Angela on mission as a volunteer

Photo: Picture: VINCENT BROWN

Angela Cosgrove: “I want to be proud of where I live”

CREATING a better community starts with individual effort, according to keen volunteer Angela Cosgrove.

Not only is she the secretary of the Friends of Stoneleigh Park, but she is also a Derker warden, works with the local Street Scene team, Groundwork Oldham and Rochdale, and local Police Community Support Officers.

And that is alongside her day job as an assistant at Oldham Library, a post she has held for the past 18 years.

The 37-year-old, from Kipling Road, Derker, said: “Someone’s got to do voluntary work — you can’t whinge about something if you are not prepared to do anything about it.

“I want to be proud of where I live and that means getting off your backside and doing something.”

Ms Cosgrove said that since she moved to Derker five years ago, there have been big changes. She said: “As a Derker warden we walk around the area and take note of things that need improving.

“The streets are better in terms of potholes, litter and graffiti, and working with so many different organisations, I know exactly who to go to. Volunteering does make a difference — more people should get involved.”

The mother-of-two was nominated by a fellow volunteer, who did not want to be identified but said: “She does what she does without aspirations to personal glory.

“She lived on the now demolished Primrose Bank and was constantly a voice on that estate against drug dealers and everyone else who was a detriment on that estate.

“She does what she does because she wants a better community for us all. She is an unseen shining force and deserves recognition.”