We asked Sarah Rook a few questions (via Zoom) about why she wants to join Kidderminster Town Council. Sarah is the Wyre Forest Labour Candidate for Broadwaters for Kidderminster Town Council.

Can you tell us a little about yourself, and why you want to join Kidderminster Town Council?

I am Councillor Sarah Rook. I currently stand in Broadwaters for Town and District. I’m standing again for Town Council because Kidderminster is a really important place to me. I want to continue to represent Broadwater’s area and my residents, and I fully believe that the Labour Party values and policies are important, and the right values and policies for my community.

What can you tell us about Broadwaters?

So Broadwaters is a fantastic place to live and represent. It has great community spirit, it has some amazing volunteers within the park groups. We’ve got St. George’s, Springfield, Friends of Broadwaters and some fantastic charities. Some of my favorites are HELP – the homeless charity, KDYT and Worth Unlimited that help with the food packages and mental health support. So for me, it’s those charities and those people that come together that make Broadwaters and Kidderminster a wonderful place to live and represent.

When did you get involved in politics?

So I was a community activist for several years, before I became a councillor and I threw myself behind my community, and many campaigns locally. We set up a community activist group called B.R.A.G. which was Broadwater’s Resident Action Group, and we turned the area in which I live around. We had several campaigns and activities that we ran – we ran garden competitions to make people tidy the gardens. We saved the bus service. We had all the shrub beds tidied out and cleaned, and replaced with grass to make everyone feel safer. So all those types of things really improved the area, so the next natural progression really once we completed that was for me was to move more into politics, because in that role you can help an awful lot of people and that’s what I did.

What would you change if you could?

In Kidderminster, we’ve got two amazing food banks and they do an absolutely fantastic job of providing much needed supplies to families in need. I really wish we didn’t need them – I wish that society was different and the desperate need for food wasn’t there. I absolutely hate the fact that people go to bed hungry. It’s something that I don’t think I’ll ever come to terms with, but the need is there and if I could change something I would take away the need, not necessarily the food banks. I would urge everybody to donate to the food banks in Kidderminster because they do such an amazing job.

If you would like to get in touch with Sarah, she can be reached via email, or her Facebook page. Vote Wyre Forest Labour on May 6th.