“Everyone wants a village, but no one wants to be a villager.”
An article in The Minority Report explores a feeling that may resonate with a lot of us.
“We live in the most connected era in human history, yet loneliness is widespread. We long for belonging, for community, for the sense of a village. Yet an uncomfortable truth is becoming harder to ignore: we want all the benefits of community without accepting the responsibilities that make community possible.”
There is truth in this. The article explores how both in our own behaviour, and in structural changes (defunding public space, technology, and a profit-focus), we’ve retreated away from community into our own spaces.
However, there are also lots of people who are putting in the hard work for their communities. People who we support as a community development and placemaking charity. People who we’d like to celebrate even if their community work is not glamourous or showy.
There are many to choose from, but Parish Councillors and Hall Trustees are definitely high on the list! Almost all of them are volunteers, and spend a lot of time behind the scenes working on governance or health and safety policies or planning. They are willing to deal with the conflicts and compromises that come from trying to manage a space with limited resources to best meet the wishes of local people.
During Village Halls Week last March, a few Hall Trustees shared their stories with us.
Jenny, President of the Carterton Women’s Institute: “I started by helping with my children’s interests. I made costumes and helped behind the scenes with dancing. I and a friend learnt to coach gymnastics and formed a successful Carterton Gymnastics Club (one girl made the Irish Olympic Team). A group of us started up Carterton Boys Football Club […] Learning new skills is not the hard part of volunteering, but learning tact and diplomacy is. My life would not have been half so fulfilling if I had only confined my life to my needs.” Read more here.
Martin Hawkins Chairman of Asthall Leigh Memorial Hall Trustees: “I moved into the hamlet of Asthall Leigh about 25 years ago and soon got to know everyone through the monthly ‘pubs nights’ at the Memorial Hall which had just started. This was a huge lesson to me. The building was a great way of keeping community together and keeping everyone informed of what was going on. It was the heart of the five villages. I liked that and wanted to get involved in village life.” Read more here
The article ‘Everyone wants a village, but no one wants to be a villager’ explains how “We are paying for convenience with disconnection. We traded the messiness of community for predictability, not realizing that the mess was the thing that made community possible.” Here’s to all those who are taking on the messy life of community, not least our Parish Councils and Community Halls.
Read the full article from The Minority Report here: ‘Everyone wants a village, but no one wants to be a villager.’