Being part of Community Life in Kenton
I am sorry to ‘go on’ about this, but I continue to be very impressed by the fact that in one important area Kenton runs right against the national trend. Almost every organisation reports that membership is falling and that for the most part; people are unwilling to volunteer to help, to participate, and to share in the life of their communities. Here in Kenton, things are somewhat different. It seems that people here are prepared to help and to be part of whatever is going on.
Recently I was in the Triangle area, thinking that I was pretty much alone with the traffic. Suddenly I became aware of yet another group of these participant Kentonians! Several volunteers were almost camouflaged as they were hard at work in the ‘Kenton in Bloom’ shrubbery.
Then, last Saturday I was invited to be part of the Kenton Men’s’ Breakfast. I was expecting to be one of a dozen eaters-of-a-good breakfast at the Orangery, but no, participation was at least twice that number! There were other examples At All Saints’, where our enthusiastic catering team provided Lent Lunches and others organised a very successful 'Easter Crafts' morning. Many people participated as providers and supporters and whilst we are really glad to be able to do our bit in serving the community, we also want to send our thanks to all who made these events possible.
We now want to find out how All Saints can serve the village even more effectively. As a first step we want to know how we can best serve children and families. We are preparing a questionnaire which will filter out on the web as well as on paper, to parents, guardians, grand-parents, teachers School Governors and others. The more people who respond, the more accurate will be our understanding of how we can contribute to this part of community life. We may not be able to provide everything that comes out of this professionally-led enquiry, but if we can’t provide ourselves we propose to talk to other organisations to see whether we might be able to share in meeting needs. If you get the chance, please tell us what you think – even if you think your honest response may upset us.