A local history and Warrington memories website has won a Best Community Heritage & Engagement Platform 2025 – North West England award.
Launched by local resident Gordon Gandy to help with his lifelong mental health issues, MyWarrington.org had been nominated for a Global Business Awards for its dedication to preserving local history and community memories, making it a vital resource for future generations.
Commenting on the award, Gordon, who has previously contributed local history articles to Warrington Worldwide, said: “It is still sinking in that my project to help with my lifelong mental health issues has progressed from a little idea to use my knowledge of Warrington, my photography skills and my GNVQ in Advanced IT course over 20 years ago, to become a fully-fledged community project that has benefitted hundreds, if not thousands, of people, including listeners to my dedicated community radio show on Radio Warrington for nine years between 2012 and 2021.
“In fact, 2024 marked 50 years of working in the community for me. It all started when I came into possession of a book called Warrington Hundred, a publication to mark the first 100 years of Warrington town council. It included a history of the town from the Roman times to 1947. I was fascinated by the book and I kept it on my bookshelf, thinking that one day there might be a use for it.
“The year 1974 was the year I started secondary school (Bewsey Secondary Modern) and in that year my community journey began. During my first year of secondary school, Gideon International visited our school assembly and handed out red palm-sized New Testament and Psalms to every pupil. I knew a couple of friends who attended St Mark’s Church in Dallam, where I lived at the time, so on the first Sunday after receiving my New Testament on the Thursday, I went along with them to see what all this God Squad stuff was about. Within a short space of time, I was invited by the vicar to run the tuck shop in the youth group, mainly because he wanted somebody he could trust. As time went on, I was invited to be one of the youth leaders. At school, I was invited to be school prefect.
“In the fourth and fifth years of my secondary education, I took up photography as part of my CSE subjects. In 1978, my mum and dad bought me a Kodak 77X Instamatic camera for Christmas. I loved working in the darkroom at school processing images from SLR film camera negatives. The only time I heard the word digital was when I saw my fellow pupil’s watch! My first photograph in school was of a lamppost. You can see that photo on the banner of The Bewsian page, as well as my first year school photo. Well, I got a Grade 1 pass in Photography (also in Maths and Religious Education, with slightly lower pass grades in other subjects).
“Later on, the local over sixties club met in the church hall every Wednesday, and I was asked to help out to cover volunteer absence. As I was unemployed at the time, I knew it would be a great chance to add some quality to my CV. I was soon recruited to the committee and eventually, when it became a charity, I was asked to be the treasurer. I moved on to working for the elderly in Social Services for about eight years.
“What I didn’t know at the time was that I was struggling with clinical depression and anxiety issues, and had been since my teenage years. Even though I was working hard in the community, I was struggling in my own life. I was in my early thirties at the time. It was suggested I visit my GP, who diagnosed my mental health issues. And so began a series of counselling sessions and group therapy to help me cope with the issues. Medication was prescribed along with encouragement to try something different.
“I was born into a world where words like computers and the internet didn’t exist in the general world, only in big offices and computer centres. My first adventure into the computer world was a Casio Databank watch with a calculator on it – just like Marty McFly in Back To The Future. I had already read a part-work series about computers but never used a real one. Doing some forward-thinking at the end of the 20th century, I realised that whatever job I did in the future it would involve a computer in some form or another.
“So, on my GP’s advice, I enrolled in a City and Guilds 7261 IT course, on the understanding that if I couldn’t cope with it mentally, then to pull out of the course and not think of myself as a failure if I had to stop (negativity and feeling useless was a major part of my thinking in my teenage years – mental health support was non-existent in those days. I hadn’t even heard of the phrase).
“After passing the City and Guilds course, I got the bug to go further. I enrolled in a GNVQ Advanced IT course, where, as well as being recruited as the class rep, I passed that course with distinction. So what next?
“Well, I had the Warrington history book, my photography skills and knowledge of the internet which was included in the GNVQ course. So, during my time of sickness, I decided to create a website about Warrington’s history. “I did a few years of research, obtained copyright clearance where required and launched the mywarrington website on 12 May 2005.
