Ampthill Civic Service – Sunday 17th October – Thanksgiving for Good Neighbours

As part of the service I gave the Mayor’s Address that praised the part Good Neighbours played during the pandemic. You can read my address below:

“May I firstly start by thanking the Lord Lieutenant, fellow Mayors, Councillors and representatives from the Town’s many voluntary groups, for attending today’s Civic Service. I would also like to thank the teams from St. Andrew’s Church and Ampthill Town Council for arranging today’s service, in particular Nicola Powell and Cllr Margaret Wilson.

In the first line of the hymn we sang earlier the question was asked, ‘When I needed a neighbour, were you there, were you there?’ Over the past 18 months I think you would agree that answer to that question was an emphatic ‘Yes’! Streets banded together to help each other with their WhatsApp groups. Ampthill & Flitwick Good Neighbours and the Town’s Churches came together to form Ampthill & Flitwick Lifeline to provide a vital service to those in need in our communities, as they helped those many residents shielding with their shopping and prescription collection.

What the lockdowns have illustrated is the value of Good Neighbours. It was therefore an easy decision to make when asked what the theme should be for this year’s Civic Service, as Thanksgiving for Good Neighbours seemed very appropriate after the past 18 months we have experienced. Little did I realise when I helped set up the Town’s Good Neighbours Scheme, back when I was last Mayor during 2005/6, that the scheme would provide such a vital lifeline to those most in need in the Town as we experienced the darkest days of the pandemic.

I also want to give thanks to others in our community for their tireless work on behalf of our Town, namely the emergency services, the doctors and nurses, Ampthill Town Council and Central Beds Council. Plus, special mention for Cheeseman’s Pharmacy for their part in setting up our local vaccination centre at the Rufus Centre and especially their fantastic volunteers (of which my predecessor as Mayor, Ian Titman, was a regular volunteer). They guided us seamlessly through the process of getting our two injections and will no doubt be there for us, as we get out booster doses at their new base at Priory House, Chicksands over the coming months.

I attended the Lord Lieutenant’s Service of ‘Thanksgiving, Remembrance and Hope’ last Sunday and I hope Helen Nellis doesn’t mind me quoting from the introduction from her Order of Service where it states ‘We will look forward in hope and build on what we have learnt about the power of Neighbours and communities helping each other and the excellent partnerships that have been formed, which have had such a beneficial impact on how we help make things better’. This really struck home with me, as it just shows that something beneficial can emerge from this dire period in our recent history. Let’s hope and pray that this good neighbourliness continues post pandemic.

I’ve always felt strongly that the charities, voluntary and community groups based in our towns and villages are the glue that binds our communities together. I guess this comes from working in the voluntary sector over the past 20 years, most recently for the countywide charity Community Voluntary Service, that indeed hosts the Volunteer Centre for the area. Not only that, but I’m proud to be Chair of Ampthill & Flitwick Good Neighbours and a trustee of Respite at Home Volunteers – Mid Beds & Ivel Valley and Citizens Advice – Mid Beds. On a daily basis I saw and heard of the extraordinary work of volunteers. Indeed, through work I was tasked with contacting residents across the county that were shielding and in need of provisions and prescriptions. I then connected them with their local good neighbours’ schemes or the multitude mutual aid organisations created by community minded residents of that area, that sprung up in areas not covered by a good neighbour’s scheme. So, I heard directly from those most affected and the gratitude in their voices was so evident as they found out that help was at hand. Good Neighbours Groups and the like, truly were the glue that bound our communities ever closer together during pandemic.

It is so good to see representatives from many of the aforementioned groups present in the congregation today, as we give thanksgiving for their work on our behalf and indeed it will be my honour later to present 5 Rolls of Honour to individuals that have given their service to Ampthill through their volunteering over many years.

So, I end by reiterating my praise and thanks the Town’s volunteers, for giving their time and efforts so selflessly during possibly the most difficult period in Ampthill’s history since the 2^nd World War.

Again, thanks so much for attending today and participating in our service of Thanksgiving for Our Good Neighbours in Ampthill.”