The commune of St Pierre sur Erve has a population of about 144 people, if no-one's away on holiday. The cost of maintaining the local school falls to the residents, and money is not to be recklessly spent. A call went out from the mayor a couple of weeks ago for volunteers to help paint the school's outdoor woodwork. About 14 of us turned up.
Paint and brushes were supplied of course, and the reward was a free lunch afterwards. A second coat of paint is planned for some time in the future, but meanwhile, I don't think it looks bad.
It was quite a social affair, and the widow of our old mayor came over with coffee and biscuits mid-morning, just for the participation; much appreciated by all. It seems to me that if our society is going to focus more on local communities in order to function in future, St Pierre sur Erve has a head start.
Community spirit is always enjoyable and uplifting.
ReplyDeleteWhile here in the UK you would probably have needed planning permission, approval that the type of paint was suitable, insurance cover in case anyone fell off a stepladder and have a written risk assessment to show Covid awareness, or in case the afforementioned person untrained in stepladder use did indeed fall off a stepladder the insurance company would be legally covered and not have to pay out.
ReplyDeleteThe wife and me have been helping out with booking timetabling at our local community village hall for about 10 years. It was very much a community thing, and quite fun, now there seems like more paperwork time than the time required to do the role and nothing but stress.
That sounds quite sad, Woodsy. I don't know what formal arrangements are supposed to be in place here, but whatever, we just ignored them.
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