Saint Andrew's Church in Sands Road - just down the road from Paignton's historic harbour!
I’ve always been a supporter of business networking because
it brings like-minded entrepreneurs and support professionals together. We all
lead busy lives these days and so many networking occasions tend to happen in
the morning. Recently I have started to worry about the health of those
networking trailblazers because of the proliferation of business networking
breakfasts!
Last week, for example, I was aware of at least three gatherings.
Two of those provided a large cooked breakfast complete with black pudding and
the third offered endless bacon rolls. Perhaps it is time to provide a
cholesterol test as part of the offering! So, having said all that, I still
like the idea of these gatherings because they do allow an easy exchange of
news and knowledge.
Most also have a theme speaker who will offer insights that
quite often become a catalyst for innovation. Let me just expand upon that a
little. I have always been an enthusiastic gatherer of knowledge and over the
years one thing has become very clear. That is the fact that I know so very
little! It also seems to me that each day I become aware that I seem to know
less and less.
There is an old saying that goes something like it’s not
what you know but who you know. Sadly that has too often been used to explain
why someone has inexplicably got a job or position that might have been best
awarded to another less well connected person. But it is more than that. It
seems to me that it isn’t necessarily what you know or who you know but more a
case of what you know about them. That can be a very positive scenario because
it encourages a social connectivity that can work for the greater good.
I happened to bump into a community engagement worker the
other day and floated the idea of community networking events. Of course we
already have community partnerships, focus groups and numerous other social
engagement platforms but it seems to me that there is still something missing.
We’ve stripped out
so many community hotspots in recent times. I have in mind the popular visits
to the local Post Office, the once crowded churches, numerous public houses et
cetera and planted the idea that we now engage via the Internet whilst drifting
through cyberspace! That paradigm change, if that is what it is, worries me.
So where will we
find community hotspots where easy social networking can happen? I suppose your
first question might be seeking a meaningful definition of community! One
starting point could be the location of local parish churches because they
tended to be slap bang in the middle of traditional communities. Many of these
older buildings seem to be little used or indeed not used at all. Of course the
immediate reaction of many these days is that ‘They don’t do God!’ Yet one of
the core values underpinning religious thought is the business of loving thy
neighbour and perhaps by using these older spacious buildings we might start
doing exactly that.
Oddly enough this
community engagement or neighbourhood networking is actually happening locally.
The other day I dropped in at Saint Andrew’s Church in Paignton to visit the
Craft Works. St. Andrew’s is not far from Paignton’s picturesque harbour and is
a lovely old red sandstone building. Traditional services still happen in the
church on Sunday and Wednesday but on the other days a wide range of community
based workshops meet. Have a look at what they do by dropping in for a cup of
tea!
Kick-starting community action usually requires external
funding and these days that can be hard going. Many of the funding ‘pots’ have
become much smaller and are being sought by increasing numbers. A bit of a ‘Catch 22’ situation because if
you make something happen you didn’t need the funding and yet too often things
don’t happen because they lack funding! Hmm: a paradox perhaps.
Keep the smile.
