Council leader proud of Peterborough community after help for elderly man to clear his garden

I was heartened this weekend to find out about a Peterborough community which came together to help an elderly man clear his garden.

A Groundforce style army of volunteers descended on a front garden in Glinton, after spotting that the elderly owner was struggling to keep on top of the fast growing vegetation and weeds..

One of the volunteers, who was helped by friends, neighbours and members of the Kingsgate Church in Peterborough said: “He finds it difficult to walk and last week we saw him in his garden attempting to dig up a few weeds. We told him to go back indoors and we would get some help for him.”

The budding gardeners arrived on Saturday armed with rakes, shovels, hoes and plenty of community spirit and spent the afternoon clearing, trimming back and tidying.

They contacted me, as they had filled 25+ black bin bags with garden waste and wanted to know if the council could remove it. We were pleased to help and arranged for Amey to collect the waste this week.

Students in city schools did themselves proud last week, after delivering a successful set of GCSE results, despite more difficult examinations.

More than 2,200 students sat the exams across Peterborough. Despite more challenging examinations and marking, pupils still managed good results, similar to last year, even achieving a slight increase in passes for Mathematics.

I would like to say a big well done to both the pupils and the teachers. This is another positive result for education in the city after the previous week’s exemplary A-Level results.

If you didn’t get the results you wanted, don’t worry as there’s plenty of advice and support on offer right now.

The Youth Access Hub at City College in Peterborough is a good place to start, giving students the chance to speak to careers advisers and a range of providers about their options. The hub is open Monday and Wednesday from 1pm to 4.30pm.

You can drop in or call 01733 864500 or 293897 to book an appointment.

Residents in Werrington are being asked to comment on an application to designate the township as a neighbourhood area to give the community a greater say in planning matters.

Similar neighbourhood areas are already in place across the city in places like Bretton, Peakirk and Castor.

We are really keen to hear the thoughts of Werrington residents on the application. Comments can be submitted until 11.59pm on 10 October by logging onto our website at www.peterborough.gov.uk and searching for the ‘Neighbourhood Plans’ page.

The Peterborough Classic and Vintage Vehicle Festival returns to the Embankment this weekend on Saturday and Sunday from 10am to 4pm.

The event is free to attend and the weather forecast is fine, so be sure to drop in and take a look, whether you are a classic car enthusiast, or just looking for a fun and enjoyable day out with the family.

Finally, Monday will mark the start of Zero Waste Week, a subject which we are passionate about in Peterborough, as the budding environmental capital of the UK.

This year we will be challenging our staff to reduce the amount of plastics they bring to work for lunch throughout the week and to raise any suggestions on how the council as a whole can reduce the amount of waste it produces.