Email: Cheryl.Kirby@southglos.gov.uk
Facebook: Focus on Sodbury, Yate and Dodington
Cheryl has been spearheading work on trying to get Abbotswood tidied up and bringing together all the agencies and Councils involved to try to get solutions for the community that has been her home for over 40 years. She has always volunteered with lots of local groups, but as current Mayor she is now involved with even more groups - and will always help if she possibly can. From litter picking with the amazing Clean Up volunteers, to holding events to thank the amazing volunteers we have locally, she is there helping.
People turn to Cheryl for help when there’s a tricky situation, because they know how she uses her financial and legal background – to help find practical solutions.
As a former bank manager she knows how important it is to make every penny count and get real value for money. She’s been making sure the Town Council does that, and has spearheaded fundraising to do up Kingsgate Park. Like many residents, she gets frustrated at the way South Gloucestershire spends our money. Having seen how she has done things on Yate Town Council residents asked her to stand for South Gloucestershire to get them to listen to local people and spend money more effectively. For example, she’s really pushing on things like the state of our roads and pavements – to get proper repairs making it safer for everyone to get about however they travel – rather than the patching that falls apart within months.
Cheryl is leading the work to make sure we keep all our current youth facilities - all the funding is up for new bids next year. Cheryl has got the town and parish councils to commit to continuing their funding, and is now working to make sure we get the same amount of sessions from South Gloucestershire. She helps organise the Festival of Ageing on the shopping centre each year – as part of her work helping making this an Age Friendly town for older residents.
Cheryl chairs the local transport users group, fighting for better public transport. That brings together users, with rail and bus companies and councils. She has used that to press to save our buses, and lobby for half hourly trains, taking the issues right to the top for example getting the West of England Combined Authority Mayor out here to meet users to lobby for buses. And as a result has managed to save some of our buses eg the 967 school bus and get the 525.
In an exciting development for the Dodington parish community, Shire Way Community Centre has been acquired by Paul's Place, a local charity dedicated to enriching the lives of physically disabled adults.
