Joan Ford has lived on Leicester Road in Bootle for the last 40 years, but it was only during lockdown that she got to know some of her nearest neighbours.
It was around then that people started to pitch in with tidying the alleys that run behind the terraced houses. Now the street is filled with planters blooming with flowers, fruit and vegetables with small trees leaning up against front windows and doors.
“You can do it, you just have to keep your neighbours engaged,” says Joan, 64, a civil servant, when speaking about the transformation that has taken place. “It just takes somebody to lead. I now know the people back to back and have met new [neighbours]," adds Joan, explaining how there’s now a strong feeling of people “taking pride in their neighbourhood.”
