Simple Community

cup-of-tea

It really doesn’t seem that long ago. Remember the days when friends would just pop in? You’d hear a knock at the door and a voice calling out, “Anyone home?”

You’d invite your visitors in and put the kettle on. You’d grab the biscuit tin then sit down for a good chat. There didn’t have to be an invitation weeks in advance giving you enough time to have your house looking like a display home. The only cleaning up would be straightening up a few bits and pieces as you headed towards the door to see who was there.

There used to be a spontaneity about getting together with friends.

Now it all has to be carefully orchestrated so most of the time we just don’t bother.

Our lives have got busier with each family member heading in different directions for a range of activities so it’s probably wise to give a quick call before visiting or to invite friends over but what can we do to reignite that sense of community?

Many times the people who would drop in would be neighbours. They’d walk across the road or down the street for a cuppa and we would drop in at their place. How many people do you know in your own street?

If we run out of ingredients for something we’re making for dinner there are several places in our suburb that we can dash out to for whatever we need at any hour of the day. We just jump in the car and we’re back home with what we need in minutes. It didn’t used to be that way. Shops weren’t always open and not everyone had a car to get to the shops anyway. We’d go next door or over the road and borrow what we needed until shopping day. We’d also lend out whatever our neighbours needed. We’ve lost that reliance on each other and lost community in the process.

Our world is constantly changing and we can’t go back.

It’s tempting to think we should just try to turn back the clock and start doing the things we used to do but that’s not the answer. It’s community we want to regain, not the way we used to see it expressed. The shape of our lives has changed but there’s still a need to connect with others. The old ways don’t work anymore but that doesn’t mean that we can’t experience community.

It’s interesting to note that around 40% of Australians say the place they experience community is the local shopping centre.

If the greatest sense of community that people feel is being in the middle of a sea of nameless faces, we’ve got a lot of work to do to see people fully engage with others and experience a deeper sense of community.

We can’t go back to what was but how can we move forward to regain community? How can we create significant relationships with those around us?

I guess the first step is to realise that relationship is far more important than so much of the stuff we’ve put in its place. What are some practical things that we can do to demonstrate that?



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Burger Edge Grand Fondo

Here are a couple of minutes of video from yesterday’s Burger Edge Grand Fondo Community Cycling Event organised by Perth Integrated Health Cycling Group to benefit 98five Sonshine FM.



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Neighbour Day

If you died tomorrow would your neighbours care or even know?

Today is Neighbour Day. It’s an opportunity to get to know those people who live nearest to us. The day came out of a rather tragic incident a few years back.

Neighbour Day was founded in Melbourne, Australia in March 2003 by Andrew Heslop after the remains of an elderly woman were found inside her suburban Melbourne home.

Mrs Elsie Brown had been dead for two years, forgotten and alone.

While Andrew did not know Mrs Brown he was appalled by the apparent ease with which she was left behind by the world around her. It was only when concerned neighbours eventually noticed piles of mail, catalogues and newspapers had built up at her door that they called the police.

Remarkably the gas, electricity, water and telephone were still connected.

We can ask ourselves what kind of a world we live in when such things can happen but unless we’re doing something about the issue ourselves, we’re the ones contributing to the problem.

Neighbour Day has five simple aims.

  1. Strengthen communities and build better relationships with the people who live around us.
  2. Create safer, healthier and more vibrant suburbs and towns.
  3. Promote tolerance, respect and understanding.
  4. Break down community barriers.
  5. Protect the elderly, the vulnerable and the disadvantaged.

So how do you get involved? You don’t have to buy merchandise or do anything special. It’s really very simple.

  1. Say G’day to your neighbours.
  2. Make a special effort to introduce yourself to older residents in your street and anyone who lives alone.
  3. Leave your mobile and home number for their use in an emergency.
  4. Agree to keep in contact. 

Do you know the people who live next door to you? What about those who live two or three homes away?

We know quite a few people in our street but it’s still not quite the same as when we were growing up and knew everyone in our street by name. I don’t think we’ll ever get back to that stage but it’d be great if we could do something about building a sense of community in our own street.

With everyone having cars and local shops being open at all hours we don’t need to drop next door to borrow a cup of sugar these days or even to borrow the phone of the only person in the street who has one. Times have changed but we shouldn’t let that change who we are. We’re still people who need to build relationship with others and it makes sense to build relationship with those who live just metres away from us.

How has the sense of neigbourhood changed since you were young? Do you find it easy to connect with people in your area? Do you find that people keep to themselves these days?

Some say that with more and more home entertainment options like big screen TVs, theatre rooms, computers, computer games and the like that people are retreating into their homes rather than chatting over the side fence or kicking a ball in the street. What do you think?



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