As the festive season fast approaches and everyone is caught up with their busy lives making sure that the presents are ordered, and the Christmas nights out are all booked in the diary, maybe we could stop for a moment and think about what’s happening in our communities. 


Are there people in your road that don’t get to see anyone from one week to the next? Do you remember the last time you saw them outside of their homes? With community spirit in mind I spoke to Buckhurst Hill resident Rosemary Churchlow as she approaches her 90th birthday to talk about community then and now and how she feels things have changed. 

Rosemary said that although the area was never like the East End where people did leave their doors open and community was really strong, there was definitely more of a community feel years ago than now. She partly puts this down to life now appearing to be more hectic with more and more women having to return to work to support their families, unlike years ago where it was quite unusual for mothers to work. This means there are fewer people around during the day now. In her younger days she would have known most of the families around her but this is no longer the case, although she said she is blessed with the neighbours she has. Rosemary thought that another loss of community was the decline of the local parade of shops as the rise of the supermarkets continues. The days where people would personally know the baker, butcher and greengrocer have gone, and supermarkets are just “too big to give the same personal service”

                                                                                                   
With many charities running schemes to help to connect us with lonely people of all ages, such as Age UK, Carers UK and Contact the Elderly, there are plenty of opportunities for all of us to get involved to try to bring back some of the community spirit that we have lost over the years and to make sure that nobody feels totally alone at this joyous time of the year.

I would like to thank Rosemary for sharing her thoughts with me and wish her a very happy birthday.

 

Daniel Gatty, Debden Park High School