In my last column, I talked about St Ives as a place, but this time around I want to concentrate on St Ives as a community.
I moved to St Ives in 2013, with my wife and then three-year-old daughter, and one of the first things I was struck by, was how much seemed to be going on. There were groups for this, and clubs for that - all announced on notice boards or through leaflets and magazines put through our letter box.
In particular St Ives has a love of outdoor music, as evidenced by our annual carnival and the music festival, as well as the Old Riverport Jazz and Blues Festival. Obviously circumstances have made these sorts of events difficult during lockdown restrictions but even during lockdown a community group popped up and created a 'one day' radio station (broadcasting on FM!) so that we could still sing Christmas carols together.
We have also demonstrates our love for our friends and neighbours through groups such as CALMtown, and the St Ives Foodbank – as well as through our public services and parades, such as at Remembrance Sunday. I am, as I think we all are, deeply indebted to those who freely give so much of their time in the service of others.
Of course, many of the opportunities we had to get together have been absent from our lives recently and many of us have been enduring for the last 12 months. So, as we take tentative steps out of the lockdown restrictions I ask you all take a moment to reconnect with what your local town or village has to offer, so that all our communities can come back stronger than ever before.
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