Statues that live for today!

Debates today around statues of people from the past who are now proven to have had direct or indirect links with slavery often occur on my own training courses such as the Modern Slavery Act, the Equality Act and those on cultural awareness.?

Emerging out of lockdown and online course delivery through “Teams” and back into my old business world of training and voluntary advocacy work, I have witnessed locally a brand-new statue reminding me of long ago. And it won’t be pulled down given the queues of people I witnessed wanting to sit on it!?

Here I am last night sitting on it. ?A combined and rather beautiful bronze bench and statue unveiled in my home city of Preston by Nick Park in commemoration of his work?

Nick Park, the Preston born creator and Oscar winning creator of Wallace and Gromit, lived in same village as my family. We went to the same school. ?

We travelled every day on the school bus. I was in the class above and close friend of his brother Adrian. My sister and I remember the bus trips though. Nick was always coming to school with rolls of technical drawing paper and what I now know to be pots of modelling clay. When I went to see Adrian, I always remember Nicks room or rather its ceiling from which hung numerous Airfix planes. His late father was the inspiration for Wallace and quite an inventor himself.

I was so pleased to see that the City Council with UK government funding had arranged for this bronze statue bench of Wallace and Gromit. Nick unveiled it on Friday. On Saturday there were queues of people waiting for the bench to become vacant so they could be photographed. I came into town on Sunday night and a young homeless lad took my picture. In an enterprising manner that Wallace would have applauded the lad was politely asking for a donation for his service. Brilliant!?

The presence of so many people must have pleased Nick who said to the BBC on Friday it was a tribute that meant more than his Oscars. And that cameo appearance by the homeless lad really has made it a tale for today.?

Come and see the statue and then go up the road to Morecambe where a double statue of “Morecambe and Wise” the comedians can be seen on the prom. Or go south to Liverpool’s Lime Street Station to see Ken Dodd in bronze greeting Mrs Bessie Braddock MP, a formidable campaigner who amongst things got a British Lion imprinted on eggs to denote freshness. You will see Mr Dodd’s tickling stick aloft and Mrs B handing him a bronze egg!

?If you live in the UK, you are going to see more examples created to brighten up the modern High Street with a celebration of local heritage. Has anything arrived in your part of the world??

So ,despite COVID I think we can still have pride in our past -faith in our future!