Purley Kings and Queens

So as another year draws to an end it is an opportune time to reflect on some of the people that have made a real positive difference to Purley over the past 12 months. Instead of having the traditional Pearly Kings and Queens, this is our version of Purley Kings and Queens.

With so many great people to choose from we have just singled out three to focus on but would like to give credit to all the other people mentioned and apologies to any that have been missed off.

First of all, we would like to say a huge thanks to Calvin, who goes around the town every single day, rain or shine, picking up the litter and making the town look tidier. His great work can so easily be overlooked and unnoticed, however without his efforts, Purley would be full of litter. So Many thanks to you Calvin we all really appreciate your hard work.

Next, we would like to pay tribute to the Purley BID’s very own engagement manager, Catherine. You will see Catherine in town most days engaging with the businesses and making sure that concerns are addressed and helping sort out any issues. Catherine also reports on any fly-tipping or broken street furniture. Again a lot of these tasks go unnoticed but without them, the town would look a lot worse. Catherine also loves projects so after the success of regenerating the fountain at the library she has taken on to establishing the Purley market. The market is currently under a bit of a break to come back bigger and stronger in the spring of 2022. Catherine has such a hugely positive attitude and is passionate about making improvements to Purley, you may have noticed the poppies who went up on the lamp posts for November and every single one of those have been resprayed to be shinier and cleaner following years of pollution. Catherine is such a fundamental part of Purley bid and has enabled us to grow on our success and help support the businesses and deliver some free up projects, most recently being the hugely successful online advent calendar. So huge thanks Catherine and we look forward to 2022 .

And finally we would really like to say Many thanks to Pam Manisier, who was taken on board the running of “Purley in bloom”. Recently retired Pam was looking for a new project to get her teeth into and while she certainly has done exactly that. Like a tornado of energy and bundle of enthusiasm, Pam is excellent at enthusing those around her to work on “Purley in Bloom” projects. This has had a terrific start with loads of clearing projects and in the spring you’ll start to see fruits of her team’s labour, with all the bulbs have been planted particularly around the Rotary field. It is great discussing with Pam the ideas and plans for forthcoming projects for the years ahead and I’m sure that we will be successful in entering Purley into the “London in bloom” competition in 2022 and beyond. So thank you very much “Queen” Pam and all of those “Bloomers” involved with Purley in bloom you’re going to make such a fantastic difference to our town it will be much appreciated.

So as well as those mentioned above and the team of bloomers that help Pam with Purley in bloom there are so many other people that help support Purley, apologies if you are not mentioned that many thanks to all. With regards to the Purley BID, I’d really like to say thanks to all those on the board it helps support and direct weather projects delivered by the Purley BID delivery team. Obvious thanks go to Marlon, the chairman of PurleyBID who also owns Bagels and Waffles but also to Ben at Frost’s estate agents and Karen at Diane’s hair and beauty. Many thanks also to Kevin at ECIT accountants for the work that they do.

Huge thanks to councillor Simon Brew who is a passionate supporter of Purley BID and is always there when we need an additional bit of help in nudging the council to do some work. He has supported Purley BID frequently and on the numerous times we have had to ask Simon for his support and he is always delivered.

Many thanks to all those at Purley Rotary for all that charity work and regularly weekly litter picks of the Rotary field. Thanks “Purley churches together” and the work they have done in the past with regards to the Christmas lights and food hub. Thanks too, RECR8 and Plum Tree cooperative for the great work they have done with the bulbs at the library. Thanks to the residents association for that dogged lobbying of the council in challenging the developments that are going on all around Purley. Thanks to the team at MJB security for their daily patrols that they have been performing through the town and also thanks to MSD markets for helping us establish a market each Saturday. Huge thanks to Anna Bond, the chairperson, of the “Purley Panel” and all those who have been involved in the Purley Panel giving such a positive contribution and establishing what will be a really supportive group for our town. We would also like to acknowledge the support from some of the council workers and in particular Carol Squires who has helped massively and provided some financial support to the Purley businesses. Thank you too Chris Philp MP for his support of the Purley BID projects and for helping us with a continued project to lobby for reduction in business rates. Thanks to all of those on the save the Purley pool group for that passion and keeping a pool open. Thanks to all those at TFL and Network Rail who the BID have worked with in trying to make improvements to areas that get forgotten and overrun. Thank you to all the businesses in Purley who helped make this such unique town and particularly as it has been the most trying and troublesome period of trade that we have known in a lifetime, It has been really tough time but please stick with it and we’ll see it on the other side. And finally huge thanks to all the online followers hope the Purley BID social media groups and also all the patrons that use the business is within Purley.

Apologies to anyone that we have missed, and huge appreciation to the many numerous groups and individuals who collectively work for a better Purley. THANK YOU.