Labour’s GAIN shows Norwood some love on Valentine’s Day

There are many different ways to express affection on Valentine’s Day but not many will involve a couple of skips. 

Labour’s Group Action in Norwood (GAIN) project took that less than conventional route yesterday to help local residents clear their clutter.

With one skip based in Canning Road and the other in Russell Road, the GAIN team braved driving wind and heavy rain to marshall the containers and ensure there were no problems. 

They also kept busy lending a helping hand with heavy loads and collecting unwanted items from nearby houses. From broken baby buggies, to wrecked wicker chairs and finished fishtanks, if it was junk it suffered that most cruel of fates on Valentine’s Day- it got dumped.    

Labour’s Prospective Candidate for Norwood, Mhairi Doyle MBE, was on hand to discuss local issues with residents and to also do a two-hour marshalling shift in the bad weather:

“It wasn’t exactly a romantic experience but it was lovely all the same to be able to help folks out and do something for the area. A Valentine’s card is nice but who’d have thought that seeing a young lad and one of our GAIN team struggling and mucking in together to load in a waterlogged old leather sofa could also bring a warm glow to your heart?” 

“Local residents seemed to really appreciate the effort being made and although Labour met all the costs, we also appreciate the help we received from Sefton Council to make it happen. Working together gets results.”

The GAIN project was launched by members of the local Norwood branch of Southport Labour Party to help with issues in the area. Branch Chair, Greg Myers, explained:

“It’s about being rooted in the local community and wanting to do what you can to improve it. We only started our branch last summer but from the beginning, we were determined it wasn’t just going to be a political talking shop but about the practical projects and support we could give as well. 

This is about doing the type of things that need more than one or two pairs of hands and hopefully, other residents will get more and more involved too in future. 

Of course, we now also have two councillors in Bill and Marianne Welsh who are working hard with residents to sort out issues as well. If Mhairi is elected in May we can build on all that and it will be a really effective team working for the good of the area.”