Deputy Lieutenant Gareth Williams is given a warm welcome in Madeley

Newly appointed Deputy Lieutenant Gareth Williams was given a very warm welcome when he visited his “town link” community of Madeley, Telford.

He was met by the Mayor, Cllr Helena Morgan who had organised a jam packed visit for him to get to know the community and some of the wonderful organisations in it.

They started off at Jubilee House where he was introduced to the team at Madeley Town Council.

The next stop was The Anstice where Karen and Lyndy showed him the transformation the building has taken. It is s such a fabulous success story of how the team have made the site the epicentre of Madeley.

They then visited the Park Lane Centre Telford where he spoke to Jacqui who is such an inspiration. They saw all of the services that are held in the centre and spent some time with A Better Tomorrow which is such a lifeline to many in recovery.

The last stop was The Hub On The Hill where Terry showed him the amazing work they do and how much time and dedication their volunteers spend on giving the residents of Sutton Hill a safe space. It was great to meet Erin at Telford Crisis Support who spoke about the invaluable work the charity do for our Borough.

It was a wonderful morning for Gareth to get to know more about the Madeley community and he is much looking forward to forming further links with the area.

All Deputy Lieutenants are now linked to a town and surrounding area and are encouraged to engage with local charities, community groups, civic leaders, churches and schools as well as attend events, ceremonies and functions.

The Lord- Lieutenant is keen to hear what is going on in all corners of the county and via her network of Deputies feeding back information about the their “townlink” area she is kept up to date.