All-rounder lives for town (From Stroud News and Journal)

All-rounder lives for town

Charity worker, raft racer and all-round good guy Richard Lacey has just taken up his new post as clerk of Stonehouse Town Council. SNJ reporter Will Saunders spoke to the mild-mannered gent about his love for the town and his volunteer work.

NICE chap, Richard Lacey. Most of us may not realise it and he certainly does not shout it from the rooftops, but for decades the softly-spoken former insurance salesman has quietly beavered away for charities and voluntary groups across the Five Valleys.

The last time SNJ readers encountered the amiable 56-year-old was on the front page, bobbing around on a raft at Saul Junction to raise money for the Rotary Club. He has also been area co-ordinator for victim support, a business advisor for the Prince's Trust and is now tackling another new role - clerk to Stonehouse Town Council.

"It is a dream job really," he said. "If you live in and love a town and then get the opportunity to help shape it for the future it is a great opportunity - and if you get paid, that's even better."

A Stonehouse resident for most of his life, Richard Lacey has always been involved in giving back to his community. A member of the Rotary Club of Stroud for the last 32 years, he has been president several times and has helped run all manner of campaigns and events, from international efforts to eradicate polio to the Ebley Firework Display and the Saul Raft Regatta, a charity event involving four local Rotary Clubs.

"That is the great thing about Rotary," he said. "If you find a project is too much on your own or you find a problem with it you can work together with other groups."

A father of two and grandfather, Richard Lacey started out as an insurance salesman and ran his own business, Richard Lacey Insurance Services, in Stonehouse for 17 years.

But when he got an offer for the business in 2001 he saw an opportunity to make a career change and took up the job of area co-ordinator for Victim Support. He admits that talking to victims from across the whole awful spectrum of crime was an eye-opening experience.

"It is a very challenging but very rewarding job," he said. "We got to see the full range - absolutely everything you could imagine.

"You think after 50 years you have seen a lot of things but I found I was still pretty nave when I went into the job.

"When you go into a job like that you realise how little you have seen and how traumatised people get - but you also realise the strength of the human spirit."

For many years, he has also helped young people set up their businesses through the Prince's Trust. Stroud High Street shops Slippery Nipple and Sweet Cheeks are just two of the businesses he helped on the way.

When the job at Stonehouse Town Council came up it seemed a natural progression for Richard, a Stonehouse resident who seems perfectly at home among the people of the town.

"Working here is brilliant because we have a great team and a very committed town council," he enthused.

"They are very proactive and I'm just pleased to be working with them."

His work as town clerk includes fielding enquiries and gripes from town residents, as well the day-to-day running of the High Street office.

"In many ways we are the public face of the council because we are here in the office all the time," he added. "People know they are welcome here." Richard has lived in Stonehouse for most of his life and knows its streets, its shops and its characters well. Crucially, he still displays a real love for the town and its people.

"The thing I like most of all is how friendly people are," he said. "It is the sort of town where you don't walk down the street without having people coming up to you for a chat.

"They are pleased to see you and you are pleased to see them." And he is convinced that Stonehouse, often seen as being in the shadow of other neighbouring town Stroud, is finally emerging as a town with a big future.

"Stonehouse has enormous potential," he said. "It is a perfect location, has good transport links, a lot of good shops, easy parking and all the services a town needs.

"It is a developing process, all the time. It has been going on quietly for some years now but the momentum is just starting to build up.

"Stonehouse is becoming much more highly valued now as a residential area. The schools are doing well - the Park schools recently got an absolutely superb Ofsted report - and it all links together.

"I think Maidenhill School is going terrifically well. When you have got a centre of excellence for the performing arts, that has got to be good for the town and the people that live in the area.

"I am very excited about the future."