Locals in Tipton have shared the best and worst parts of their market town and while they credit the community as one that looks out for each other, they say it's being ruined by a lack of investment, places to go and things to do.
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00:00My name's Elliot Burns. I'm 28 years old. I've lived in Tipton for about 20 years now.
00:06I do security as well, so I see a lot of what goes on around Tipton.
00:13My favourite part of Tipton would have to be the community.
00:16Just everyone knows everybody. Everyone can interact with people in a way you don't really get in the big cities anymore.
00:25I wouldn't say companionship. It's that community spirit.
00:29You don't see it very often, but in Tipton it exists still.
00:32I think the reason Tipton has that is purely because it's such a small town.
00:38We fall under a village when you actually look into things.
00:41We're quite rural in the sense that we've got a lot around us, but we don't have a lot to do.
00:46So what we do have is each other.
00:49The town needs some funding. It needs bringing back to life.
00:53We used to be a place that would have butchers that were open all the time, bakers.
00:57We'd have a great market. Nothing exists like that anymore.
01:01Our market has gone from being one of the best markets in the Black Country
01:04down to three stalls, four stalls maybe if it's a nice day.
01:08There's nothing to do in that regard. There's no way of bringing money into the community.
01:14So there's nothing that's going on anymore for us.
01:16My name is May.
01:20My name is Joey.
01:24My name is Ivy.
01:26My name is Maureen.
01:28My favourite thing about Tipton is the people. It's such a friendly community.
01:32Everybody looks out for each other.
01:35My favourite thing is that everyone is kind to each other and they love each other with all their hearts.
01:42My favourite thing is when people are kind and helpful.
01:49Hi, my name is Pauline Jenkins.
01:52I am the manager of the Georgina Uni Charity Shop
01:56which supports the Leukaemia Appeal Fund, the cancer unit at Russell South Hospital.
02:03I don't live in Tipton but I've worked here for the last 11 years.
02:08As far as Tipton is concerned, I find that the people are very generous.
02:13They've been amazing with supporting the charity and they're very kind.
02:19You have the odd one or two, the same as everywhere else, but on the whole the actual community are amazing.
02:27I think the way that we could improve Tipton is to get the shops open.
02:32We've got a lot of shops on this square where they're closed or they're trade at night
02:40which is a bit intimidating I think. It's a shame that there are not more shops open.
02:46Hi, I'm Julie Jones. I'm 48 years of age and I'm from Tipton.
02:53Hi, my name is Sharon Massey. I'm 59 years of age and I'm from Tipton.
02:58My favourite thing about Tipton is that it's a community, so we like to all help one another.
03:04We just need a few more things around here to keep the people and that's it really, a bit of investment.
03:11My favourite thing about Tipton is, like Julie said, the people.
03:15They all like to help each other and we all like to help each other and the community.
03:20I'd improve shops for a start. We need crock shops, butchers, fruity. We need everything really around here.
03:32We need a caf so people can meet up. We need a lot of shops around here really.
03:41I agree with what Julie says, yeah. Especially like somewhere where the older generation can go and sit and have a cup of tea and meet.
03:51Yeah, have a cat shop.
03:52If they're on their own, it's like they can meet their friends or other people there and have something to eat or a drink like a cup of tea.
04:01My name's Pam. I'm 65. I work in a chip shop in Tipton. I live on the Priory. I've lived there 40 years.
04:11My three favourite things about Tipton are, people are very friendly.
04:19We could do with a few more shops, but I do like the pome plant.
04:24It's a nice area. It is a nice area. Sort of everybody knows everybody. It's a smallish community.
04:35What it is, it's a pity there isn't some more shops to help and how they're knocking them down and putting flats.
04:43But a few more shops would be a lot better.
04:47Because at one time, back in the day, it used to be a really busy, buzzing town. But it's like everywhere else, isn't it? Everything's going off, isn't it?