Page 3 - link magazine

swindonlink.com • February 2011 3
Faith and doubt in the Big Society CYCLE REPAIRS

Just what are we to make of the ‘Big Society’? asks the Bishop of Swindon Right Reverend Lee Rayfi eld FREE collection
Is it a vision of how communities could or should behave? Or is it a political ploy aimed at reducing & delivery from
expenditure and persuading others to pick up the tab? Most people I talk to have mixed feelings and that
is understandable. home or work
For one thing, the idea of the Big fi nancial support – to make, as the and energy to run charities or activi- Servicing & repairs
Society has not had as much fl esh on bible says, ‘bricks without straw’. ties, support groups or centres which Over 25 yrs New cycles
its bones as we might have expected Church leaders have found our- enrich and bless others in the town. experience Parts & accessories
from a party which has had so long selves in two minds about the Big From this perspective Swindonians
to refl ect on vision and strategy. It Society. Has the Government fi nally have been engaged in building a Big SAFETY ALERT
has felt somewhat ‘half-baked’ with come round to our way of seeing Society for years. Bikes bought on the internet
little structural or policy develop- the world – or simply embraced an A mixed reaction to Government or mail order must be serviced
ment behind it. ideology which leaves the vulner- motives is understandable but let’s before being ridden. CALL NOW
If the Big Society has been fi ve able to rely on goodwill? not use it as an excuse to torpedo the FOR FAST, FRIENDLY SERVICE
years in gestation it does not feel For my part, like many of my Big Society and justify a ‘me-centred’
that way. It feels more embryonic. colleagues, I am going to give Mr one. “It is in giving that we receive” Phil Mitchell: 874873 day or eve.
Cameron and his government the may well be a cliché, but it still hap- or 07850 650956 (mobile)
benefi t of the doubt. That does not pens to be true.
mean I will abandon all reservations,
but it does mean I am going to be
positive and look to contribute rather
than sit on the sidelines.
At its heart the Big Society is an
affi rmation of the biblical injunction
‘to love your neighbour as yourself’
and has clear resonance with Jesus’
teaching. And, like the Big Society,
it seems when Jesus fi rst started
speaking about ‘the Kingdom of
God’ his listeners did not really
know what to make of it either. They
wondered whether it was naïve, or
Then there is the cynicism inevi- sophisticated.
tably engendered by the cutbacks. Jesus did not come with a fully
When fi nancial support is being worked out policy and plans; instead
withdrawn from community ser- he opened horizons and hearts. He
vices it is hard to sell volunteerism told unsettling stories – like the boss
as anything other than getting who paid the same to labourers who
provision on the cheap. Volunteers had worked one hour as those who
do not take kindly to being treated worked all day – in order to illustrate
as an unpaid workforce by local what the Kingdom (God’s version
authorities, as some council offi cers of Big Society) might look like or
know to their cost. necessitate. He lived it out, starting
Untrained amateurs, no matter with those who were on the margins
how well meaning and motivated, or at the bottom of society.
cannot take over responsibilities When I arrived in Swindon some
which properly belong to profes- fi ve and a half years ago, I was struck
sionals. Neither can willing volun- by the range and number of volun-
teers be presumed upon to fi ll gaps in tary groups. Thousands of people
provision or to meet needs without regularly give willingly of their time

Voluntary action makes a difference

Bryan Hutchinson, chief executive of Voluntary Action Swindon, described
in the January Link how the organisation provides the town’s voluntary
and community organisations with knowledge, training and resources.
and community organisations with knowledge, training and resources.
Now VAS has pro-
duced a booklet cel-
ebrating Swindon’s
ebrating Swindon’s
long history of vol-
unteer commitment
and the role VAS has
played since 1932,
when the nation was
affl icted by the de-
mands of huge un-
employment, in advance of the founding
employment, in advance of the founding
of the modern welfare state.
Huge changes are now being imposed on the provision of welfare and
the role of voluntary organisations is becoming ever more important.
This guide provides a pathway for potential volunteers and a springboard
to encourage many more individuals and groups to help some of Swindon’s
1,000 voluntary groups. See http://bit.ly/i8TmIY or contact Seniz Ismet on
538398 or mail: [email protected]
• Training for the Big Society with the Gateway Project - see page 15

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