Fri 5 Feb 2021 13.25 EST
Last modified on Fri 5 Feb 2021 14.29 EST
It was the distraction the nation didn’t know it needed: a poor-quality recording of an online meeting of a Cheshire parish council, called by two councillors “following the refusal of the council chairman to call such a meeting”.
Normally such a congress would struggle to raise a quorum, let alone an audience of millions. Yet against all odds, December’s Extraordinary Meeting of Handforth parish council’s planning and environment committee went viral on Thursday night.
It made a star of its doughty clerk, Jackie Weaver, who dealt with argumentative male councillors by kicking them off the Zoom call and barely blinking when being yelled at to “read the standing orders! Read them and understand them!”
BBC News
Published
image caption17-year-old Shaan came across the parish council meeting on YouTube
Just 24 hours ago, if someone had said Jackie Weaver or Aled s iPad , you d probably have been left a bit confused.
But now, thanks to Twitter, the inner workings of Handforth Parish Council have been seen by millions of people.
It s after a few clips from a very chaotic planning and environment meeting, which took place on Zoom in December, were uploaded on the site.
And the source of those clips? 17-year-old Shaan Ali from East London. I was once booted off a Parish Council Zoom meeting by Jackie Weaver, for telling her she had no authority . pic.twitter.com/WpIAPNcxIG Stewart Armitage (@StewartA90) February 4, 2021
The Recorder launched #ThereWithYou to highlight the work being done by volunteers and to help people access any support they needed. We also highlighted those shops accused of hiking up prices as panic-buying meant many people could not buy essentials like soap, rice, pasta and toilet rolls.
April: Marc Rogers, head of D&T at Bancroft s School, making PPE for NHS workers.
- Credit: Bancroft s School
April
In just one week 1,300 people signed up for a council-led volunteer service to provide support during lockdown. Redbridge Joins Together was set up to connect people who needed support during isolation with volunteers keen to help. Council leader Jas Athwal said: “The vast number of local people who’ve signed up to the group and the offers of help and support really is a testament to the goodwill and kindness of the people of Redbridge.” Meanwhile, with children at home, schools around the borough used their 3D printers to make much-needed PPE for hospital staff.