A LADY who lives, volunteers and works in the community has been co-opted on to Launceston Town Council.

Helen Bailey, known for her voluntary work, including as chairman of Launceston Foodbank, was co-opted to represent the South ward at the town council’s meeting on December 19.

She put herself forward for the vacancy against Joan Heaton. Both were asked to address the council before councillors voted on paper for who they wanted to join them.

Cllr Bailey explained she has lived in Launceston since 2004. With a background in finance, she is an accounts manager for a local firm.

She added: “I was actively involved with volunteering with Lions Club International until early this year, and I’m the Helen Keller Internet Lions Club secretary. I was member and chairperson of South Petherwin PTA when my son was at the school.

“I chair Launceston Foodbank and have held the position of chairman for four years.”

As well as this, Cllr Bailey explained she volunteers with the carnival each year and was part of the committee when it was ‘reborn’ several years ago, and she helped to organise a party in the park event to celebrate the Queen’s Diamond Jubilee.

Before being co-opted, Cllr Bailey said she has a ‘passion for the town and community’ and wants ‘to make Launceston the best place to live and work in Cornwall’.

Missing out on the vacancy was Mrs Heaton, who is deputy chair of St Stephen by Launceston Rural Parish Council, and who runs a holiday letting business over the border in Devon.

She said her parish and the town ‘share concerns’ on transport and health, adding: “In June my parish passed a resolution to lobby hard for an urgent care centre and I’ve been doing that ever since.”

She gathered signatures for a petition calling for Launceston Hospital to become one of the proposed new ‘urgent care centres’, and for extended and improved services at the hospital. With 1,410 signatures, the petition was presented to Cornwall Council’s chief executive Kate Kennally in September and also at a board meeting of the NHS Kernow Clinical Commissioning Group.

She explained she was notified by one of her parishioners when land near Launceston hospital was put up for auction in October.

She informed Cornwall Council and her MP and said the sale was withdrawn within a week. She added: “That’s grass roots democracy in action.”

A trained therapy councillor, she has lived in the USA and Europe and said that she is ‘passionate about the NHS’ based on clinical need and not ability to pay.

She was also a school governor in Reading and has worked in a teaching role for the British Council.

She put herself forward for co-option as she said she ‘would like to try and make a difference’.

l TONY Philp was co-opted onto Bude-Stratton Town Council at its latest full council meeting on Thursday, December 7.

Mr Philp has been attending the meetings for the last couple of months and has officially now become a town councillor after signing his declaration form.

Mr Philp was raised in Tavistock and went to the same secondary school as fellow town councillors, Frank and Heather Partridge.

After finishing school, he then did a degree in Geography at Swansea University but ended up taking a much different path, working for Devon County Council in the planning department.

In 1974 he moved to Bodmin with his wife and lived there for over 40 years — working as a planning officer with North Cornwall District Council before working his way up to becoming the chief planning officer.

In 1998 with the council merging its different departments, Mr Philp decided to take voluntary retirement.

Since then he has given back to the community as a volunteer car hospital driver, a volunteer at the National Trust in Lanhydrock, chaired the local allotment association and was the treasuer of the North Cornwall National Trust.

However, last year Mr Philp and his wife decided to move out of Bodmin and eventually decided to come to Bude, saying: “Bude fitted exactly what we wanted. It’s got a great sense of community spirit and we wanted to be part of it.

“We’re happily settled now and we want to get involved in the community.”

Cllr Julia Bryson proposed that Mr Philp should be co-opted onto the town council, which was unanimously backed by councillors.