A Cambuslang woman who was recognised in the recent Provost’s Awards has spoken of her delight at the honour.
Michelle Farmer received an award for her “outstanding community service”, acknowledging her hard work with Cambuslang Community Council.
Michelle joined the group a number of years ago and is currently the vice chair and says she feels everyone in the community council is deserving of an award.
She told the Reformer : “It’s nice to be recognised, but a lot of it is a team effort.
“They are a great bunch at the community council and it is amazing what like-minded people can do when they have a common purpose.
“I’ve been involved with a number of different projects and we are all trying to do good for the community.”
The original plans for the event would have seen Michelle and her fellow winners presented with their awards at a ceremony in Hamilton but the ongong coronavirus situation meant it had to be cancelled.
Despite this disappointment, Michelle remains delighted by the recognition, and highlighted several of the community council’s recent initiatives as ones she is particularly proud of.
She explained: “The money we’ve secured for the redesign of the Main Street that should go ahead in March, is the biggest one.
“That has been a huge issue for Cambuslang residents over the years.
“Lots of people have had accidents and have tripped or fallen because of the state of the pavements, to the extent that they don’t feel safe going there.
“So we are delighted to have got the funding [via South Lanarkshire Council’s town centre fund].
“I’m also proud of the microgrants we give out each year.
“That was the first project I’d led and it was successful in supporting different age ranges and groups across the whole community.
“That’s what we should be doing, connecting with different neighbourhoods across Cambuslang.”
And mum-of-two Michelle is optimistic that the community council can continue to make a difference locally.
She said: “I’m excited about the £5000 grant from Scotland Loves Local. We have a whole range of ideas already and there will be more discussions going on about that.
“We have the Bank Hub project too, which is another issue people have had for some time.”
The bank hub will see post office branches refurbished to help make accessing cash easier, after every bank in Cambuslang closed in recent years.
Nominations for the Provost’s Awards were made by councillors and include people who work with community groups, community councils, charity organisations, sports teams or have helped improve the environment.
There is no restriction on nominations, other than the person must have made a significant contribution to community life.
Provost Ian McAllan added: “It was truly humbling to hear of the effort that people across all communities in South Lanarkshire put in to improve the area that they live in.
“Some of them have been carrying out this work for many years and it is only fitting that we recognise them in this way.”
