A HOUSING estate in Stonehouse has been given a new lease of life thanks to an innovative new scheme.

Last week, community association, All Pulling Together (APT) along with Stroud District Council carried out a joint initiative entitled Love where you live at the Park housing estate in Stonehouse.

The initiative involved a whole week of events designed to discover ways to make the Park Estate in Stonehouse a place residents felt to proud to live in, with the goal of bringing the community together and making a difference.

The week included events aimed at raising awareness of how to deal with unwanted household items. by either disposing of them in free, safe methods, or by selling them to raise some funds.

Other events included a toy hospital and a workshop where locals could come and learn how to mend their small electrical items, instead of throwing them away.

Many of the residents on the estate do not have access to a car, so disposing of unwanted large items can be an issue, which is why one of the biggest parts of the initiative was to have a skip on the estate where residents could safely put unwanted items, with the skip then being taken away to the local recycling centre.

Wendy Holt, community development officer at APT, said: “The skip was full within two hours!”

“There was a lot of bulky waste disposed of and it was great to have the skip because a lot of people don’t have cars and many are elderly.”

APT is a community association set up in 2010 by the residents of the Park Estate in Stonehouse themselves, and their positive approach of working together as a local community is really helping the estate.

Jacqui Turner, a volunteer at APT and resident of the Park Estate said.: “This initiative has made local people more aware of the facilities that are available, so instead of throwing things away we can recycle, upcycle, donate or fix things”.

The fact that the initiative was jointly supported by Stroud district council worked well during the week, with the council even council bringing cake for everyone.

It is hoped now that, with the Park estate free of unwanted household items, it can remain a place where people not only want to live, but a place that is valued, too.

Wendy Holt said: “We hope now that residents really feel ownership of the estate and we can keep is a sparkling as it now is.”