Community spirit alive and well

I have had the privilege of working with the Ramsey community for the past 10 years. Like many of you, as well as working locally I also volunteer. I really think it is our sense of community spirit and volunteering that represents the best of Ramsey, both in town and throughout the villages.

As I write this I’m thinking about the Christmas lights switch on this coming weekend. Organised completely by volunteers we have an event that could rival much bigger towns without both funding or manpower from the local authority or shopping centres. We have community collections, fundraising and volunteering in Ramsey. This sort of activity makes me proud to be involved with this community.

Most communities rally round to put on fetes and fayres but in Ramsey there’s something quite special. Community volunteers are manning almost every activity and event across the Parish. This could be weekly activities like the JobSearch project at the library or running a children’s activity or sports club, helping out at the local food-bank, or church. Then there’s committees meeting regularly to keep charitable trusts and buildings running smoothly, like the community centre trust, the library board and Ramsey Neighbourhoods Trust. These committees need a chairperson, secretaries and treasurers who have great responsibility but carry out the tasks willingly to aid their community. We have some amazing annual events developed and delivered by a wealth of volunteers – our amazing 1940s event, the carnival, plough day at the rural museum, heritage open day, plough Sunday/Monday etc keeping old traditions alive. In fact the Ramsey calendar is usually full with something on most weekends. Not only do volunteers man these events, they also fundraise too meaning extra commitment across the year.

Take a look around in the community, take note of what’s going on and how many people are volunteering. You should feel very proud Ramsey, community spirit is definitely alive and well. Let’s celebrate our achievements and promote all that we do far and wide. This fantastic new website will definitely help with that.

Val Fendley, Ramsey Million Big Local