Where have all the Community Leaders gone?

 

We still have some great local organisations

As I walked home from my band rehearsal last night, I passed the home of an old buddy of my father. He was the 'local copper' called Charlie. A large, imposing man, with a stern demeanour but off duty good humour. When he nicked the local villains, they'd exchange banter with him and buy him a drink at the pub when they saw him "No hard feelings, just doing our jobs". He was an ever present at all manner of events locally, adding a 'security presence', not that one was needed. He'd wander around in his uniform, chatting to all. When he died of cancer, there were as many villians as police at his service, come to pay respects for his fairness and recognition that we needed such people, even if it was 'bad for business' for them. I should add that he wasn't close to the villians, he wouldn't drink with them, but he'd give them a friendly nod when both off duty and behaving themselves. 

Further down the road, I passed the home of another of Dad's mates called Harry. I have no idea what he did, but he was always around the house, organising various charity events. It seemed like every week there were meetings. Afterwards, the scotch would come out. They would be organising the St Josephs college garden fete, a big annual event where the college opened it's grounds and farm. It was loved by all. The committee wasn't just Roman Catholics (the college was a training college for Catholic priests), the treasurer, a Mrs Lorna Bowra was a Methodist, and a couple of my mum's Jewish friends also assisted. All recognised that the event was a wonderful part of the Mill Hill year, and a great chance to see the grounds, farm and ponds. The cash raised was used to maintain the grounds and keep them in good shape. One year, they fixed the statue of St Joe with the money raised. Another year, they cleaned and refreshed the ponds.  Other events included the Sacred Heart Xmas fete, and all manner of fund rasing do's for all manner of charities. 

I have walked this walk a thousand times, without thinking about it, but last night I got to thinking about all of the organisations and events my parents supported. There were the catholic charities such  as the ones above and The Knights of St Columbus. There were local business organisations, such as The Rotary club, The Inner Wheel and many that I've long forgotten. There were local schools, where my Mum was on the PTA etc. In our house, it was expected that all of us would pitch in and I have to admit, I loved it. 

My Dad, a Conservative party member, was on first name terms with the local MP and the local councillors. He'd see them at all manner of local events. Charity events organised by John Laings would be a big part of his year. He loved a good "Dinner and Dance". In truth my mother was less keen. My Dad used to love to "win the raffle", so he'd buy half the tickets and end up bringing bags of useless tat back. As an Australian, he was always a bit of an outsider, but staunchly believed in putting something back, as he had a successful business and had been lucky. He was incredibly superstitious and believed that if he didn't repay his good luck, bad things may happen.

As a result of all of this, I met many of the local community leaders. My Mum was chair of the Hendon Overseas Friendship Association, and Margaret Thatcher was the President. I was very embarrassed when I was walking home from School in 1974 in Finchley with my mates and was stopped by Margaret Thatcher canvassing for the election, who asked my name. WHen I told her, she warmly said "Please give my regards to your mother, she is a wonderfully hard worker". I was horrified. 

I was considering writing a blog on the subject of community leadership, when I saw a new blog from disgraced former local Tory bigwig ( he was convicted of assault by beating of Helen Michael, a local Cafe owner). This individual has just completed a term as President of London Rotary and has written a blog blaming everyone else for the demise of Rotary. I was quite disappointed to learn from his blog that the Mill Hill Branch had closed. My family supported it for many years. I may have considered joining, if it had not been for this unpleasant person being the local mouthpiece for Rotary. In his blog, he notes that 66% of members are over 75 and branches are dying off. 

Rotary used to do a lot of good in Mill Hill, but when you have people such as this person in positions of authority in such organisations, a man who pleaded guilty to assaulting a woman in the high street, is it any wonder that young people would not be seen dead joining. It seems to me that whereas in my parents era, community leaders were generally people who did it for the right reasons, these days, many do it to enable career progression. If there is nothing in it for them, they can't be bothered. Last month, we held the Mill Hill Music Festival. A huge event locally. It was massively successful, but not a single local councillor attended. The only person with a political connection that came was former Mill Hill Councillor and former Battersea MP Jane Ellison. Jane was one of the founders of the festival and to me is a good example of a proper politician. One who believes in something and gets her hands dirty. She was a leading advocate for making practices such as FGM illegal. I don't agree with her politics, but admire her work ethic and her campaigning abilities. 

I have no idea who our local police are. They do not turn up for local events. They probably can't afford to live around the corner. Our local schools are blessed with good parents, as demonstrated by the wonderful fete's, many of which I provide sound systems for, but that seems to be almost the last vestige of life in Barnet where people get involved en masse in community events. I volunteer with a couple of local charities, but most of the leadership are a generation older than me and I'm 60.

I am starting to fear for the future. If people no longer see doing things for the community as important, then we soon won't have a community. I know there are some wonderful exceptions to the rule, such as Maggie Lamb, who runs the night shelter project,  but most are working flat out, without the real support they need. It seems to me that concept of doing good things in your community, without want of recognition, is very much an outdated concept. Now we need to make TikTok videos and Instagram posts to show everyone how marvellous we are, and yes I know I'm not immune to a bit of that myself. But I do miss the days when the local copper would turn up in his uniform to local events, unpaid, just to make sure people knew that if they ever needed to tell him something, he was approachable. I miss the days when the good folks of Barnet would meet in smokey rooms, discuss doing good things, then all have a glass of scotch. I miss the days when the highlight of the year was a big charity dinner and dance (often at The Sparrowhawk Pub), where eveyone wore their best clothes, had a slap up dinner, a raffle and a dance, raising loads of money for charity and going home half cut. I even miss the boring, worthy speeches that whoever was the dignitary they'd roped in to do it had to make, with the bad jokes and forced laughs. But most of all, I miss the fact that we had things like St Joes garden fete, where the community would turn up and mingle, just for the sake of it.