The Mayor of Normanton
Alison has lived in the area for over 22 years. Her working career for over 40 years has been in local government. She also served as a school governor for many years, starting when her children were in primary school.
Alison made many friends travelling to work on the train from Normanton, who encouraged her to get involved with local events held in the town.
She spent a few years enrolling for classes at Freeston High School, where she learnt about aromatherapy, reflexology, and leaded glass and copper foiling.
Alison has been a Town Councillor for a short time but has supported local events whenever possible and can be seen supporting the local litter-picking initiative in her spare time with other volunteers.
Alison loves gardening, sewing, knitting, researching her ancestry and looking after her grandchildren whenever possible. She also supports Leeds United, giving her many ups and downs!
The Deputy Mayor of Normanton
Tracy moved to Normanton 14 years ago, after growing up in South Africa, Hong Kong and Australia and now considers Normanton home with her two children. She works as a Project Coordinator for Zero Waste Leeds, who help people save money and take care of the environment by encouraging everyone to share what they already have instead of buying new. Their main campaigns include the Leeds School Uniform Exchange and the Leeds Winter Coat Appeal.
It was through her work on these campaigns that she set up the Normanton School Uniform Exchange, which provides donations of good quality, second-hand uniform to local families for free. Since it began in 2020, the exchange has given out over 19,500 items of free uniform, helping more than 3,300 families and saved over 3,900kg of textile waste ending up in landfill. Through pay-as-you-feel donations for the uniform, she has also raised over £7,000 for Normanton’s local charity – The Well Project – for which she is also an avid volunteer. Her work on the exchange has been widely recognised, she has been awarded the Community Champion of the Year from Wakefield District Housing, Love Where you Live Award (2021), Finalist for the Unsung Heroes Awards from Community Foundation Wakefield District (2022) and more recently recognised as Kings Charles III Coronation Champion from the Royal Voluntary Service (2023) and Mayor Says Thanks Recognition Award from the Mayor of Wakefield (2023).
Tracy joined the Town Council in 2022 and is actively involved in organising local events for the community, helping to improve the lives of local residents and create opportunities in the area. She also regularly attends PACT meetings and has a good relationship with the West Yorkshire Police force, as well as liaising with other community groups, child services and local schools.
She is passionate about the community and looks forward to interacting with local residents in her new role as Deputy Mayor.