|
A Police Community Support Officer from Loughborough has got on his bike thanks to a donation from a community regeneration company. Frank Haslam Milan (FHM), which is currently carrying out refurbishment work on behalf of Charnwood Neighbourhood Housing, has donated a GT mountain bike to help PCSO 6673 Lee Rockett, whose beat covers Loughborough's Shelthorpe estate. Frank Haslam Milan has recently been working with Shelthorpe Community Association to clean up graffiti - providing brushes and paint for a major clean up operation. And when the association asked if they would be willing to fund a bike for their dedicated community officer, the company was delighted to help. Chair of the Shelthorpe Community Association, Ann Watkinson, said: "Our local PCSO does a fantastic job covering the area almost single handed, but he has such a big patch to cover. There are about 2,000 council houses on the estate and he previously had to cover it all on foot. This obviously reduced the amount he could do because he was spending quite lot of time travelling from one job to another. "This bike will make a real difference to his work and will help him get out and about on the estate a lot quicker. It will definitely boost his presence which will be of benefit to all of us who live here." PCSO Rockett said "PC Glen Reid and I do have a large beat to get around and having a bike will make a big difference in terms of my ability to get out quickly and far and wide. Other officers who use bikes say they are brilliant, they're easy for the public to flag down and they are an environmentally friendly means of transport. "It will definitely enable me to do the job more effectively and efficiently - especially when I've got a number of jobs to do. At the moment, I spend a lot of time walking from one job to another so this will cut down on my travelling time between jobs, which is great. "Ultimately it will help me do my job better - keeping the streets safer for the people of Shelthorpe." Frank Haslam Milan is currently undertaking a significant improvement programme to 1,800 properties in Charnwood. Improvement work has already been carried out to 250 homes and the rest of the work will be carried out over the next 5 years. The improvements will see homes fitted with new kitchens and bathrooms as well as gas central heating to bring them up to the Government's Decent Homes Standard by 2010. Work will focus on areas including Shelthorpe, Anstey, Birstall, Rothley, Mount Sorrel, Woodhouse Eaves, Loughborough and Shepsted. Ian West from Frank Haslam Milan said: "We're making a major impact on improving people's lives in this area and are very proud of that. We've been very keen in our time here to work with the local community and when we were approached about providing a new bike for PCSO Rockett we were delighted to help. "I'm sure it will make a difference on the estate and give residents a lot of confidence." |
