Our own community Chit Chat group on Facebook, for Great Wyrley, Chairperson’s Sarah Wiggin & Lee Murphy have raised more than £500 in 48 hours to replace the bleed kit on the Wall of the Co-op, in Wardles Lane, which had been installed in June last year. The special trauma bandages and kit delivered care to the man that was shoot in Field Lane until the ambulance crew came.

The community Group opted to install bleed kits in the village after several violet incidents on the railway line. The group contacted the Daniel Baird Foundation which has installed more than 15,000 kits across the country in memory of Daniel who was stabbed to death in Digbeth in 2017.

The Community group reached a £1,000 in donations since. This will fund the replacement bleed kit in the Great Wyrley Cabinet and more have been ordered to distribute round the village. Chairman of the Chit Chat Group Lee Murphy says “We decided to get the two cabinets after hearing a knife was seen on the train line through Landywood and we thought knife crime was getting too close for comfort. We also know that they can be used for any other catastrophic bleed.” The successful fundraising drive is the latest in a long line of contributions to the community by the volunteers who wanted to make a difference.

The Chit Chat Facebook page was formed in 2017 with a focus on crime watch and became an official community group in 2018 expanded into further projects such as tidying the village, adopting Landywood Station and campaigning for better bus services. They successfully helped to significantly reduce a spate of vehicle thefts and break-ins. And worked with Staffordshire Police, South Staffs Council, Support Staffs and West Midlands Railway. During Covid-19 they worked Chase Coronavirus Support Network and, with volunteers, delivered postcards to every household offering information for those that needed anything (eg. pharmacy, collections, shopping, etc.) After Covid they launched a campaign to help small businesses in the village to recover by encouraging people to use them and offer free advertising on Facebook. Lee Murphy said “We all work towards making the community better, there is myself and Sarah Wiggin, trustees Tony and Gillian are retired friends and have become local celebs – they go out daily litter picking at the station and round the village. Olwen is our treasurer and social media helper. Follow the Local Chit Chat group on Facebook

The shooting took place in Field Road, in our own quiet village of Great Wyrley. At 8:25pm on Monday 5th August Police were called after someone heard a suspected gunshot. Armed officers went to Field Road and found an injured man, in his 20s. He had a wound to his back consistent with a gunshot. The man was seriously hurt and was taken to hospital by paramedics from West Midlands Ambulance Service, where he received his treatment, luckily his injuries are not life-threatening.

Staffordshire Police arrested a 26-year-old man and a 16-year-old boy from Wolverhampton on suspicion of attempted murder after the incident. Both were questioned in custody and have now been released on bail as investigations continue. Detectives have been investigating what happened, reviewing CCTV and carrying out door-to-door enquiries in the area.

On Tuesday, August 13, CCTV footage was shared online appearing to the show the moment of the attack. In the footage a black car can be seen being pushed back by a black hatchback before ploughing rear-first through a hedge and into a parked car. Two people, one of whom is dressed in all black and the other wearing a blue tracksuit run towards the wreckage as the driver gets out. He then climbs onto the roof of the vehicle before seeing the pair and jumping through a fence in a bid to get away. Up to three gunshots can then be heard before the two people on foot jump into the hatchback that originally crashed into the victim’s car before it drives away.

Following the incident Tory MP Sir Gavin Williamson, whose constituency of Stone, Great Wyrley and Penkridge covers the scene of the shooting. He wrote: ‘I’m very grateful for the swift action that has been taken by Staffordshire Police into this shocking incident in Great Wyrley. ‘Great Wyrley is a wonderful and diverse village – incidents of this nature are thankfully rare, but they do cause understandable anxiety and concern in the community. ‘Please do contact the police with any information, and I would caution against social media speculation to allow the justice process to proceed.’

Anyone with information that can help police, particularly CCTV, dashcam or doorbell footage, is asked to get in touch by calling 101, quoting incident 599 of 5 August, or use Live Chat on the Staffordshire Police website. 

To report anonymously, call Crimestoppers on 0800 555 111.

We hold our Open Evening on Wednesday 24th July, 7pm until 9pm, where anyone could come and look at our photographs, maps and records. We had up to 40 people that came through the door, many of them were new faces, which was great to see new people being interested in the local history. One lady bought deeds to her property, which went back to the earl 1800’s. It was a fascinating read, from her knowledge on previous owners, I’m going to write a story for our society magazine. All the committee were busy throughout the evening and enjoyed talking to our visitors and we are now looking forward to our OPEN DAY on Saturday 19th October 2024.

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Thursday 18th July 2024 – Coffee Morning Quiz with Peter Holmes

We had an interesting morning with a quiz courtesy of Peter Holmes and Friends, the winners were given some really awful prizes, but everyone seemed to enjoy the morning.

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