So many residents answered the call

The severe cuts meant the Council could no longer solve every problem the borough faced on its own. It needed the help of residents to make neighbourhoods cleaner, greener, safer and more prosperous.

Residents told the Council clearly that they wanted to get more involved in making their communities a better place. Indeed, many residents were already doing so.

Many said they were happy to get out there and do their bit but sometimes lacked the resources to get projects off the ground.

One of the clearest examples of how Your Call works is the success of the environmental part of the campaign.

Your Call provides residents and community groups with tools, equipment, health and safety advice and guidance and waste removal.

Since 2011, 3,545 volunteers have taken part in 118 environmental improvement activities.

Activities have included back street clean-ups, litter picks, grass cutting and hedge trimming.

Other Your Call successes include the increase in the number of winter squads, which has doubled since they started in November 2011.

In total, nearly 5000 volunteers have taken part in Your Call.

One important aspect of the Your Call campaign is for the Council to continue to listen to residents about their priorities and their ideas to make their neighbourhoods better places.

In August 2012, the leader of the Council took part in a special consultation event which saw a black cab complete with a video diary room parked in Blackburn and Darwen.

On the day 46 residents filled in the feedback cards whilst a further 24 gave their comments to the ‘cabcam’. The video-diary style comments will be made into a YouTube video and uploaded to the Council website later this month. More than 30 feedback cards were also taken away by residents to fill-in and return at a later date.

The main topics for discussion with residents were about litter, highways issues, dog fouling and suggestions for youth activities.

Another example of this continued listening is the Your Call, Your Agenda meetings which has seen young people and children meet up with the Council leader to set the agenda and talk about issues important to them.

An area fit for heroes

ABOVE: Katie Roberts and Sam Baird at work in the rain at the Your Call clean-up at St James Cemetery, Lower Darwen.

The Friends of St James’ Cemetery are committed to making sure those who are buried there are not forgotten.

The ‘Friends’ help maintain the cemetery by holding clean-ups and also working to keep the grass surrounding the graves in check.

Mostly made up of members of St James’ Church, Lower Darwen, the group formed in 2005 following some vandalism in the cemetery.

“That got everyone going to start with and then we realised that the cemetery was quite a mess and needed attention,” said Alan Reid, who volunteers on its committee.

They then undertook a number of projects such as removing trees, which had seeded in and around many of the graves, and putting up fencing to secure the site.

However, after a few years the group reduced its activity but renewed its commitment last year when they decided that the cemetery was looking in need of attention. The state of the cemetery was also raised at ward solution meetings.

“The son of a member of our congregation visited a family members’ grave and was upset at the state of it,” said Alan who teaches Sunday school at St James.

“One of our issues is that a lot of families have moved away and can only visit every few years.

It’s important that when they do visit that they don’t see it the way that it was as it can be quite distressing,” he added.

Since last year, the Friends joined up with the Your Call campaign, which supplied equipment for the clean-ups.

They have also been making connections with other volunteer groups such as the Community Pay Back Team and Child Action North West to help maintain the area through 2013. 

“It’s about showing our respect for the people that are buried there especially those who died in the world wars, and not letting them be forgotten.”

Squads a real winter warmer

ABOVE: Abdullah Patel, Muhammad Chopdat, Umair Patel and Usmangani Kasam, outside Troy Street Mosque, Blackburn

The Your Call winter squads have gone from strength to strength since they started in 2011.

The squads are resident-led and aim to keep paths gritted, keep an eye on vulnerable neighbours and generally help their communities out.

The borough now has 50 squads compared to three when the scheme started.

The number of volunteers involved in the squads has gone up from 13 to 150.

The groups are given grit, equipment, emergency winter kits (blankets, thermal hats and gloves) and information packs to give to vulnerable residents.

Volunteers also use BwDWinter facebook page www.facebook.com/bwdwinter to share information.

Abdullah Patel is a member of the Troy Street Mosque Winter squad.

The 59-year-old said: “A winter squad is good for the community. Troy street is on a hill so people can have trouble walking down when it's icy. When the public have seen our efforts they have always greeted us.

“The street has never been shut or closed since we formed our winter squad.”

Councillor Faryad Hussain, Executive Member for Environment, said: “The winter squads allow volunteers to come together, share their community spirit and hopefully reduce the amount of unnecessary accidents.”