Our Self-Reliant Groups (SRGs) are a brilliant way to help people build community, purpose and positive changes in their lives.
Here’s a story from SRG member Dave, who is a member of the gardening group at the Gathering Place in St Athan, where we have an SRG Hub in the Vale of Glamorgan, South Wales. From loneliness and lack of purpose, Dave has become a hugely valued member of the local community, bringing sunshine and tidiness to gardens at the centre and beyond in the local area. He’s a great example of how SRGs can enable people to change their own lives for the better.
Dave and being part of SRG’s in St Athan
Well it’s been roughly 20 months since I first started going to the Gathering Place Community Centre in St Athan and I haven’t looked back. My working life started with 12 years in the RAF and I had a great time with posting to Norfolk, Scotland and 2 postings to Germany, finally ending up at RAF St Athan. When I left the RAF I just carried on going into work as a civilian. Eventually, due to defence cuts that work finished, but I managed to get a job down in Hampshire for 10 years on Special Forces helicopters. That work finished when the Lynx helicopter went out of service, so I ended back in my home in St Athan.
I was just passing time for a while, when an old friend I had known for years volunteered me to be her carer. This was just before the Covid pandemic struck, so when it did happen, I became her live in carer. We both survived the Covid, but with her health gradually deteriorating, she gradually passed away. That meant me finally moving back into my house permanently.
I had lived in my house on and off, sometimes having lodgers in, but never really getting it sorted out. Now that I had finally moved back into my house, I didn’t really have any incentive to get it sorted out. I am very lucky in that I did get on great with my neighbours on both sides, but didn’t really know many people locally. I knew loads of people all over the country, but not locally.
That’s when my life changed for the better.
One morning I had a small paper flier come through the door reading ‘The Gathering Place Community Café and Gardening Group’. Open every Wednesday from 9.30 to 1pm. We’d love to see you! Blah, blah, blah. If you are interested please drop in and ask.
I didn’t do anything immediately, but I just put it to one side. After about 2 weeks though, I thought, “you know what, I can do this.”
Gardening being one of my main passions, especially the more exotic side, like palms and bananas, cacti and succulents etc.. So I finally made the effort to go over and I had a very nice and warm welcome.
I’ve since had the paper flier forensically tested, and it’s got Steve and Joyce’s fingerprints all over it. Steve and Joyce work for an organisation called Purple Shoots, and they go round Community Centres helping them start Self-Reliant Groups. Steve and Joyce are 2 of the main players at The Gathering Place, and they have helped us out a great deal.
Being in the RAF, or any of the forces or any organisation for that matter, is just like being in one big family, and that’s exactly what it’s like at The Gathering Place. We’ve got people of all age groups, and from all backgrounds, with different skills.
At present, I am mainly doing a couple of the front of house flower beds, transforming one bed that had become a bit of a landfill during the Covid, and starting another bed from scratch. It’s all W.I.P. (work in progress), with other projects in the pipeline and I love it. One of the main things I love about being out in the gardens is meeting all the different people, especially from the dog walking fraternity. Sometimes it will be a quick wave, and other times stop for about five minutes to have a chat, and make a fuss of the dog.
Since I’ve been going over to The Gathering Place, I’ve only missed the Community Café on the one occasion, and that’s when I had man flu! Sometimes I can’t get to sleep at night thinking about what I’m going to do in the garden the next day. At times, I’m itching to get in!
Through the work at The Gathering Place, I now have a couple of spin offs where I do 2 gardens in the local area on a weekly basis.
If anyone’s thinking about what goes on in their local Community Centre, go along without delay. Even if it’s just for the social side. I absolutely love it, and would highly recommend it.