‘Fried Green Tomatoes at the Whistle Stop Café’ is about brave women in Alabama USA during the Depression; a recent chance viewing on TV set several themes running – particularly the ending: “After Ruth died and the railroad stopped runnin’, the café shut down and everybody just scattered to the winds. It was never more’n just a little knockabout place, but now that I look back on it, when the café closed, the heart of the town just stopped beatin’. It’s funny how a little place like this brought so many people together”.
Possibly from the culture of my family tribe, I think I’ve always been aware of the power of a successful café: a clean, warm, friendly gathering place, with good food/coffee at the heart of its community. But I was a ‘driven’ young man – headed out, I thought, for the ‘big time’; I wanted more than the restricting obscurity of café life. That’s understandable, I suppose, but 50 years later, I have a very different evaluation of creating a good café. The passage above, about the closure of the Whistle Stop Café, has a poignancy for me that must come from my history.
The stories I prefer now are about people who have done nothing spectacular; aren’t beautiful or lucky; who accept, without rancour, that the so-called ‘big experiences of life’ are going to miss them. They try to behave well, in a limited field of activity, knowing that it’s the small mundane things that really matter – and simple kindness.
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In their joint report this week, Unison Scotland and the Jimmy Reid Foundation are calling for a fundamental review of how local govt. is funded in Scotland – what they call a ‘fairer system’. Council budgets were once raised 50/50 from Central Govt and local taxation; now it’s 85% from Holyrood, which, in a period of austerity, continues to diminish the quality and delivery of vital public services. The Unison/JRF Report favours a more progressive tax system, based on the ability to pay. Lead author, Prof. Mike Danson says: “It’s economically efficient and effective to shift the tax burden to property and land owners and away from the Council Tax’. Some comments from the Herald.
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I usually watch Andrew Marr on Sundays and caught his interview with Labour MP, David Lammy. Like Michael Heseltine on Channel 4 News – I dislike and distrust extreme views and language – and fully expected to reject Lammy’s comparison of the Tory ERG group to Nazis – but his position seemed perfectly reasonable to me. When Marr said that ERG members were elected – he replied: “I don’t care how elected they were – so was the far right in Germany.” Heseltine says that the rise of the far right in the 1930s was driven by economic stagnation – rather like just now.
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It’s surely a glimpse of the future – that Luxembourg is set to become the first country in the world to make all its public transport free. Even when all cars are zero emissions/automated – congestion will require us to share vehicles; transport as a universal public service. Also, this week, a report by the Scottish Human Rights Commission, argues that the basic human right to food should be made directly enforceable in Scots Law. We produce a massive food surplus – but distribution/access are over-influenced by poverty – resulting in stark inequalities in people’s health. We can do this better.
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Surprised how affected I was by the burning of Notre Dame Cathedral – even a wee sob: perhaps I thought that its ‘status’ placed it beyond the reach of such earthly events. Macron’s speech captured the significance of this building to France: “….so I solemnly say tonight – we will rebuild it together”.
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This is most of a poem, The Cathedral Builders, by John Ormond (full poem).
They climbed on sketchy ladders towards God, with winch and pulley hoisted hewn rock into heaven, inhabited the sky with hammers, defied gravity, deified stone, took up God’s house to meet him…saw naves sprout arches, clerestories soar, cursed the loud fancy glaziers for their luck, somehow escaped the plague, got rheumatism, decided it was time to give it up, to leave the spire to others, stood in the crowd, well back from the vestments at the consecration, envied the fat bishop his warm boots, cocked a squint eye aloft, and said, ‘I bloody did that’.
Our SE Strategy for Scotland (2016) states that social enterprise is a distinct part of a broader movement that includes ‘socially responsible businesses’ (SRBs) – such as B Corps; mission-led/locked businesses etc. Such SRBs are to be welcomed and, whilst essentially operating for private profit, look to balance this with a commitment to increasing their social impact across the wider economy. They also attract significant interest from support organisations, north and south of the border, via initiatives such as SIS Ventures; FirstImpact; Scotland Can Do and, a new one down south, Purposely. Part of the appeal of SRBs to our support and investor community is, of course, their perceived potential and desire for growth – and the returns they could generate. SRBs and social enterprises may have the shared goal of increasing ‘social impact’ – but their ways and means of achieving this are very different. Muhammad Yunus, in his 2010 book, ‘Building Social Business’, is very clear on this ‘distinction’.
NOTICES: We can’t flag all notices here, but more jobs, events and tenders available on our website.
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Next Friday (26th April 2019) will see the launch of the 4th Edinburgh Social Enterprise Strategy – adding to the growing list of local SE Strategies across Scotland. A ‘Social Enterprise Strategy for Scotland’s Capital (2019-23)’ has been developed in partnership with local social enterprises, the wider third sector as well as the public, private and education sectors. The event will include ‘The History of SE in Scotland’, a travelling exhibition developed as part of the SE Collection (Scotland) – and will also mark the 5th birthday of ‘Buy The Good Stuff’, Edinburgh SE’s locally devised brand to raise the profile of SE in the city – and which recently has also been adopted by Forth Valley SEN. See event details.
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The SE Census 2019 is now underway and Social Value Lab is asking folk to fill in their SE Census 2019 Survey. It’ll take 10/15 mins to fill in – but we’d ask that you spare a bit of time to do so. In order to build a consistent picture and observe the various trends across our sector – the more folk who fill it in the better. Your support in this is very much appreciated. All info treated in strictest confidence.
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Further to last week’s story on Community Land Scotland (CLS) – news this week that CLS will be holding its 2019 Conference at Sabhal mor Ostaig on the Isle of Skye on 21st/22nd June. The Conference’s theme will be: ‘Making Community Landownership Mainstream: Next Steps on Scotland’s Land Reform Journey’. You can book your place via the link above. Meanwhile, Scottish Govt has opened a consultation on its National Islands Plan that will look to build on what works well on Scottish islands as well as addressing the challenges faced by islands and their communities. The consultation closes on 6th July 2019.
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Still on the theme of community ownership, the Herald ran a story a week or two back charting some success stories from across the country where communities have rallied round – using community shares schemes to save existing or invest in new services – from shops facing closure, fledgling distilleries, hydro power plants to struggling sports clubs. Community Shares Scotland has helped 26 communities raise over £12m.
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This week’s bulletin profiles a social enterprise – based in Perth – with a bit of a difference. Adventure Circus emerged out of the Perth Gymnastic Club and looks to provide a variety of circus-related activities that can appeal to the whole community. Set up in January 2015, Adventure Circus’ activities include workshops, taster sessions, juggling and balance classes – as well as being available for hire to perform at events, conferences etc. More recently, Adventure Circus also won the social enterprise growth award and attended the inaugural Tay Cities social enterprise awards ceremony in Dundee.
