RESIDENTS in the Penleigh and Oldfield Park area of Westbury have asked their neighbours to pledge a gift of positive action to their local community.

The call came at a POP-up Day get together on Sunday, June 30 organised by the Penleigh and Oldfield Community Action Network group (POPCAN) at Penleigh Park.

They used the event to root out the skills, talents and goodwill that exist in their local area and invited people to make a pledge by writing on a leaf and sticking it to the POPCAN Pledge Tree made by members of the Westbury Shed group.

Making a community pledge was the idea of POPCAN member and Sovereign Housing resident, Tina Devereux, who said: “We can all do something positive for our neighbourhood by sharing our skills, time, life experiences, sense of humour and general goodwill to connect with each other. In turn, this should give everyone a positive feeling about the place where they live."

“Pledges could include anything from saying hello to a person on the street, speaking up for the neighbourhood, looking out for a vulnerable neighbour, or helping out at a community event. The more of us that invest in our community, the better it becomes for everyone.”

Pledges made at the fun day will be co-ordinated by POPCAN members who will work with partners including Wiltshire Council’s Local Area Co-ordination Team and Sovereign’s Housing team, to ensure that pledge-promisers and pledge-receivers are well-matched.