Community

A good friend had a party to celebrate her birthday on Saturday night. It was Mexican themed, so you can imagine it all became a little unfocused as the evening, and then the night, progressed…

But it got me thinking about community. Or should I say Community with a capital C.

Because most of us live in this close knit community of a few Victorian streets just off the centre of our town, and we party together frequently, our local dj consortium being the rather wonderful Keep Off The Grass crew, who are playing one of their free parties in Newbury’s Victoria park this Saturday, and then at Cuba afterwards. Most of them are “our crew” and so were there on Saturday. Obviously the music was really really great )

Great fun, and although I had to leave pretty early to get back for the babysitter, I heard on the Sunday (when the grils and I were having Sunday dinner round at the house of part of the gang) that it had gone on til dawn, ouch! While I can rarely party really hard these days, the gang do seem to party every weekend at one or the other of our houses in the enclave, especially over the summer. I mean, it’s practically an institution!

And as I followed the ‘lost property’ emails (for the record, two pairs of sunglasses, a red butterfly hairclip, and other less desirable, but more amusing, things…lol) flying around us all today with growing amusement, it occurred to me that there actually hasn’t been any drop off in the social aspect of our lives since some of us were at sixth form together, and then later lived together in rented flats or houses, and then later bought neighbouring homes in this one particular part of Newbury, neither before the babies arrived or afterwards.

OK, there have been changes, as people have moved on or divorced, but few of them are completely lost, and in fact I still see most of them on a regular basis, whether partying, book club meetings, or through school or just because we have remained friends and so we talk and visit often. And when I had my huge fireworks-in-the garden October party to celebrate that best-of-all ages the different strata of a couple of decades of social network were reunited.

So it got me wondering whether it says something about the community in Britain today? Or is it just us? Because we hear so much gloom and doom spin in the media about the increase in child abuse and crime, the breakdown of families, the disintegration of communities, and I can safely say no, no and no again to all of those,. The kids I know are polite and helpful, do well at school, and go on to lead happy lives. I’m not saying it’s an exceptionally wealthy area, most people struggle financially, certainly when the children are growing up, but it’s a good-vibe area. A good place to live.

But surely it isn’t unique? I mean there’s nothing particularly exceptional about any of us, or where we live, simply a small market town in the south of England.

Yet a new friend of the hostess, who had recently moved into the area with her husband (…and already knew of, and had visited, Funky Angel, which was an amazing experience for me…:) yep, I was beaming!), she thought it was a rarity, quite amazing, remarkable.

But is it really?

So here’s the question. Is this the true England in the 21st century, or are we anomalies?

Does anyone else have a similar experience of a close knit community staying close and connected for decades? Is anyone else watching your children play with, and become close friends with, the children of your own close friends who only live a few doors away or across the street…?

I’d love to know, so please do share… and I would be interested in interviewing contracting experiences for the forthcoming Family area of the expanded and revamped Funky…