Author: Deborah Castellanos
-
Keeping an Event Free and Still Paying for It
I remember standing in the middle of a community garden cleanup back in ’98, staring at a mountain of single-use plastic bunting and half-empty water bottles that were destined for the landfill before the sun had even set. It’s a… Continue reading
-
Registering Land as a Village Green
I remember sitting in a drafty parish hall back in ’94, watching a perfectly sensible group of neighbours crumble into silence because they were terrified of the paperwork. They thought they needed a solicitor on retainer and a mountain of… Continue reading
-
A Blocked Footpath Is a Council Matter
I remember sitting in a drafty parish hall back in ’98, watching a lovely elderly gentleman try to explain to a council official why he couldn’t reach the chemist because of a collapsed paving slab. The official just handed him… Continue reading
-
The Pub That Was There for Two Centuries
I remember sitting in a drafty community hall back in ’94, watching a lovely group of neighbors fall apart simply because they’d chosen a meeting space that was too loud to hear a single word of the minutes. They thought… Continue reading
-
Field Names Hold Older History Than Streets
I remember sitting in a drafty parish hall back in the nineties, watching a perfectly good community garden project fall apart because the committee spent three months arguing over whether a patch of land should be called “The Meadow” or… Continue reading
-
Volunteering With Your Children Along
I’ve spent thirty-one years sitting in drafty community halls, watching well-meaning people trip over their own feet because they thought they needed a massive charity partnership or a huge budget to make an impact. There is this exhausting myth that… Continue reading
-
Finding Out if That Path Is Public
I remember sitting in a drafty community hall back in ’94, staring at a map that looked like it had been drawn by a toddler with a grudge. A local group was convinced they needed to hire a professional surveyor—at… Continue reading
-
Volunteering Without Leaving the House
I spent thirty-one years in local government, and if there is one thing I’ve learned, it’s that people tend to make community work sound far more complicated than it actually is. You’ll see all these glossy brochures suggesting you need… Continue reading
-
Selling Tickets Without a Platform Fee
I remember sitting in a drafty church hall back in ’94, staring at a stack of handwritten slips and a shoebox that was supposed to be our treasury. We had the best intentions for the street party, but we were… Continue reading
-
Stewarding an Event Properly
I remember standing in the middle of a rain-soaked village fete back in the nineties, clutching a clipboard that had seen better decades, watching three different people try to manage the same tea tent. There was no central list, no… Continue reading
