At eight o’clock last Saturday
morning I bumped into a queue of Jimmy Choo enthusiasts in the centre of Manchester. I’d gone for
a walk to escape from my over-warm hotel room. Here were around 200 people who
looked liked they’d have appreciated the heat I’d just escaped from.
Sally and Dave, the couple at the
very front of the queue had a tent. They told me that’d arrived just before ten
the night before. In an hour, their patience was going to be rewarded with
first pick of the new range of shoes being launched at retailer H&M. Sally
seemed excited, not minding it seems that a drunk had woken her in the small
hours, threatening to set fire to their tent.
I was in Manchester to take part in the BBC/Big
Lottery Village SOS project. 28 rural communities from around the UK had been
short-listed to enter a very exciting competition. Six eventual winners will
receive a Lottery grant of up to £400,000 to transform their community. The
event was a matchmaking session, at which the villagers meet and shortlist 31
champions; people who themselves have been short-listed to take part. I was flattered
to be one of those short-listed champions.
The contrast between the motivation
of the villagers in the hotel and the shoppers outside H&M could not be starker.
The villages I met all had a very clear vision for their future. They wanted to
strengthen their community, develop sustainable social enterprises and replace
lost resources such as shops and community centres.
The shoppers on the other hand, had
a more materialistic mindset. They considered the hardship of a night on the
street to be well worthwhile if it allowed them to spend £100 on a highly
desirable new pair of designer shoes.
It would be wrong of me to be
critical of the shoppers’ motivation. We all have the right to choose how we
spend our time and money. What fascinated me was this coincidental juxtaposition
of materialism and rural regeneration. The villagers were seeking to make life
better in a non materialistic way. The shoppers were not.
I think the BBC and Big Lottery
have recognised that the tide is turning; the transition will be slow and
gradual. It needs to be. There are a lot people whose livelihoods depend on the
continuance of our current economic model. But as everyone in that Manchester hotel
realised, the movement towards self sufficient, sustainable communities is
gathering pace. This project will provide valuable learning and experience to
help that journey. You’ll have the chance to learn too, by watching the documentary
series about Village SOS that will be screened on BBC One in 2011.
But I’ve left the best news about
this project to the end. You see one of those lucky short-listed villages is
here in Norfolk.
Hilgay is the only village in our region to get through to this stage. They now
have to choose a champion to work with them on the project. Three have been
short-listed; one of them is me!