Merseyside Police shines a light on blooming local community scheme in Toxteth

This month is Black History month, and we want to take time out to look at a local community scheme, which has blossomed thanks to a local young man, with a little bit of help from one of our community officers along the way.

All too often people will look for what’s wrong with young people in our local communities, when actually they should be looking for the good, which is demonstrated on a daily basis by the vast majority of our younger generation,

Khan Odita is a remarkable 17-year-old from Toxteth, who at the tender age of 14 decided to set up the Mulgrave Street Action Group (MSAG) in 2020 to improve the streets of his local community.

In 2022 Constable Rachael Moorcroft, one of the community police officers, met Khan on Mulgrave Street on a Clean Up Action Day set up by MSAG and she was really impressed by his drive to improve the local environment and develop social cohesion.

As a result of Khan’s determination, what began as a litter picking project quickly progressed to the development of The Mulgrave Street Community Garden – ‘UrbanScape’, a pioneering project MSAG, which transformed a fly tipping hotspot into a multi-purpose, modern, community green space.  

Impressed by the contribution that Khan wanted to make for his community, Constable Moorcroft would regularly drop in to the garden space and speak to Khan and other local members of the community who were enjoying the newly created outdoor space.

Unfortunately, after a couple of weeks of the garden opening, Rachael discovered that the garden had been subjected to the theft of a number of flowers which equated to approximately £400 in value. Knowing the impact this would have on the local community, she wanted to ensure action was taken and within days she found the suspect and he was charged.

Rachael also took it upon herself to put in a ‘victim of crime’ application to the ‘Merseyside Police Federation Charity’ and as a result Khan and the MSAG were given £200 worth of gardening vouchers by the Merseyside Police Federation Charity. Thankful for Rachael’s help and assistance, Khan decided to put on a tree planting afternoon where Rachael was able to see a variety of plants, and a set of apple trees, introduced to the Mulgrave Street Garden as a result of the funding given.

PC Rachael Moorcroft said “I am so impressed by Khan, the work he does for his community and to improve the lives of the local people, is remarkable.  I don’t know how he fits it all in, despite studying for his A-levels his still makes time for the community and is dedicated to improving the environment locally, he really is remarkable.

“The Mulgrave Street Garden is a unique space where people can go to unwind, relax, socialise and talk to friends and neighbours.  It really is a special place and that’s why I wanted to help and support the Khan is really friendly and listening to him and the stories he shares is really interesting.

“The garden is on my route into work and it makes me really happy to see it being used so regularly so I do like to check in make sure everything is going OK and importantly see how things are going.”