People
Barrow welcomes
PC 4461 Helen Thompson
A new face appeared on the streets of Barrow this June. Our new Beat Bobby arrived to take over from Steve Morris, who retired after 12 years as Barrow’s Beat Bobby. She’s Helen Thompson and her official title is Beat Manager for Barrow and the Wolds’ villages. She and Sergeant Goodman are responsible for law and order in Barrow, Burton,Walton, Cotes, Hoton, Prestwold and Wymeswold.That’s a big patch but Helen says that from August things will improve as a result of a change of policy to encompass and facilitate genuine neighbourhood policing.At the moment, she often gets called out to other areas but from August, all her work should be in the seven villages. She hopes to go out on foot patrols as much as possible although she will have to spend some of her time in a police car getting from one village to another.And of course she will have her paper work to do in Quorn Police Station. Helen emphasises that a good Beat Officer is accessible and approachable.
To contact her, you need to ring 0116 2222222 and ask for her voice mail or 0116 2485675 extension 4461 to leave a message on her voice mail.
Helen is a Nottingham girl born and bred. She went to school at the Beckett where she started her A levels but then decided that they weren’t for her. She left and worked for Volvo for four years then moved to the Magistrates Court. Here, she particularly enjoyed dealing with defendants but mostly she spent her time endorsing people’s licenses - a very boring activity; “If you picked up points in the period 1998 to 2002, the chances are that it was my handwriting”, says Helen. ”But who wants to be remembered for that?!”
It was then that she decided that she wanted to make a career move into something more challenging and rewarding. Her choice of the police force seemed obvious. She began the training early in 2003 and passed all her exams in December of the same year. She has finished her probationary two years and is clearly making her mark, having been ‘head-hunted’ for the Beat Bobby vacancy left by Steve Morris.
In Barrow, Helen sees the anti-social behaviour of a tiny minority of residents as the challenge that she would like to tackle early on. She is particularly concerned about the under-age drinking and smoking that goes on in the grounds near Humphrey Perkins School and Hall Orchard Junior School. She very much hopes that the plans to get youth work restarted in Barrow will help to combat the problem. She is also concerned about the behaviour of some people as they leave the pubs at closing time. However, she doesn’t anticipate that the applications for extended pub licensing hours will make matters any worse. In Barrow. Initially, at any rate, the extensions to closing time are likely to be reserved for special occasions.
At Steve’s retirement party, he emphasised how much he valued the partnership that developed between himself and the community in achieving the (relatively) low crime rates that Barrow has enjoyed for some time. I am confident that the community will provide the same support to Helen and that we are already welcoming her into our midst.
Judith Rodgers
Goodbye and welcome at
Barrow Methodist ChurchThe Rev. David Leese has been minister at the Barrow Methodist church for five years and is moving to be the Superintendent minister for the Epworth and Crowle Methodist circuit in North Lincolnshire.The circuit has 13 chapels, and is based in Epworth and the Wesley Memorial Church. Epworth is a small market town in North Lincolnshire, where John Wesley the founder of Methodism was born.
David has appreciated the support not only of the Barrow Methodists, but has said that one of the highlights has been the opportunity to work with excellent ministers of other Christian churches, "It has been a delight to work with my Baptist,Anglican and Roman Catholic colleagues, " David said. Many will miss his regular visits to their homes.
Whilst being the minister at Barrow David has continued as one of the national judges for the Poultry Club, and has bred his Marans hens, meeting visitors from Marans when they have visited Barrow. Some of his Marans hens have been left behind in four gardens in Barrow!
The Rev. Jane Carter is to be the new Methodist minister for Barrow from September 2005. Jane will continue to live in Sileby with Andrew, her husband, and her two young boys, Joshua and Samuel.The household there also includes a Springer spaniel named Flynn, 5 chickens, a rabbit and a pet rat. Jane originally comes from Yorkshire. Her current interests include cycling, walking, cooking and has recently started piano lessons.
As is usual in Methodism, Jane has the pastoral oversight of more than one church. Consequently she continues to be the minister for Sileby,Wymeswold,Wysall and Willoughby Methodist Churches. She has said that she is very much looking forward to working with the church in Barrow. She hopes to continue the aforementioned friendship with her colleagues from the other Christian denominations. She is no stranger to Barrow but we shall be seeing her more frequently from the end of August.
John Thursby