Residents rewarded for going the extra mile

More than 100 volunteers and guests, including the Mayor and Mayoress Coun Kath Rowson and Joan Goldin, attended Blackpool Coastal Housing’s (BCH) 10th annual awards ceremony held at the Hilton Hotel.

John Donnellon, chief executive of BCH which manages nearly 5,000 properties on behalf of Blackpool Council, said: “The awards are a fantastic opportunity to celebrate the work our customers and residents do to help strengthen and develop both our local communities and the services we provide at BCH.

“It was great to see so many attending the event and I would like to personally congratulate all who were nominated, those that were highly commended and of course the winners of each award”

Winners included Ian Bennett for his brave work in taking a united stand with BCH against a perpetrator of severe anti-social behaviour in his neighbourhood.

Mr Bennett took the courageous step to give evidence in court, which ultimately led to the eviction and restraining order granted against the resident. The recently formed Mereside and Friends in Action (also known as MAFIA) community group was highly commended for raising almost £34,000 and providing new play areas which give children a place to socialise.

It is also helping to reduce the amount of low level anti-social behaviour on the Mereside estate.

See Thursday’s Gazette for a full report on all the winners.