Growing up in Bridgwater in the Thatcherite 1980s was tough. I know, I went through it. In and out of work and going to the pub to play ‘gamble your giro’ on the quiz machines decided whether you could drink that night or eat tomorrow. The Tory 80s changed Britain and Bridgwater. They stopped building council houses, and they sold off the ones we had , they destroyed Britains industrial base and we hit some 3 million unemployed and they tried to smash trades unions when we tried to resist. As it always has, Bridgwater fought back.

Ann Marie Gould has just been awarded the Bridgwater Cup for her community work. Growing up in Friarn Avenue in the 1980s life was tough but it was precisely this upbringing and how her community rallied round to help each other that shaped her views and what she went on to achieve later in life.

In them days they had coal fires, little electricity and almost no food. Her street was an avenue of single mums. Like many she had to look after her family in difficult circumstances and often had to miss school. She was in a limbo.

Work

Getting a job is important in everyone’s life to provide security, direction and an income. Ann Marie started in the mid-90s at B&Q where she worked on the checkouts and ended up as a supervisor learning to work with a team and listen to the views of staff and customers alike. With the confidence from this she set up her own business, a cleaning firm and took on 7 staff cleaning anything from ‘Holiday lets’ to the ‘yurts of the famous’ at Glastonbury festival. As a business she cleaned up but didn’t ‘clean up’. It was a struggle and there wasn’t a lot of money. So she took paid work at Sedgemoor on the lifeline service, at the NHS on call centres and on reception at Victoria Park.

Her big break was joining Bridgwater Town Council where she quickly went from job share receptionist to fronting the new ‘warm space ‘project, which she quickly made her own and then to Community Development Officer.

In this role she took on the ‘Pantry’ in Hamp helped by the Town Council re-opening the Rec centre. She quickly realised that people just felt disengaged and fed up and really just wanted a space of their own. This is what the Town Council provided. And again, at Rollercoaster in Sydenham, what she did was went out and asked the people what they wanted and then provided it. They wanted over 55’s clubs, they wanted a space for the kids, they wanted cooking classes. She got to work.

Life

With her confidence and faith in the community boosted by her work she took it to the next level and set up a CIC. That’s a community interest company motivated for community benefit not personal profit. She set up ‘Sedgemoor Community Connector’ and with the backing of a local philanthropist who recognised and valued her work she set about developing a town centre hub, a low-cost café, a community space and a pre-loved shop, while still working on the estates. Bridgwater is her focus.

So, this year she was awarded the Bridgwater Cup. That’s the trophy that’s been going for nearly 40 years and is awarded annually to someone whose work has benefited the town greatly.

Balance

Ann Marie loves Bridgwater. That’s clear. She says she’ll never leave. In fact, she only went abroad once (to Euro Disney) and has never flown. She loves her work. Spending the days chatting to people about life can be really fulfilling, celebrating wins or being a shoulder to cry on. She doesn’t like the limelight and is happiest when she finds time to pursue her main hobby-history and especially genealogy. She’s traced her family back to almost 1500…always Somerset..although she’s chasing a possible Irish connection.

For Ann Marie Bridgwater is a resilient place. A town where the people create things and have always shaped their own lives so that they stand out as a community, are genuinely good people and really do care about each other. Her special interest is Victorian social history and researching this she may find something even grimmer than the ‘Victorian values’ of the Thatcherite 1980s……