Community is at the heart of our recovery from COVID-19

Community is about more than just sharing a sense of place or identity. It’s about people. People caring for each other and caring about where they live. Ceilidh Jackson – Baker is Engagement Coordinator with BS3 Energy Group as well as a proud BS3 resident. Here she shares her thoughts on how community is at the heart of our recovery from this crisis.

With lockdown extending into week seven, the number of people who have lost their lives or lost loved ones is deeply distressing. Just a few months ago those people would have been making their New Years resolutions along with the rest of us and imagining a very different 2020.

As we try to look forward for a way out of this crisis, we will not forget that suffering. But let us look forward with hope. Hope that collectively we can learn from this trauma and create a better future. A future where we look out for each other, we respect nature, there is less inequality, the air is cleaner, and we are more resilient to the challenges of the climate and ecological crisis.

One thing that gives me hope for a better future is seeing how people are coming together to help each other out across BS3. These are four things I've learned about our community during lockdown.

We care for each other

People are the essence of our community. This crisis has seen us looking out for each other. It has also highlighted grave inequalities in our society. We never know when we ourselves might need a helping hand and I recognise I’m one of the lucky ones so I try to share when I can. It has been heartening to see how my neighbours have come together and how seemingly small acts of kindness can make a big difference to individuals. Just some examples are collecting food and medication for self-isolating neighbours; swapping vegetable seedlings; gathering supplies for the local food bank and one neighbour organising fish and chips for the whole street.

We care about where we live

I have enjoyed sitting on my doorstep talking to passers-by on their way to Perrett’s allotments or to take a stroll around Victoria Park. As I allow myself to get distracted from work and gaze out the window, I watch the wildlife or see families gaining in confidence cycling along the quieter, and less polluted, roads. One day I even used my daily exercise to cycle out to Ashton Court for the dawn chorus!

With our worlds being shrunk, I have found myself being more aware of, and more grateful for, the local green and blue spaces and the reduced traffic levels. In order to secure our future and increase food security, we must do all we can to protect nature and increase local biodiversity. Check out BS3 Wildlife Group and My Wild Bedminster for inspiration.

Local must be at the heart of the new economy

By supporting those small, independent businesses at the time when they need it most, we might just be able to keep some of them going. There would be an entirely different vibe along North Street and East Street if those familiar shop fronts were replaced by more global retail chains. Keeping spending local helps to secure jobs and supporting local food is not only better for Bristol’s economy, it is better for the environment too. Here are some ways you can support local businesses during lockdown:

We can self-organise

From neighbourhood WhatsApp groups to a new community food bank, when crunch time hit, we rallied. We could continue to use those community organising skills to help make life better for everyone. Here are a few ideas but we would love to hear yours.

Campaign for safer walking and cycling routes.
Promote a sharing economy with a neighbourhood library of things.
Club together with neighbours to bulk purchase energy efficiency measures.
Buy some shared bike storage for your street or build a parklet (a mini urban ‘park’).
Campaign against corporate advertising.
Create a community garden.

What vision do you have for the future and what support do you need from the community to make it happen? Let’s not wait to be told what to do or given permission. We know now that change is possible.

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