A Community Superstar!

August 11, 2022

If anyone knows Frances Carson you’ll agree with us when we say, she is definitely ‘wonder woman’ and a well-respected friend to the community she lives and works in!

 

Frances was joint winner of the Alan Ferguson Tenant Champion of the Year at the recent National Good Practice Awards 2022 and her success is down to her amazing commitment and community spirit to drive change.

 

Chairperson of Muirhead Tenants and Residents Association (MTRA) for the last 8 years and Chair of the local Community Council, Frances has made a huge impact during that time and has given over thousands of hours of her own time to help support her local community.  She advocates that any programme or scheme that the MTRA operate are extremely inclusive and open to anyone who needs help.

 

She has taken it upon herself to develop successful links with other local groups, charities, businesses, all for the benefit of her local community. Her door is always open and she’s available 24/7 to chat to anyone who needs her impartial help, support or links to Council departments, charities and support organisations.

 

Through her work with the MTRA and tenant participation as an involved tenant, Frances has developed close relationships within her community based on honesty, integrity, and trust.  She works tirelessly to empower her local community, whether this is as a collective or supporting individual’s needs.  She has championed the community to become engaged, involved and empowered to create and live in a community that meets their needs, both socially and economically. Individuals approach Frances with many issues and situations, and she will help find a solution or find someone who can help.

 

Empowering tenants and residents within her community is second nature to Frances through her work on MTRA and the Community Council. She champions tenants and residents to pursue the issues that matter to them and gets involved in projects that benefit tenants, residents, and the community.

 

 

Helping save the Muirhead Activity Centre

 

There are many great examples of how Frances helps to empower her community however, a great example of her drive and determination was the work she undertook to support her community to save the Muirhead Activity Centre from a Community Asset transfer that would have seen a gymnastics group take over the centre and have sole use of the facility.

 

Frances was at the centre of the group who firmly believe the centre is for all activities and for everyone within the community. The group, on behalf of the community, managed to stop the Community Asset transfer and the centre remains in Council ownership allowing this to be used by everyone in the community.

 

Making a difference in her local community

 

Frances has helped the community to deliver so many fantastic achievements.  Some of the many things that really stand are….

  • Her ability to deliver a strong sense of community
  • Creation of a community led foodbank
  • MTRA becoming a supplier of gas and electricity emergency top-up vouchers to combat the cost-of-living crisis
  • Establishing a community furniture and clothing recycling scheme
  • Establishing community Birthday and Christmas banks to ensure no child was without a gift – this helped those disadvantaged households and/or those living in poverty
  • Reduction in social isolation by keeping the community involved and engaging with each other

 

 

Emma Douglas, Co-ordinator (Corporate and Housing Policy) at South Ayrshire Council said, “Frances has pioneered to keep community spirit alive in Muirhead prior to, during, and beyond the Covid-19 pandemic. She has shown that in time of need, one message or conversation can lead to individuals receiving help that they may not have known was available or previously had the courage to ask for. However, undoubtably Frances would be the first to tell you it is not down to her that all this positive work has been done to engage her community and grown/develop great initiatives that benefit individuals and the community as a whole.

She champions that success down to MTRA as a collective, along with the wider community. However Frances’s commitment, personality and attitude shine through in driving the community spirit.”