Councillors, partners, school children from Priory Fields and the community team open the new community store
The One Church in Tower Hamlets, Dover is welcoming the district’s latest community store as part of Dover District Council’s (DDC) Community Caretakers Scheme.
The scheme provides a range of equipment so that residents can volunteer in their local community with tasks ranging from litter picking, graffiti removal, and painting, to planting, street cleaning and snow clearance.
A group of people on the Community Payback Scheme worked hard to clear the site for the new community store and will continue to maintain the church gardens.
Shane Lamoon, a local Tower Hamlets resident who has recently become a Community Caretaker, said: ““I have always taken great pride in where I live, and I know a lot of the residents who live in our area feel the same. I joined in with a local litter picking group for the Great British Spring Clean and was pleased with what we all as a community achieved on the day. I carried on litter picking afterwards and with the support of our ward, DDC and the KCC warden, I am now a Community Caretaker. This store will make a big difference to our neighbourhood as we can now easily access and store supplies and equipment and will further improve where we live and encourage more residents to become involved.”
Cllr Trevor Bartlett, DDC Leader, said: “Our local volunteers lend their skills for free, and work really hard to make the district a better and more pleasant place for us all to live.
“The Community Caretaker Scheme recognises their goodwill and ensures that they have the tools and resources to support their activities. I would like to sincerely thank all of the volunteers who support the council in its day-to-day work, and I’m delighted that this scheme continues to grow.”
So far, 50 volunteers have signed up to become community caretakers, providing 220 hours of work on 33 different projects across the district.
Community caretakers receive a welcome pack containing a project guide and a map of the community stores and projects taking place. Each community store is a local unit holding tools, materials, equipment, and protective clothing. Volunteers can submit new project ideas to DDC.
The Community team actively welcome new volunteers to the scheme. Please sign up at www.dover.gov.uk/communitycaretaker or email: community@dover.gov.uk for further information.
Notes to editors
There is a community store in the following areas:
• Sandwich
• Hougham
• Wingham
• Mill Hill, Deal
• Aylesham
• Goodfellow Way, Dover
• Bunkers Hill Avenue, Dover
• Tower Hamlets, Dover
The Community Payback Scheme sees low-level offenders, who have been given an unpaid work order as part of their sentence, tackling quality-of-life crimes and issues that affect the day-to-day lives of the community and local businesses.
Posted on 22 November 2021