Spennymoor Mayor: “Love where you live”

Billy McAloon always had his allotments, writes volunteer community journalist, Anton Weineck.

He is there whenever he can: “Whether it’s first thing in the morning or last thing at night – I’ll do a little bit.”

It’s his space to escape to. For years he has grown vegetables there, including pumpkins that he gives away to kids every Halloween.

At one point, plain Mr McAloon – as he was then – decided to expand his allotment with some chickens.

Those chickens led him where he is now – 14 years later – being elected as the mayor of his home town of Spennymoor.

A view of the council

Cllr McAloon has lived his whole life in Spennymoor, never going far away – for him it’s “the best place on earth.”

All of his family has been rooted in Spennymoor for generations. Born, raised, lived and even buried here. He has been married for 44 years to his wife Christine. And he’s the proud father of four kids, grandfather of ten grandchildren and a great-grandfather to his one great-grandchild – of course all living in Spennymoor.

Even though he took some detours, the path of Cllr McAloon always seemed predestined: “I was born in Spennymoor in 1963 – just a couple of hundred yards away from the town hall. We could always see it from our house.”

Just for some chicken

The town hall, which Cllr McAloon lived nearby his whole childhood, became the starting point of a new chapter 14 years ago.

“I only wanted to have a few chickens in my allotment.” But to get those, he got himself into a small dispute with Spennymoor Town Council, as he says, until he decided: “Well, if you can’t beat them, join them.”

So he stood for council and as a Labour politician he got elected at the first time of asking.

Three years later he decided to become independent and was elected to the County Council. Now, Cllr McAloon has been in office for more than 13 years “trying to help people”.

To achieve that, he took the next step this year and got elected as the mayor of his home town. From fighting the town, Cllr McAloon became top of the town.

Tradition

“I have never dreamed about being a mayor,” he said. Together with the other councillors, he insists, “we just want to come here and do what’s best for this town.”

That’s what it was like for 13 years as a councillor and six years as a county councillor – for him always “a great honour.” Now he’s not only the mayor, but also the leader of the council, which “hasn’t sunk in yet.”

As is traditional, when the council elected Cllr McAloon as deputy mayor behind Cllr Liz Maddison last year, that is what led to him becoming mayor as a natural progression this year. Cllr McAloon’s deputy now is Cllr Heather Waugh.

In addition to his official duties, he drives the school bus for Bishop Barrington Academy at Bishop Auckland: “I never thought I’d go back to school but that’s me going back to school now. I’ve been doing that for just over a year now. I thought I was going to retire but I got offered this job and I love it.”

To juggle everything isn’t always easy: “I try to do them all – being a county councillor, a town councillor and mayor – as well as a family man and working my allotment to get some sort of recreation.”

Polish the trophies

When talking about his ambitions for Spennymoor, Cllr McAloon forgets his humility: “I like to think that we’re one of the best councils in the North East,” he boasts.

He wants “everybody to come here and think this is a lovely town to be.”

Therefore one of his focuses lies on open and public spaces. Eight years ago he started a program called ‘Spennymoor Litter Pickers’. “We go out usually once a month and litter pick.”

Currently he plans another program to tidy things around the cemeteries – also completely based on volunteer work. In the bigger picture Cllr McAloon talks about getting “back to award-winning parks and award-winning cemeteries.”

With his role as a mayor now, he wants to take it further – that means the next step. Not just award-winning, Cllr McAloon wants “champions”. And for Cllr McAloon, there is only one venue – Spennymoor Boxing Academy.

Chosen charity

For world class boxing, you need world class conditions. That’s why Cllr McAloon chose Spennymoor Boxing Academy as his charity to support. The club is known for its high quality boxing. It has programmes for every age and every gender – and is completely run by volunteers.

He is very proud that his family is active in the club too. Especially for children he sees a benefit that means more than just boxing: “It keeps the kids off the streets and teaches them discipline.” Spennymoor Boxing Academy therefore also functions as a social hub.

The club attends tournaments all over the world. That’s why they always need support, he says: “You can’t do enough for them.” His aim is to raise them “a little bit of money – maybe just to get them a minibus or better equipment.”

The last mayor, Cllr Liz Maddison raised £11,374.48 for the Spennymoor Town Band and Spennymoor Youth Band – with that sum Cllr McAloon “would be absolutely over the moon”.

The ambition to develop champions is always in mind: “We’ve had one world champion come out of the club. We want to see some more.”

Cllr McAloon is still planning his charity fundraising events and will keep the community informed when events are organised.

Between Town Hall and henhouse

From a dispute about a few chickens in his allotment to becoming the mayor of his hometown – Billy McAloon has come a long way.

A lot of things that Cllr McAloon says and does go back to one of his mottos: “Love where you live.”

If it’s about picking up litter in the community or giving back home-grown vegetables to children – Cllr McAloon tries to do what he thinks is best for all of Spennymoor.

Now as the new mayor he wants to keep living that – with certain expectations on the public as well: “I want people to judge us on what we do – not on what we say we’re going to do. And if we get it wrong – I want people to tell us we’ve got it wrong so we can go back and fix it.”

Until then, Cllr McAloon will keep driving the school bus, keep working in the councils, keep being the family man he is and keep giving himself some rest in his allotments – now with a few chickens.