A Community Centre

The Village Hall is an important cornerstone of Linton. Lying about five miles east of Ross-on-Wye, this small community is blessed with a beautiful village hall, refurbished and maintained by its own charitable trust; the Alma Inn, a family-run pub that hosts one of the main music festivals in the area, serves excellent food and regularly wins awards for its real ales; and St. Mary's, a 12th century church, which has a 4000 year-old yew tree in its grounds. However, a community is not only about buildings, it is about the people who come together in them to worship, celebrate, learn and support one another.

In the words of one of the trustees, "The Village Hall organises events to raise funds for the maintenance of the hall, but also '... with the object of improving the conditions of life for the said inhabitants....'. We try and have fun too, and put on events we think people will enjoy, which includes supporting local people in charity work, supporting local musicians, our user groups, local businesses and like-minded organisations. The committee have been doing this since 1961."

In addition, the Village of Linton Trust, was established, according to their website, 'to provide financial and practical assistance and to help conserve and maintain Linton church and its grounds. In addition, VoLT will seek to help maintain the heritage and appearance of Linton village in ways that are compatible with the primary purpose.The charity (VoLT) will achieve its purpose by raising, managing and administering funds in response to received requests'.

The charity's acronym, 'VoLT', is certainly appropriate: a great current of energy certainly runs through this small village, generating a determination, not only to preserve what already exists, but also to develop new initiatives, thereby guaranteeing its survival as an active, vibrant community.

Yesterday, I saw how effectively the community comes together: I had been invited to take part in the Linton Village Hall's annual Christmas Cracker Tea, by talking about my books and my fundraising for Macmillan, finishing with a 'Jackanory' session for the village children. The hall was full to capacity, with delicious cakes, Christmas crumpets, tea and coffee provided by the dedicated village hall team. They had kindly decided to add their support by donating all profits from the event to Macmillan. I gave my talk and invited the children to come and sit on the stage, near to the Christmas tree and listen to the 'kidnap' episode from 'Red Skye Sunset'. I had just begun the story session, when Janet, one of the organisers of the event asked me if I would mind starting again and wearing a microphone, as all of the grown ups in the hall wanted to listen, too. It was a strange, but rewarding experience to read to ex-Brownie leaders, a Pilates teacher, a retired postmaster, local artists, small businessmen and a host of friends and neighbours. When I had finished, many came up and said how they had been transported back to their own childhoods, fondly remembering that warm, 'comfort-blanket' feeling that being read to engenders. I think I sold as many books to the adults, as to the children!

What a wonderful afternoon: forget the 'Big Society' (remember that one?), this was a 'Small Society' in action.

As Gordon Parks said, “Enthusiasm is the electricity of life”. His words certainly apply to this high VoLT-age village!