“Initially, the website was meant to cover events in my lifetime, hence my tagline My Hometown in My Lifetime. But then a reader contacted me with some memories of events in his life before I was born, and he suggested I open up the project to cover other reader’s memories and expand on the general history. And that is the website you see today.
“The success of the website led to a nine-year stint on the town’s community radio station, Radio Warrington. I presented a show based on the website and local news headlines of the day. During that time, I was introduced to a gentleman called Sean Clemo, who offered his history knowledge of Warrington and he soon became my co-presenter. We were jokingly described as two old men wittering on about old Warrington, so I called us Waldorf and Salad (based on Statler and Waldorf from The Muppet Show and Waldorf salad from Fawlty Towers). Again, I didn’t volunteer for Radio Warrington – I was asked to present the show. Sean passed away in 2024 and his compassion for his fellow humans, his child psychology career and his work for the Salvation Army will always be in my mind.
“So what happened next? Well, I was recruited to be a Warrington Manbassador to encourage other men to get involved in community and volunteer work. My tagline for that was ‘Do What You Can When You Can’. All this time, of course, I was editing the website and adding as much information as I could, whenever I could. Because of my mental health issues, there were times when I ‘couldn’t be bothered’ to do any of it.
There were obvious breaks from the website when my parents passed away eight years apart, but I always remember a time when dad attended one of my series of Warrington talks in the community and said, “I can’t say I understand the technology (laptop and projector, etc.), but I am so proud of your achievements. He said,”I could never understand why you did your church work, your over-sixties work and this history project while I played sport in my life, but now I do understand,” he said. “I like your passion for what you do.” He had even joined me for evensong in church services at one time, and we spent many a Friday night watching Super League on TV. “All that has stayed with me since he ‘closed his eyes’ in 2008.
“My mum passed away in 2016 after struggling with Alzheimer’s in her later years. She begged me not to put her in an old people’s home as she wouldn’t last five minutes in a place like that. I already had it in mind to care for her at home with support from siblings. The hardest part of that was when I came downstairs one morning and mum said, “Who are you?” That was tough to take, but I soldiered on and worked alongside care workers and Social Services to give her as much dignity at home as possible in her final years.
“And there’s one more bit of community work I was asked to do in recent years. That was to become involved in a mental health community group called ‘Rainbow After the Storm’, which was set up during the first UK Lockdown in the Covid-19 era. I was asked if I would get involved in the management of the group in a non-paid role, which I was delighted to do.
“So, with 50 years of community work in the can, so to speak, which has included 25 years doing this website, I can honestly say I don’t know where I would be in my mental health journey without it. Now, as with many times in the past, I am unable to take up paid employment due to depression and anxiety issues. Using my tagline ‘Do What you Can When You Can’, I add little bits to the website when I can cope with it. If I have a very bad day, then I leave it alone.
“Of course, I didn’t set out to become a website host, radio presenter and now award-winning historian, but I do feel chuffed that all that hard work over the past 25 years on the website has paid off and has now been recognised. And yes, the mental health problems will always be there, but I have kept going in one way or another over the years and continue to take on board the medical advice given to me. The non-paid work on the website continues, and I will be adding much more to the project, including items that are still waiting their turn to be edited and published. I will be stepping down from the ‘Rainbow After the Storm’ work, however, as I feel 50 years is long enough to do community work, and it’s time for someone else to take the reins. The website is a passion, hobby and a means to help with my mental health and will therefore continue as long as I can physically and mentally do it.
“If you are struggling with your own mental health, then let me assure you that help is out there. If you are struggling, I would suggest you first chat with your loved ones, then visit your GP, use the NHS website and see charity websites like Mind or The Samaritans for further support.
“One thing occurred to me after those fifty years – I hadn’t actually volunteered for anything. I was always recruited by people who saw qualities in me that I didn’t see in myself. I never blew my own trumpet, I was just glad to be doing something useful (even if I didn’t see it at the time). So a big thank you to everyone who has contacted me over the years. Your queries and contributions make the website what it is – a community heritage and engagement platform that has brought so much happiness to many people and will do so for many years to come.”
