"We've lived in our flats for 50 years and love that everybody looks out for one another"
“People automatically judge it, and it’s wrong - unless you live on here you don’t know what it’s like”
A couple who have lived in a city centre flat block for 50 years have said that they’ve managed to maintain a community where everybody looks out for one another.
Husband and wife Sheila and Steve Goadsby have lived in Edward Street Flats throughout their marriage and say they still “love it.”
“It is lovely, you don’t see people arguing or anything like that,” Sheila said.
“It might not look the best of places, but that’s going to be changed. As for a community, everybody gets on with everybody, they look out for one another.”
Steve - who has actually lived there close to 70 years, having grown up in the flats since he was a toddler - described it as a community where “everybody looks at everybody else’s front door” and all residents keep an eye on each other.
He said: “I grew up with it, so I know, you could leave your front door open - it’s not far off that now.”
The couple are heavily involved in the local area committee and recently took part in a courtyard party as part of the One Sheffield, Many Communities initiative on Monday, August 24.
They celebrated the work of Adeel Zaman, community services manager at Sheffield City Council - who helped pull together the latest event - and said that they’ve always looked at how they can host events that pull the community together.
In the past, this has seen them take part in Eid, Christmas and Halloween celebrations.
“There’s people on here who have never known Halloween, so they don’t know what it is,” Steve continued.
“So we say ‘come and we’ll show you what it’s all about’.
“We get it now where kids are walking about and going ‘good job’.”
Importantly, the point of these events is to make sure everyone can take part, with the diverse residents made up of various religious backgrounds all getting involved.
Steve went on to say: “It’s not a case of ‘you can have one, but you can’t - you can do this, you can’t’
“None of that.
“You want to do something, we will help you do anything.”
They are currently working with the council to refresh the area, having recently repainted the central play area and communicating with residents about what renovations they want to see come next.
“People automatically judge it and it’s wrong - unless you live on here you don’t know what it’s like,” Shelia said.
They hope to continue inviting people to build on the strong community environment, with Steve adding: “When you come on here, you’ll be welcome.
“No matter what you do, what you are, anything - it’s a fantastic community to live in.”