A heart-warming follow up to the
drama of two weeks ago can be found in the
Harborough Mail:
An arson attack which destroyed sheds, fence panels and trees and which will result in one man leaving his allotment has inspired community-spirited scouts to step in.
Duncan Elliott, leader at Bowden Scouts, contacted the Mail after reading about the plight of Peter Pickering and his dad Joe last week.
Peter Pickering has decided to give up his own allotment after nearly 40 years following the arson attack at the allotments near Little Bowden Recreation Ground, off Scotland Road in Harborough, on Friday, May 31 ...
Mr Elliott said that it is a win-win situation as the work the Scouts will do will not only help Mr Pickering but will also help them attain their community badges.
A key part of the badge is providing help in the community, something that this action by Bowden Scouts will certainly achieve.
There will be between 10 and 15 scouts taking part in the clean-up and Peter Pickering said he expects the majority of their work to include removing debris left over from the fire. Burnt timber has already been removed. ...
Peter Pickering’s 90-year-old dad Joe, of Foxton, has now revisited his decision to quit the allotments and will continue.
2 comments:
Hi Jonathan,
We have now cleared the site. 22 scouts and 5 leaders all mucked in.
Attached is the photo of the scouts after they have cleared up the plot of all the arson debris, burnt shed wood, glass. They worked for 2 hours continuously, which was much faster than anticipated, because there were so many of us! They shovelled, hoe'd and picked up the bigger bits of wood and debris to clear the area.
This is from our Facebook page:
A community job well done. A 92 year old chap's allotment shed was arsoned by some idiots. The scouts mucked in and cleared it all up. Burnt shed, glass and wood all shovelled and wheel-barrowed into a skip. Homebase will donate a shed, which I was hugely impressed the store manager didn't think twice before saying yes. "Well done" to the 22 Scouts/Explorers and 5 leaders who helped make it right.
The Services Manager from Homebase, Steve (I didn’t get his surname) came down to check the site and to see what shed would be best to donate. The shed will be delivered in a few weeks when it comes in to Homebase.
Joe Pickering (92) was a much happier man for all this help. It was great to see some faith in human nature being restored, and that we managed to help an elderly chap to continue tending his allotment.
Duncan
Thanks for the comment and well done!
The photo does not seem to have come through. If you'd like to email it to me - the address is top right of the blog - I can post it myself.
Jonathan
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