Hi all,
I am a first time contributor the site so bear with me please.
First a wee bit about me. I am a recently retired lady (very early retirement I might add) with lots of energy and time at the moment. Me and my husband have lived in Stow since 2006 and love the location. I have always worked a distance away but now I am retired although still undertaking some work, I would really like to become a more involved and contributing member of the community of Stow. It is interesting that when you join a community when your children have left home, I have found that you do not encounter the natural places to meet your community or build relationships. Give this a thought for a moment, get excited and put your thinking gear into action!
I have an idea that some folks may be interested in or wish to expand on. But like many things in life it just needs a start.
I believe there will be many of all generations in Stow who, like me would like to be more attached to and involved in the community, but due to work and life in general have not established the connections.
If you share some of these feeling, or are a well established community member then read on…………
How many people of all ages are isolated in Stow?
How are these folks reached?
Do you want to be a reacher or one of the reached ….as opposed to a preacher or one of the preached to.
Do you have the time, energy and motivation to develop this idea?
My proposal is that we begin a community drop in and look to establish a committee of people with time to give of themselves with a view to identifying and implementing various projects around integration into the community and offering of support within the community.
If I am replicating something that already exists, can someone please let me know and I will join the established group.
The type of things I am suggesting are,
Adopt a gran or grandpa …….. Sounds a bit twee, but in actuality it would mean befriending an isolated older person and spending a wee bit time regularly for a blether and a cup of tea. This could include I involving young people to raise their awareness of and respect for older people.
Befriend a family…… An opportunity to widen people’s social circle and encourage integration within the village.
Start a cross generational book group, different perspectives and again integration…..doesn’t need to be one big group, can be a number of smaller interest groups which come together a couple of times a year.
More to follow……..
If any of you Stow residents are interested please e mail me at annetteadair@aol.com. Depending on responses, I would propose to organise a first meeting either in my home or the town hall towards the end of April beginning of May 2013 to get things started.
When you email, it would be useful if you give an idea of what sorts of things you are interested in and any ideas and thoughts you have.
I am ready for action in Stow…….are you?
