‘Unsung’ village hero rewarded by High Sheriff
A man who can be found mowing the village green or rodding the village drains, has been presented with a High Sheriff Award for outstanding services to community life in the village of Sydenham. The award was presented at a special ceremony at County Hall.
The High Sheriff of Oxfordshire (left) with Paul Stancliffe (right)
Paul Stancliffe, Chairman of Sydenham Parish Council, has lived in the village for over 40 years and has been a member of the Parish Council for 34 years, 27 of those years as Chairman. According to villagers: “Paul is a well respected, modest and extremely valued member of the community. The following achievements are a real reflection of an outstanding man who is very much an “unsung hero” in the village.
“Paul takes great pride in the village and can be seen cutting the grass in the churchyard and village green. He does a myriad of minor tasks of which no one is aware. Paul attends and photographically records virtually every event in the village so that there is a good historical record of what has happened in Sydenham over many years. He Chairs and is a Trustee of The Munday Charity which was set up to help the poor of Sydenham, and is also Chair of the village newsletter committee. In 2004 Paul was active in helping the village to win the Newcomer Award in The Small Villages section of the Calor Gas Best Kept Village competition. “
After the Parish Council bought the redundant telephone kiosk from BT, Paul single handedly converted it into a village information centre. The clever use of the facilities offered by the kiosk received an award in BT Payphone’s Adopt a Kiosk Competition in 2009.
Paul’s perseverance and persuasion resulted in Southern Electric undergrounding their cables over 10 years ago. This was a major investment by Southern Electric of some £250,000 and resulted in a big reduction in the number of power cuts. This was followed by investment from BT and the Parish Council that enabled all the telegraph poles in the centre of Sydenham, which is a conservation area, to be removed. Paul actively led the project for the whole time and would not have happened without his tenacity and it was a major personal achievement.
“Most of all, for over 30 years Paul has been tireless in his efforts to rectify a major issue with flooding and sewage issues in Sydenham and other villages nearby. As a result of the support that he engendered from the local MP, John Howel,l he has managed to get a commitment from Thames Water for a major investment in upgrading the sewage and drainage system costing £1.6m which is starting in April. After a record-breaking wet winter and copious episodes of flooding in the village with groundwater from the sewers pouring out of the manholes, this upgrade cannot come soon enough.”
Alison Isherwood nominated Paul for the award on behalf of the Parish Council. Of Paul she said: “We are absolutely thrilled for Paul that his unstinting commitment to all aspects of village life has been recognised by this award. During the recent episodes of flooding Paul, with his extensive knowledge of the village infrastructure, could be seen rodding blocked drains to help clear floodwater which was causing problems to village property. He is a highly respected and very warmly regarded member of the village community”.
