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We first heard of Bramcote Hills Community Association when
we moved here in 1986 and were left the General Information leaflet, and a leaflet
about Neighbourhood Watch, which had just started. It helped so much with the
settling in, and seemed so welcoming after our experiences in a very 'cold'
part of South Yorkshire.
It wasn't long before I started going to the National Housewives
Register meetings, an organisation I had previously heard of but knew very little
about. As a mother with one toddler, and soon after a second, it offered the
chance to meet other mothers away from baby talk and without the commitment
that other traditional forms of meeting people require (and that are not always
practicable for people with young children).
Time went on, and we went through the mother and toddler phase,
followed by the playgroup phase, and then into the school phase. It was early
into this period that a friend and I were recruited by an Ex-chairman and NHR
member into helping with the Play scheme. This almost immediately led to election
onto the committee of the Association - we were seen as 'new blood' and so very
valuable!
Soon after I joined the committee, difficulties in maintaining
the progression of Vice-chairman to chairman resulted in a reorganisation of
the way it worked, with greater delegation of the tasks. As I had access to
a word processor (and an expert at home to help me use it!) I found myself volunteering
to take on the newsletter editorship. I thoroughly enjoyed doing it, and only
gave it up when I became Chairman. It had also become slightly problematical
because my technical support always seemed to have a crisis at work when I had
a crisis with the newsletter! My involvement with the Play scheme continued
in parallel, and stopped when the hours I worked part-time made it no longer
possible.
I remember my early years as being a relatively 'quiet' time
for the Association compared to the very active and dynamic period that had
just gone before: there were no major planning issues to fight, no major anniversaries
to celebrate, most groups or sections were functioning independently, if at
all. They were years that saw an increasing pessimism in outlook about communities,
as patterns of working life changed, especially for women. It was also the time
when there was a boom in alternative leisure opportunities, and increasing use
of the car. One casualty of this was the annual Christmas Children's Party.
In the year in which it was my sad job to cancel this for lack of support, three
other children's parties were being held at the same time within a short distance.
Things came to a head one year when no one on the committee
was prepared to take on the role of Chairman. At the last minute, on the basis
of his knowledge of the Association from helping me with the newsletters, my
husband stepped in, despite not having been on the committee - although he had
had a lot of experience of committees. During his two years as Chairman a gradual
process of regeneration of the committee started, which is continuing today.
The shift in lifestyle patterns has been demonstrated by the involvement of
some residents who find that retirement allows them to join in again.
What else? If you had told the Alison who moved here thirteen years ago that
she would develop the confidence to edit the newsletter, take a two-year turn
as Chairman, jointly organise four consecutive annual dinner dances as well
as help with the Plays scheme - she would have laughed in disbelief! As a couple
and a family we have been grateful for the opportunity to make many friends
and have a lot of fun. We took advantage of the baby-sitting service while it
existed, and then moved on to paying the teenage offspring of members when they
became old enough. The children have been able to take part in community based
activities and (we hope!) have grown up absorbing the value of doing things
for others and the fun that can be had from this.
Increasing work commitments coincided with increasing domestic
demands, so I reduced my direct involvement in the work of the committee after
my turn as Chairman, except for the annual dinner dance and the barn dances.
The Alison of thirteen years ago would certainly not be able to believe that
the Alison of today is one of the organisers of the Millennium Ball - she had
only ever been to one, then, in student nurse days!
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