A few days ago, someone decided to make some very untrue and hurtful claims on social media about the young men who do their part to take care of our parish. The statement itself speaks not only about wrong assumptions but more so how some view Bermudians who work in the trades.

Essentially, the claim was that these young men were before the courts and/or facing jail time. Nothing could be farther from the truth

Let’s start from 2017. Parish Pride began as a way to bring together the Devonshire community with weekly projects such as painting bus stops, community walls and seniors’ homes, cutting grass and yes pulling cane grass by hand.

Are these glamorous jobs working in air-conditioned offices? No.

Over the course of the past six years, the young and not-so-young persons have learnt skills and kept our neighbourhoods clean. Most importantly, they have learnt how to work with each other. Some have come weekly, some come every so often.

Some of the young men have gone on to paint entire houses or move into other trades such as welding or asphalting. Others have gone on to university to study various professions. What is important to note is most of these young persons have grown up in proximity to each other and now see themselves as the next generation of community caretakers.

As a country, we collectively complain about overgrowth of trees and grass in public spaces on a daily basis. We also mourn the lack of young Bermudians in trades. Yet still some will take time to cast negative aspersions on young persons who are actually doing something about the state of their community.

These young men, our young men, do not deserve any form of mistruths spoken about them. It can damage their willpower and cause long-term, reputational damage. One has just left for university, another is on his way to university in January, and another is studying computer coding. Two of them, Razi and Amon, are like my sons and one is my beloved youngest son, Deszion Famous.

If you happen see them on the highways and byways of Devonshire, please know they are doing it from their hearts.

• Christopher Famous is the government MP for Devonshire East (Constituency 11). You can reach him on WhatsApp at 599-0901 or e-mail at carib_pro@yahoo.com