Inspired by the community

A radio competition encouraged people to vote for someone they thought to be an inspiration to them.

“We asked listeners to go to our website and tell us about women who are making a difference in their community. We ran this celebration of Women’s Day and each day we selected stories which highlighted their work,” said 702 operations manager Alan Mathews.

Blairgowrie resident Christen Kuch nominated Shirley Tebbutt for the Inspiring Women competition. Tebbutt established the Delta Park Users Association which has been a platform for community members to help keep the park clean. Although Johannesburg City Parks owns the park, for the past ten years Tebbutt, and other community members, has been the reason for the parks progress. “She has been a motivator for the greater use of the park by inspiring others,” said Kuch.

“I became involved when a friend and I wanted to clean out the weeds in the dam. Since then we have worked on other projects for the park,” said Tebbutt. “People have offered money to pay the guards and others have occasionally brought food for the guards to take home. We have never had to struggle for money to run the place because of such a giving community,” said Tebbutt.

Her positive energy and passion made her a deserving winner. The winners of the competition each won themselves a cash prize.”I will be using some of the money to pay car guards and cleaners, and will also use it to pay for anything else that may need fixing in the park,” added Tebbutt. Although she has helped out with other projects in the community such as handing out clothes to the less fortunate, and being a part of the Blairgowrie Community Association, Tebbutt spends most of her time at the park and is open to receiving any form of help to maintain the park.

Details: Shirley Tebbut 082-596-7500.