The petition
Alison Brett Community Development Worker- Meadow Way
South Bedfordshire District Council
The District Offices
High Street North
Dunstable
Bedfordshire LU6 1LF
Alison has worked tirelessly over the past 4 years in helping us not only to raise funds for the Community Centre, but to raise awareness of the Meadow Way community within Leighton Buzzard and in helping to develop new ways of bringing our community together. We understand that there are many other projects and communities within South Beds, all of whom would benefit from the funding available. However, we feel very vulnerable at this point in our own community’s development; not least because we feel that we are on the brink of a breakthrough. We have a local architect who is willing to help guide us through the planning and development process for a new building. We have a growing number of Friends of Meadow Way, all willing to get involved.
We also have our Committee, all of whom are desperate to see the good that has been started grow and make a difference to the lives of Meadow Way residents. In the four years we have worked with Alison she has helped us through many setbacks and difficulties. She has been pivotal to the successes we have achieved and the progress we have made. We would not have got this far without her. She has spurred us on in many ways; the latest being bringing out a Meadow Way quarterly magazine/newsletter and website which will help to communicate regular bulletins of progress. We very much want to continue with the work already started, but feel that we have not got the expertise necessary to follow it through and that the project is in danger of failing without the extra support.
Our reason for writing to you is to ask you to please reconsider your decision to end the work Alison has been involved in. We want to propose that Alison is funded for one more year at Meadow Way. We, for our part will commit to raising funds over the next year to cover the cost of a dedicated Community Development Worker for the future, so that the benefits can continue to grow.
The people who live on the estate have suffered over many years from being marginalized and labelled. We want so much to raise the profile and expectations of our community, to make a difference in people’s lives and we believe we can do it, with a little more help. If we are left to manage on our own we have real concerns that we will not be able to maintain and develop the work further.
Please help us so that we can help ourselves. Please give us one more year with Alison, in order for us to become self- sufficient and reach a position where we can go on to help others to help themselves.
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