Coping With The New Reality...

Since the lifting of lockdown and the slow reopening of services and the incremental shift to ‘normality’ its becoming apparent things are not what they once were and many of the people accessing our service are vociferous in their unhappiness. For example, every day we get calls or visits from veterans expressing their concerns about the withdrawal from Afghanistan, the threat of terrorism, empty shelves in supermarkets, food poverty, difficulties in getting fuel for motor vehicles (especially for those registered disabled) Hospital waiting lists, delays in repeat prescriptions, the inability to get certain prescribed medication, difficulty getting to see a GP, traffic jams, road works, lack of dental appointments and access to NHS dentists, delays in getting cancer treatment, mental health counselling, restrictions on international travel and holidays, relationship difficulties, problems parenting, redundancy, the increase in the cost of living, tax, unemployment, Personal Independence Payments withdrawn, increase in gas and electricity costs, worries about leaving the EU, debt, domestic violence, how to access flu-jabs, vaccine booster jabs and the lack of social housing.

They also worry that the UK Military are having to be called in to prop up services such as lorry driving and fuel deliveries, helping at vaccination centres and driving ambulances instead of doing what they are paid for … protect the country.

All of which causes psychological distress and emotional instability especially amongst those who are lonely and isolated and struggling to adjust to life after lockdown. Throughout the last 18 months there has been a pervading sense of ‘lost trust’ in Government and local leadership, simply because the rhetoric just isn’t meeting the reality. As such many feel that their standard of living and quality of life has decreased significantly causing increased anxiety for the future … So, where is all this going? No one knows. Yet the third sector continues to deliver, punching way above its weight and often with no increase in funding. It really is time to adopt a ‘ Asset based community development (ABCD) approach. ABCD is a localised and bottom-up way of strengthening communities through recognising, identifying and harnessing existing 'assets' (i.e. things like skills, knowledge, capacity, resources, experience or enthusiasm) that individuals and communities have which can help to strengthen and improve things locally. Instead of looking at what a community needs or lacks, the approach focuses on utilising the 'assets' that are already there.

The approach facilitates the empowerment of individuals and communities by helping them to identify and share their strengths and then work together to create their own social innovations. We say…bring it on!