Last weekend, I was
down in Wigan, at a regional gathering. There were another 6 throughout the UK;
one in Bristol, Brighton, Birmingham, Edinburgh and one in Wales and Northern
Ireland.
These things are more
for Mum, and are supposed to be religious, but I like to go as I get to meet a
lot of new people, who are incredible talented and generally lovely, as well as
catch up with people I haven’t seen since the summer.
I was the youngest person
in my group, and the discussions were generally about my age group, talking
about how important junior youth are for the future, how ‘a reservoir of
capacity lies within’ us. (I’m actually quite proud I remembered that quote.)
However, one of the
discussions was directed more towards community building and in light of recent
tragic events, I found this particularly hard to talk about in front of about
15 people I’d never met before.
I couldn’t help but
think that if communities within schools, neighbourhoods, families, friends and
clubs were tighter and more trusting and open, people who aren’t entirely happy
would have someone they could talk to about any problems and struggles they may
be dealing with, instead of suffering in silence.
I’ve never had to
deal with someone taking their own life before, and even though I wasn’t
particularly close to Helena, I was deeply upset by her death. When it came to
talking about community building at Wigan, I got very emotional over the
possibility that if communities were closer, Helena would still be with us,
having someone to talk to and help her.
Helena was beautiful,
talented, gifted, friendly, kind, dedicated, and always surrounded by friends,
a big smile on her face. But deep down she was troubled and unhappy, and I keep
thinking that we wouldn’t have lost such a talent if she had found someone to
talk to, to trust.
How many other people
are going through this? It’s a question I can’t shake off.
It doesn’t take much
to build up a strong community, so long as you are willing to work at it.
