Why we need to keep community close to our hearts

06 Apr Why we need to keep community close to our hearts

In the first Covid lockdown last spring, I opened our front door one morning to find a small painted stone on the doorstep.

On one side was a shiny red heart, on the other the words ‘Stay safe x’.

I’ve no idea who placed the stone there – or on our neighbours’ doorsteps – but it still has pride of place in our front window.

It serves as an amazing example of kind-hearted community spirit and even writing this brings a lump to my throat.

Someone took the effort to gather, paint and deliver those stones for no other reason than the joy it may bring to people’s hearts. How wonderful!

The pandemic has had heart-warming positive side effects – a rediscovery of community spirit, which began with Clap for Carers and people simply saying ‘Hi’ to one another on their daily walk but seems to be morphing into something more sustained and significant.

Our own local community – Warndon Villages in Worcester – for example has a thriving community Facebook group which has truly come alive during the pandemic.

Nimble-fingered environmental group members have created hedgehog houses and bird boxes to sell and residents place books, toys, DVDs and even bikes on their lawn for others to collect. They’ve also arranged furniture collections for for key workers moving into the area.

Like others, our local parish council has set up weekly collections for Worcester Foodbank – we have been involved as collectors right from the start and, with many others, helped deliver care packages for both the foodbank and Worcester Community Trust during the first lockdown.

We know more about our neighbours than we ever did – and we care that they are safe, happy and have support from family and friends to help them through.

People are doing good and doing what they are doing because it is the right thing to do.

When Chris Green Media launched The Radical Rethink last summer, we soon learned that our attendees had their own good community news stories to share. For example, Kevin and his friends do a weekly litter pick in the Black Country while Alison is a member of a thriving gardening group based in her village in Germany.

In short, the sense of community spirit has never been stronger but how can we keep it going when the lockdown restrictions are finally lifted?

With more people seemingly destined to work more from home, community is going to be where it’s at – not only where we’ll spend more time to work, meet and greet and have our services delivered.

Expect, therefore, to see enterprising people starting small businesses in the heart of their communities. They’ll only succeed if we support them and if they incentivise us. For example, when our front door needed repairing last year, the locksmith gave us a discount for living in Warndon Villages so in turn we have been happy to recommend him locally.

Being active in your local community is also good for mental health. As media partners of Worcestershire Ambassadors we’re participating in their Walk the Walk campaign to raise funds to support local good mental health initiatives. Every day we pound the local pathways, experiencing an endorphin release and enjoying the birdsong as we exercise. What’s not to like?

We’d love to hear your experiences of doing good and giving back at our next Radical Rethink webinar on Friday, April 16 when the theme will be Community Comeback.

Find out more and book your place via our Radical Rethink page. The meeting fee includes a donation to Worcester Foodbank.

Teresa Green