On the Committee

 

Somehow, I have managed to get myself co-opted onto my local village hall committee. It’s a risky move on my part given the no-so-hidden village politics especially regarding the shenanigans of the bowls club. I’ll have to be like Switzerland - neutral, calm and full of Toblerone. Well, perhaps not the Toblerone because I happen to think it’s an abomination of a chocolate bar, but neutrality and calmness will definitely be needed if I am not to wake up one morning to find a dead horse on my doorstep because I dissed the bowling club fraternity. 

The co-opting happened because the village hall is about to enter a much needed redevelopment programme and I thought it would be interesting to get involved with the process. Therefore, a couple of evenings ago, I trotted along to the Annual General Meeting and sat to one side, quietly trying to suss out the mix of village characters and their conflicting politics whilst listening to the riveting financial report, general report and the unveiling of the building plans for both the village hall and the bowling pavilion. I had previously chatted with the chairman of the village hall committee and expressed my interest in maybe being a part of the committee. And I’m not saying he responded favourably in a manner of almost desperate proportions, but he did, because there were three vacancies and, quite frankly, I think if Attila the Hun had shown an interest, he would have been greeted with open arms. 

Anyway, I was duly voted on by two people who had no idea who I was and the next meeting is in the middle of April.

Now, because I regularly walk Nell the Poo through the village on the way to the canal, and am on friendly speaking terms with a lot of the other dog walkers, the day after the AGM found me being accosted by a dog walker of the anti-bowls club brigade, who launched into their interpretation of the content of the AGM in a what I can only describe as verging on the negative side of the debate. I have to say it didn’t wholly match with my memory of events. As our dear late Queen Elizabeth II reportedly said, ‘Recollections may vary.’ Nonetheless, I listened and nodded, and nodded and listened and said that I would raise their concerns at the next meeting. And then I came home and wrote them all down before I forgot. 

I then spent the rest of the day reading a huge government guide about being a village hall trustee. It was an interesting read, despite its length, citing various real-life cases as points of guidance and inspiration. And one of the biggest points the guide made was that the development of village halls invariably involves change and there are often members of the village community who like how things have always been done and are resistant to ANY form of change WHATSOEVER. And it is the job of the trustee to present to those reluctant people the benefits of change and to manage expectations with humour and a certain level of firmness. 

And then I ploughed my way through the recorded comments on the questionnaire that was distributed to the village residents a couple of years ago about what they wanted from the village hall refurbishment. There were a lot of positive and creative comments BUT there was a sizeable undercurrent of sarcasm,  bitterness and negativity which I found rather sad. 

Basically, my own recollection of the AGM and the proposals for the village hall were generally favourable. Yes, I could see where the voices of dissent were coming from BUT I also felt that those voices were picking and choosing what they wanted to hear. I suppose we are all guilty of that to some extent, but I think the committee all want something that will benefit the wider community, whether they play bowls or not. 

It’s all beginning to feel like an omnibus episode of ‘The Archers’…