Letter: My appeal to the Pudsey vandals – “just stop … and think”

Problems with anti-social behaviour in Pudsey town centre have escalated in recent weeks, with floral displays being damaged and other acts of vandalism on the increase. A Pudsey resident, who wishes to remain known as ‘Mrs KP’ for fear of reprisals, has written to The Dispatch to appeal to the perpetrators to stop …

I look at the stuff that’s happening in Pudsey with despair and sadness. And, if I’m honest, I’m damn angry too.

I see lots of excuses kicking around. “Well, there’s nothing for them to do, bless them…” is one of the regular ones. Utter nonsense – you could run youth clubs every night and it wouldn’t stop things like this. There’s a problem with society here and a lack of civic pride and I just don’t know how to change it.

So I thought I’d write to West Leeds Dispatch and – hopefully – directly to the people doing this. I don’t want to lecture you as you probably won’t listen (I wouldn’t have done at your age either). But I do have to say there is simply no need to be pulling flowers up or vandalising our once great town.

If you’re one of the perpetrators reading this, I’d urge you to just to stop … and think.

Hard-working volunteers from Pudsey in Bloom give up hours and hours of their spare time trying to make Pudsey a better place. They care about where they live and want it to look nice for everyone, and for people of all ages and backgrounds, creeds and colours, to enjoy.

Similarly the council spends time planting flowers in Pudsey, money which comes from all our council tax – mine, your parents and your wider family. We all pay it whether we like it or not. Please stop wasting our money.

What you’re doing is a slap in the face to those volunteers, and to everyone in the town – your family and, believe it or not, your friends as well.

I hope you’ll get to the age where you start to care about the place where you were raised.

I look back with regret at some of the stuff I did when I was a teenager – I’m not so old that I don’t remember doing things I shouldn’t in the late 1980s. I wasn’t perfect and stuff like this happened then too.

I’d urge you to think about your actions – are you really proud of what you’re doing?

You don’t have to follow your friends, perhaps you could be really brave and stop them if you see them doing stuff? It takes bravery to go against the pack – you need to ask yourself whether you’re a sheep that follows or whether you can be a wolf and lead by example.

Perhaps you could show your maturity and use your time more wisely by joining the guys at Pudsey in Bloom and make a positive difference? Their contact details are all here and I’m sure they’d love to hear from you.

I love Pudsey and I’ve grown up to love and value our proud little town, with its great history, and I hope you do too.

It’s up to you how you become a part of it. It’s future is in your hands, so over to you …