By John Baron
The crowds made the most of the hot weather, free ice creams, burgers and a bouncy castle at the official launch of Armley and New Wortley’s Pride in Place scheme.
The grassy area in front of St Bartholomew’s Primary School hosted the event, which introduced the Government-funded scheme to the public and will see £2 million a year pumped into the area over the next decade.
The Reverend Phil Arnold is the independent Chair for the Armley New Wortley Neighbourhood Board. He told the crowd: “The fund is going to make a big difference as the community will be deciding how the money will be spent.
“It’s going to be a real game changer and we want you all to be involved. We want to listen to what you want to say, whatever age or part of the community you’re from – your opinions matter.”
The neighbourhood board, which represents the community and will decide how the money is spent, consists of local residents Michelle Gittins, Guy Smith, Steve Thornton, Sarah Martin, Michaela Baker, Reah Bentley, Hannah Gardiner, Isaac Tierney, Rigersa Sadrija and Porsha Lund.
Louise Staniforth is from a local business, and representing local organisations are Andrea Edwards, Dawn Newsome, Hailey Rochester-Argyle, Kirsty Pennycock and Pip Parmer. Elected representatives are Rachel Reeves MP and councillors Lou Cunningham and Andy Parnham.
The local authority representative is Tajiner Virdee. She told WLD that the council’s role is essentially as a secretariat, supporting the volunteers from the neighbourhood board, providing governance and ensuring it is a cohesive voice that represents the community.
“I’ve seen over the years what some of the issues are in Armley but we have never had the money to do something about it,” Taj said.
Taj confirmed in the first year that some money had been set aside to achieve ‘easy wins’ in the community and show that the fund could make an immediate impact.
More details about Pride in Place in Armley and New Wortley here. Farnley East has also been awarded £20 million.
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