From the far North East to the far South West…

Only across Cornwall that is – but still nearly 100 miles from Bude one week to Helston the next; similar rural and slightly isolated areas… places where the buses don’t run very often. Miss one and you miss the day. Places where being a two-car household is not a sign of wealth but for many a sign of necessity. What a magnificent county, but what a place to try to skip around.

Village Works kicked off in the Helston and Lizard area and the learnings from there have been taken on the road now – Bude the second to feel its magic but these southerly parishes were the first on the scene a few years back now. The first to get the local community marching behind it – formally as in the local council and parishes, and less formally but none the less effectively with local volunteers and employers.

And there are some pretty big employers around here – there’s 1,500 at Culdrose, probably the best known, and over there in the distance are the space probing satellite dishes of Goonhilly, still futuristic even after 60 years peering into night skies. Flambards theme park still lives up to its ‘best day of the week‘ claim for many and is certainly that for those who go into work there with a settled job, though one which for most sadly hibernates in winter.

That’s the way it is around here – a microcosm of much of Cornwall – interesting workplaces though often rather specialised and others utterly seasonal; and all spread out over acres and acres, miles and miles. Real Village Works territory – where Village Works works best.

Here were some of the same exhibitors as we’d met in Bude and others we know very well and haven’t seen for a while, like Pentreath. They have been at the heart of social provision in Cornwall for longer than their ‘inventors’ would care to remember and their steady, caring hand has touched thousand of lives, especially those with, or on the fringes of, mental illness, and as we read every day, it is never far away from any of us especially in these strange times.

First thing to remember – you are not alone. They’re good at all the practical stuff, so there was other information that caught my eye about staying active at home – specifically designed and pulled together for Covid times though relevant especially for the elderly at any time, Sound, practical, easy, effective.

And Pentreath are now at the heart of ‘social prescribing’ provision in the county, shoulder to shoulder with NHS – always working with them, often working instead of them. Typically referred by busy and lateral thinking GPs. That’s what social prescribing does – at the doctor or nurse’s shoulder seeing what else can be done for a troubled individual. Say the word prescribing to most people and they think of pills – ‘take two of these daily after a meal’. But this kind of prescribing may suggest exercise, or crafts, or music or anything that can bring wellbeing benefits; it can go hand in hand with medication or in some cases replace it entirely. And that’s the same with NHS professionals – typically hand in hand but maybe replace too. Another string to Public Health England’s bow, another way to make the best of funding and resources and imagination.

And Village Works naturally find themselves at the heart of all this too – working with Pentreath or others to find other ways of caring for people, boosting their confidence, getting them back on their feet. And it’s never one size fits all – ‘have you thought about’, ‘have you ever’. ‘have you tried’…’join us next week on this’.

And right at the heart of all that I found a real – life Village Coach.

When VW set up they invented 3 key players in the ‘village’…

The village spotter – on the look out for participants and skills training that might just suit them. Matchmakers.

The online support worker – dealing with people online and helping them feel at home in that often daunting techno world too. And…

The village coach – at the heart of it all, knowing it all, understanding it all, joining it all up and making it all tick for as long is required.

Our man here was Andrew Harry and I’d certainly trust him with all that; there are endless personality traits and experiences required in the well-rounded coach, but right near the top would be life experience and local knowledge. Enter Andrew. Twenty years in the Royal Navy having joined aged 17 in 1983 – officer training, engineering, helicopter flying, time in County Hall, trained accountant, sportsman back in the day – still plays that walking football to this day and was suffering with it 3 days later when we met! Gammy knee and he’s a big man to put weight on one of those. And a completely local boy – born, raised, schooled. Known. Dad was the local copper. You begin to see how VW works, how it can replicate some of those relationships that used to work so well.

‘Leveraging the community’ was how he put it, beautifully.

Dave Meneer