Tackling the alleyway between McNeill Avenue and West Street

A huge thank you to the team from Network Rail who joined me today to help tackle the alleyway between McNeill Avenue and West Street, near Bowen Cooke.

Led by Taylor, the team, including Chris, Laila and myself, spent the whole day working hard to clear the alleyway of weeds, overgrowth, fly-tipping and litter. Or, as some people call them, the backsies!

It was certainly hard work! There was plenty of digging, scraping and cutting back to get on top of the overgrowth and clear away the rubbish. Despite the rain and getting an absolute soaking, we battled on! Our small team worked incredibly hard throughout the day, and I think we’ve made a real difference to the area.

One of the nicest things has been seeing the original blue bricks starting to come back to the surface as we’ve cleared away years of overgrowth and dirt. It really gives you a glimpse of what this space could look like if we continued with the project.

In other parts of Crewe, similar alleyways have been transformed into lovely spaces, with hanging baskets, plants, benches and other features that make them somewhere people can take pride in. I’d love to see what we could achieve here if we kept building on today’s work.

Whilst it’s not perfect, we managed to get a huge amount done in just one day, and it’s great to see the difference that can be made when people come together and put in the effort to improve our local area.

I’d love to keep this project going!

For projects like this to really work and flourish, it’s important that local residents buy into the idea and take ownership of their community. These improvements can’t be delivered by one person alone. It takes a team of people coming together, giving a little of their time and taking pride in where they live.

That’s why I’d really encourage residents around McNeill Avenue, West Street and Bowen Cooke to get involved. We have the opportunity to do something special here, and with local people helping to shape and look after the space, we could gradually turn this neglected alleyway into somewhere the community can be proud of.

If you’d like to get involved in continuing the project, please get in touch with me. You don’t need any special skills or have to commit to lots of time. Every little bit of help makes a difference.

Love where you live! ❤️

Finally, a big thank you to the Crewe Town Council Rangers for lending us the waste bags and arranging for the waste to be collected next week. Your help is much appreciated.

Thanks again to Taylor, Chris, Layla and everyone involved for giving up their time, battling through the weather and working so hard. It’s a great example of what we can achieve when we work together to make St Barnabas a cleaner and better place to live.

Let’s see how much more we can do!