We are Cally Community Plan

There’s a lot going on in the Cally, including through the council’s We are Cally project. The council has been listening to the ideas local people have to make the area an even better place. Their ambitions have been captured in a set of agreed actions to be taken by local organisations, residents and the council in the We are Cally Community Plan.

We spoke to local resident Doreen Stewart about her volunteering and the Cally Plan. 

Hi Doreen, can you tell us a little bit about yourself? 

I was born in Leicestershire, in a castle! My mum was evacuated there in the war. I moved to the Cally when I got married on the day England won the World Cup in 1966! I’m retired now but did office work before becoming a full time carer for my mum and my late husband, Gordon. 

What do you do? 

My late husband was involved in charities supporting orphans. We both spent a lot of time doing voluntary and charity work and I’ve been a community volunteer for a few years now. 

I’m one of the lead volunteers for the Cally Walkers Group. We used to meet every Monday before Lockdown and organised walks and lunches. We used the Jean Stokes Community Centre a lot, contributing to a kitty and taking it in turns to buy, prepare and eat lunches together as a group.  

At one stage we had sixteen people in the group but usually there were about seven of us. It’s a great friendly group, made up of some real characters, we’re a lovely bunch of old girls! We used to sit and put the world to rights as you do. We had a lot of supportive conversations. 

Val and Nicky and Jo at Help on Your Door Step have been great and very supportive and we’ve been doing things online, like Bingo. We are now meeting at a local church, it’s great fun.  

We hope to return as soon as we can. We’d like to see more local residents get involved with us, we are from all walks of life. Things are unpredictable, but we live in hope of some sort of return to normality!  

How are you playing a role in the Cally Plan? 

I’ve been talking to Barry (Islington Council Community Development Officer) about lots of things on the Cally and telling him what I think.

Read the We are Cally Community Plan

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