Chair of Rotherham Pride in Place Board Appointed

Rotherham’s Pride in Place project has taken a significant step forward with the appointment of a Chair to lead the Pride in Place Board, which will determine how funding will be spent. The new Chair has been announced by Sarah Champion MP as Eleanor Lockley, from Rotherham East Ward. 

Eleanor is a long-standing Rotherham resident, an academic and a governor of a Rotherham school and will lead the Board to deliver on the scheme’s ambitious objectives.

Pride in Place will see £20m Government investment in Rotherham over the next ten years. The innovative new approach to local funding will place local people at the heart of the decision-making process, deciding how, when and where to spend this significant investment. 

The appointment of the Pride in Place Board is now in its final stages and is expected to conclude shortly. Rotherham MP Sarah Champion will work alongside Ms Lockley to ensure that the views of local people are at the heart of Pride in Place decisions. 

Eleanor said: “I don’t live in Rotherham because I was born here, I live in Rotherham because I choose to. I care deeply about our town and our communities, and I want to make sure all of our residents have a stake in our future. I want Rotherham people’s voices to be heard.’

‘As a resident-led board, we need to listen to what residents want, and to work to restore a sense of pride in Rotherham that has been sadly lost for many in recent years.’

‘I want to deliver a legacy for our communities, one that includes meaningful change for individuals, be that at a street level, a neighbourhood level or across our whole town. But we can’t achieve anything without the help of the public. We need to understand your needs and wants for your area, so if you see us out and about, please stop to tell us your ideas!’

Commenting on Eleanor’s appointment, Sarah Champion said:

“When I first set out to implement the Pride in Place scheme, I recognised just how important it would be to have the right Chair to lead the project. For me, this is not just another fund. It can be transformative. But to do that, it must be driven by the views and wishes of Rotherham’s people. We needed a Chair who would share this vision.’

‘Eleanor really understood and bought in to this, and I was deeply impressed by her commitment to amplifying the local voice and embedding it at the very core of every Pride in Place project.’

‘I am really excited to be working alongside Eleanor to deliver on the promise of Pride in Place and to help drive the change that our communities and our residents really want to see.”