Nailsea Town Council celebrates Jo Duffy’s work for the authority

Nailsea Town Council is highlighting the work carried out by its clerk Jo Duffy, who is supported by deputy clerk Stephen Holley.

Jo is the person who works with your councillors to make sure that Nailsea Town Council provides the services you need in your local neighbourhood.

She said: “I have been a town clerk for over 20 years and I am very proud to be the clerk for Nailsea.

“I really enjoy the variety and range of my work. On any one day, I can be dealing with a wide variety of issues and solving problems for the people of Nailsea.

“ It’s a great role if you want to help people and make a difference for the local community.”

Stephen Holley, deputy clerk (Image: Nailsea Town Council)

Jo, along with Stephen, runs the council meetings to which you are invited and both of them are skilled in a range of disciplines to make sure the council runs properly and within the law.

They’ll be the ones writing to your local MP, liaising with the unitary/district/county council about changes to speed limits, car parking charges and potholes, applying for funding grants for local projects, researching complex planning issues, running the council’s finances and managing community buildings and events.

Then they roll up their sleeves to lead volunteers to run events like the Community Christmas Fayre and Remembrance Day and fundraise for other local projects.

They’re good in a crisis too as seen when they helped to coordinate community efforts during the pandemic.

Clerks are professionals and serve around 10,000 local councils in England and Wales.

These councils emerged in 1894 to give a democratic voice to local people and they’ve changed enormously in that time, particularly during the last 20 – 30 years.

They are real place shapers and, today, many manage and maintain parks, sports facilities, skateparks and recreation grounds, play areas, allotments, community and youth centres, car parks, public toilets, cemeteries, street cleaning, run events and much more.

Most of all clerks and councillors are advocates, the voice for their communities.

Whatever your local council is delivering for your community, your clerk will be at the heart of getting it done.

They provide the services that we all notice the most in our neighbourhoods but, disappointingly, they’re often not properly recognised for just how much they do.

Clerks are celebrated in other countries and Local Council Clerk Week aims to help raise the profile of this important profession here and explain the work clerks do on behalf of town, parish and community councils.