Lambeth council’s Street Champions scheme aims to support people who want to improve the physical and social environment where they live.
Street Champions can do a whole range of things to help their community, whether it’s organising street parties, increasing greenery, encouraging others to recycle properly or even just introducing neighbours to foster a greater sense of community.
Street champion Barry shows that age is no barrier to getting involved in the community.
Here’s Barry’s story:
I was a gunner in an RAF bomber during the Second World War. On what ended up as my final mission my aircraft was shot down behind enemy lines; I was injured landing in a tree, captured, and remained a prisoner of war until the end of the conflict. A little while after returning to these shores my wife and I set up home in Streatham, where we have since lived for 65 happy years.
It’s a nice quiet street and it’s such a shame to see it ruined by dumped rubbish. It’s not difficult to dispose of rubbish properly and I can never understand why people think it’s alright to just dump it on the pavement. That’s why, at the age of 93, I decided to become a Street Champion. My wife and I are both active within the community; we don’t see age as a barrier! When the man from the council came to tell me about the project he said I could do as much or as little as I wanted, which was good enough for me.
The council gave me some posters which I’ve put up in my road to send a message to people that we should keep the road clean and tidy. A lot of people that leave litter and rubbish don’t live in this street so posters are a good idea. I’m keeping in touch with the council to let them know what’s going on, and I’ll keep doing my bit. I recommend it!
Made In Lambeth event on 30 June
Have ideas to help promote Street Champions borough-wide? Join the Made In Lambeth event on Tuesday 30 June.
Find out more or sign up at the Made In Lambeth website
Find out more information
For more information on how you can get involved:
- please visit our Street Champions page for more information
- Join our Facebook group or follow us on Twitter using the hashtag #LambethSC
- sign up online to become a street champion
- e-mail us at streetchampions@lambeth.gov.uk or phone 020 7926 3069.
- Find out more about our bike hangars and cycle parking scheme
