Airdrie & Coatbridge Advertiser
Faith gets skates on
Teen’s video goes global
Airdrie teenager Faith Davidson made an international impact with a video about a local issue.
The considerate 14-yearold uploaded footage to Facebook on Friday showing her ice-skating up and down Oakbank Street in Craigneuk.
The youngster got her skates on to encourage North Lanarkshire Council to “grit the streets as lots of elderly people were slipping and falling”.
Faith, who was filmed gliding across the icy tarmac by her dad, was also caught on camera by f e l l ow resident Caroline Simpson, whose subsequent social media post was shared thousands of times and racked up nearly 200,000 views.
Comments revealed the fantastic footage had been featured on news bulletins in the US and even captivated audiences as far afield as Australia.
The Coatbridge High pupil, who only took up skating four months ago, told the Advertiser: “I can’t believe how crazy the reaction has been.
“It’s amazing to think something I did has caught the attention of people as far away as Australia and has even been shown on American news.”
She continued: “Elderly people were slipping and falling on the ice on my street and it should be safer for them.
“I hope that the people I intended to see it – the council – do something to ensure the roads and pavements are safer in future”.
Faith uploaded another video which showed her skating on a basketball court.
A comment from Liz Bradbury read: “Hello from Chicago! We saw your ice-skating video on ABC News.”
Airdrie MP Neil Gray echoed Faith’s concerns and added: “To hear of people falling on untreated footpaths, especially around s h e l t e re d complexes and schools is ridiculous.
“I have asked the council to fully review its response to the icy weather this last week and refresh their strategy to make sure this scale of disruption never happens again.”
A spokesperson for North Lana rk s h i re Council said: “The council monitors weather forecasts daily and, with our partner Amey, decide where and when we should treat the road and path network.
“We cannot treat all roads and footpaths, so we operate a priority system to treat all ‘A’ and ‘B’ roads, main distributor roads, main roads around schools, major bus routes, town centres, access road to hospitals, ambulance depots, and key police and fire stations.
“Information about gritting and any disruptions to services are posted on the council’s web site and social media pages.”