you are a credit to yourself and the team at MacIntyre Great Communities”.
Encouraged by his success, William wants to continue the work in Victoria Park and other green areas around Warrington.
William said:
"I really enjoyed working with my friends and the police officers to clean up the park areas. It was nice to talk to all of the police officers and Christian after we finished in the office and we had lots of fun and Tony was really funny and made me laugh too. I’m really excited to do it again when we can. I like to do things to help others."
Get Involved!
Do you know someone who could benefit from getting involved with our Great Communities Project in either Warrington or Worcester? Get in touch!