The Small Society

This week I was privileged to accept an award on behalf of the community association of council estate residents that I help run, since we won joint first prize for the street party the association organised on their estate earlier this year.

At the ceremony I had to do a short talk about the project. I took the opportunity to have a (somewhat tongue in cheek) dig at David Cameron's Big Society. Here is the text of that part of my speech:

"Whilst there is much talk of the 'Big Society', I would like to suggest an alternative, the 'Small Society', demonstrated by the work of our community association. You see the association represents the little people, the people who (let's be honest) most of society would prefer to pretend don't actually exist, investing their time and energy for the benefit of their fellow residents. Those same little people having a vision for their area (an area seen by many as insignificant and of no value) that says this area is a place to value, a place that despite its problems is one where things can get better, things can change.

Maybe if we all did that in our small societies, it would add up to something truly Big"

Now read The Magnificat, Luke 2:46 - 55, especially v52.