22-Mar-2009
The Sunday Times - That’s the community spirit
Locals across the country are pulling together to save shops and pubs, and even setting up their own schools
Everybody knows the positive influence a good school in the neighbourhood can have on property prices. So, what do you do when you don’t have one? Build one yourself. That’s what a group of residents in Bolnore, near Haywards Heath, West Sussex, decided to do last year, when they successfully bid to start an eco-school in local woodlands. The parent-led group has just appointed a headteacher; the primary school, with space for 210 pupils, will open in September.
“A lot of parents complain about the quality of education their children receive – surely it would be better to do something about it,” says Julia Bunting Thring, chair of the temporary governing body.
Bunting Thring’s group is just one of a growing number across the country: people banding together to improve their way of life, from saving a village shop or pub to starting a shared agriculture scheme, where everyone chips in and gets fresh vegetables weekly.
The number of Transition Towns (communities that work together to create a sustainable future) in Britain is also growing steadily. To become one, towns must undertake 12 steps and create an “energy descent plan” to reduce the carbon footprint of the area. There are 85 so far in England alone, each with its own initiatives – Lewes, in East Sussex, even has its own currency, the Lewes pound, used in local shops and businesses.
Call it the spirit of our credit-crunch age – rising redundancy levels can bring out the protectionist in all of us – but across Britain, a community spirit is growing. The fact that most of the schemes are also green adds to their appeal. So, what is going on, and could you do the same in your area?
SHOP LOCAL
According to the Rural Shops Alliance, 600 country shops closed last year. Add the postoffice closure programme into the mix and thousands of neighbourhood hubs are being lost.
The people of Avebury, in Wiltshire, are among those trying to reverse the process. In April last year, their village shop closed when the adjoining post office shut down. Last Sunday, however, it reopened. The villagers, led by a small steering group, banded together to raise enough money to save it: 241 people bought £10 shares, with £3,000 coming from local donations and £25,000 from charitable schemes.
The National Trust, which owns the building, offered a minimal rent, a local blacksmith and carpenter made the shop sign and fitted out the interior, and one volunteer bakes cakes to sell. The shop, manned by a part-time manager and more than 30 volunteers, will stock everyday items such as sweets and washing-up liquid, as well as newspapers and fresh bread. There will also be postoffice facilities four half-days a week. “We wanted somewhere that would serve our community,” says Dave Scattergood, 55, a retired IT manager who chaired the steering group.
New life is being breathed into village shops all over the place: the Shop at Strood Green, in Surrey, reopened yesterday; another in Feckenham, Worcestershire, starts trading later this month. Supported by the community, such enterprises are often a roaring success – trade has been so good at the Berrynarbor community shop, near Ilfracombe, in north Devon, since it set up five years ago that it has moved to bigger premises.
Nor is this a purely rural phenomenon. In Levenshulme, a deprived part of inner-city Manchester, locals have established a cooperative they hope will save their local grocery shop. Its owner, Ibrahim al-Caddy, is 62 and wants to retire. The group’s aim is to take over and expand the shop, which has become increasingly popular since it opened three years ago and began selling fruit, vegetables, plants, shrubs, health food and Fairtrade goods. “We have ideas for a cafe, a book shop and rooms for community activities,” says Lucy Lee, 23, a trainee designer who is one of the organisers. “It could become a thriving centre serving as a focus for the local community.” How can I do it? Get in touch with the Plunkett Foundation (www.plunkett. co.uk), which promotes social change through economic solutions and self-help. It works with other organisations and helps groups to find funding. Or you could try It’s Your Community, (itsyourcommunity.co.uk), which supports local projects from grass roots. It has backed more than 1,447 of them across the UK in the past two years.
TWO PINTS OF LAGER AND A PACKET OF CRISPS
According to recent figures from the British Beer & Pub Association, 39 pubs close every week. These days, it’s far cheaper to buy alcohol in supermarkets to drink at home than it is to visit the local boozer. But that’s not deterring the drinkers who are banding together to save their local pubs.
In Hesket Newmarket, Cumbria, 125 people raised £1,500 each and bought the Old Crown: each of them now has a say in how it is run. The pub in Charlton Horethorne, Dorset, was virtually derelict and about to be turned into a car park until the village rallied, set up a “save the pub” group and had planning permission for the car park turned down: the Kings Arms reopened for business earlier this month. There are other examples up and down the country.
“The rural pub is the heart of the community – we’ve got to keep it as the heart,” says Pub Is the Hub, a scheme initiated by the Prince of Wales, which encourages breweries, pub owners, licensees and local communities to work together to support pubs in isolated rural areas. How can I do it?Pub Is the Hub (www.pubisthehub.org.uk) offers support and suggestions on how to go about things: it has assisted more than 350 pubs since its formation in 2001. The Plunkett Foundation (see above) also supports community-run pubs.
LOCAL FOOD FOR LOCAL PEOPLE
Banding together to produce fresh, local food is increasingly popular. There is a growing number of community-supported agriculture (CSA) projects, which provide a direct connection between producer and consumer. Swillington Organic Farm, near Leeds, set up a scheme in 2007. About 45 families are involved, each paying an annual sum – £614 for a full share, £372 for a half share – to the farmer, who uses the money to grow vegetables. In return, the families get a box of vegetables every week.
“We had three main aims: to create employment, to use the garden properly and to get more local people onto the farm,” says Kirstin Glendinning, who works part-time on the project. So successful was the scheme that Swillington now provides a similar deal with fresh chickens, and runs a pig coop, with people paying £90 a quarter to get a box of meat a month.
Kari Walker, 37, who works as an IT manager for a wholesale distributor, has a half share in the vegetable scheme. “I go there to see what’s been grown and how it’s been grown – and because I pay up front, it’s slightly cheaper,” she says. Last year, Walker organised a harvest festival for all those involved, which she says fostered added community spirit.
Even offering a patch of your garden could help others to grow their own food. Homegrownuk.org is a national initiative that links people who have unused gardens with local growers. “The benefits for the garden owners include a share of the produce, the pleasure of seeing a lovely developing vegetable plot, and the sense of community in being part of a sharing initiative,” says Steve Garratt, its founder. How can I do it? To find a local CSA, check out makinglocalfoodwork.co.uk, a lottery-funded five-year programme that aims to “reconnect people and land through local food”. Offer your garden to growers at homegrownuk.org.
STICK TOGETHER
When the pub’s been saved, the shop is thriving and everyone is sharing their vegetable patches, you might think a village would sit back and relax. Try telling that to the locals of North Nibley, in Gloucestershire. Not only are they renovating their village hall (after campaigning to get a lottery grant and raising thousands of pounds), they’re putting on an annual music festival.
This year will be their third: the bill includes the singer-songwriter John Otway. “There’s not a lot going on here, so we’ve pretty much got to make our own entertainment,” says Chris Gordon, the organiser of the festival, which he describes as “Glastonbury on a mini scale. We wanted to lay on something the village could be proud of”.
Not far away in Wellow, near Bath, the villagers have found another innovative way of clubbing together to save money. Reliant on oil for heating their homes (the village does not have gas), they put in a joint order every month. “We’ve been saving 6p-9p a litre for everybody – about £15,000 a year,” says Richard Holland, who set up the scheme last June. Holland, 53, who is a part-time builder and runs a catering business employing disabled people, is now trying to organise a shared transport scheme. Several other villagers have got together to set up a business-networking group, supporting the many people who work from home in the area. How can I do it? Work out what you think is missing and set about filling the gap. “If you live in a community, you’ve got to be part of it – and that means doing something, not waiting for someone else to do it,” Holland says.
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