Young people from Shephall planted some community spirit when they lent a hand to spruce up Peartree Shops.
Four local boys aged 15 to 17 helped out on their half term by planting shrubs to brighten up the shops. The work came after Shephall councillors Ann Webb, Jack Pickersgill and Bob Clark funded the shrubs from their local community budget.
Councillors teamed up with the Shephall Safer Neighbourhoods policing team to get local boys Aarron, Ryan, Donald and TJ involved.
“This has been a good way to stay occupied over the half term and we hope it will show the community that young people can do good things in the area,” said Ryan, 15, a pupil at John Henry Newman School.
TJ, 16, a pupil at North Herts College, said, “We enjoyed helping out and would do this again. Now they’re [the planters] looking good, we’ll look after and respect them.”
Councillor Ann Webb said, “We decided to get local youth involved so that they can help make a difference and take pride in their area and it’s good to see them do just that.
“They’ve done great work today and we’d like to see young people continue to think about improvements that can be made and help make them happen.”
Police Community Support Officer Jason Hart said: “We spoke with the young people who frequent the Peartree shops and asked them if they wanted to get involved.
“They were really enthusiastic about the project and we think because they played a part in planting the shrubs, they will look after them and the general area.
“It was really good to see how seriously they took the project and it’s really made an improvement to the area in front of the shops.”
Ends
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The information contained in this press release was correct on the date of issue.