Noah Woods - Statement from Mal Bridgeman, Chair of the PC

Everything I am about to say is eclipsed by the overwhelming sense of loss Noah’s family is feeling, I really would like to acknowledge and pay tribute to the enormous response from the community, both within Brantham and nearby villages as well as the whole county and beyond.

The response was truly amazing and showed the village and county off at its absolute best … It is not possible for me to properly acknowledge every moment of brilliance because I was only one pair of eyes, but the way our Parish Clerk, Sarah Keys very ably supported by Assistant Clerk, Lauren White stepped up to take on major roles throughout Tuesday evening, overnight and during Wednesday, to design and operate a system for directing over 1600 volunteers to the various search areas identified in the village, was truly outstanding and should be widely commended. It is way beyond their day job and we are extremely fortunate as a village that they have the skills and passion, to do whatever is required, to support Brantham. I’d also like to pay tribute to Lou and Goldie at the Leisure Centre who stepped up to become a joined-up part of the search coordination effort.

A number of other people stepped up to take on leadership positions on the day and the way that happened naturally, whether it was assisting with the “emergency management” procedure, organising and briefing the search parties, the people of the village who used their local geographic knowledge to help navigate the search parties to the correct search zones  … those who supported the well-being of those who had been awake and on the job for nearly 40 hours as well as those who volunteered to marshall traffic, deliver food and drink, make cups of tea, or arrange refuse collections … to name just a few roles that ensured the process was as smooth and effective as possible was truly amazing.

I’d also like to extend thanks to the local businesses who so generously donated supplies and services to help the search effort.

Finally, its almost impossible to adequately word the amount of thanks that’s needed to be given to the over 1600 people who came and registered into the “official” search parties as well as those that were operating independently.

Thanks is such a small word but comes with the maximum amount of feeling,

Brantham - you are amazing!

Mal Bridgeman

Chair, Brantham Parish Council