Author: Deborah Castellanos
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Writing a Grant Application for Four Hundred Pounds
I remember sitting in a drafty church hall back in ’94, staring at a pile of grant forms that looked more like legal contracts than community tools. A well-meaning neighbor was convinced we needed a professional consultant and a three-year… Continue reading
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Thanking People in a Way That Lands
I remember sitting in a drafty church hall back in ’94, watching a committee chair hand out those flimsy, mass-produced “Thank You” certificates to a group of people who had spent the entire weekend scrubbing graffiti off the local playground.… Continue reading
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Three Minutes at a Planning Committee
I remember sitting in a drafty community hall back in the nineties, watching a well-meaning neighbour try to explain why a new playground was needed. He had a heart of gold, but he spent ten minutes rambling about the local… Continue reading
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Digitising a Parish Archive
I remember sitting in the drafty basement of the old parish hall last autumn, surrounded by the smell of damp paper and decades of forgotten dust. I was staring at a stack of handwritten minutes from 1974, realizing that if… Continue reading
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Turning Up to a Council Meeting
I remember sitting in the back of a drafty community hall in 1994, clutching a lukewarm tea and watching three councillors debate a park bench for forty minutes while the actual residents sat in stifling silence. It felt like watching… Continue reading
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Storing Photographs So They Last
I was sitting in my attic last Tuesday, surrounded by a stack of crumbling cardboard boxes that smelled faintly of damp wool and old dust, when I realized something devastating. I had found a handful of snapshots from the 1950s… Continue reading
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Why Volunteers Leave
I remember sitting in a drafty church hall back in ’94, watching a perfectly good community garden project crumble simply because the three people running it felt completely unappreciated. They weren’t looking for fancy awards or glossy newsletters; they were… Continue reading
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Group Accounts Anyone Can Check
I remember sitting in a draughty church hall back in ’94, watching a lovely woman named Mrs. Higgins try to explain a three-page spreadsheet to a room full of confused neighbours. She had spent forty pounds on a professional accounting… Continue reading
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A First Day That Makes Someone Come Back
I remember sitting in a drafty community hall back in ’94, watching a lovely woman named Mrs. Higgins walk out the door after twenty minutes of silence. We had no plan, no notes, and no idea how to actually welcome… Continue reading
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Serving Alcohol at a One Off Event
I remember sitting in a drafty community hall back in ’98, watching a lovely group of neighbours crumble into tears because they thought they needed a professional event planner and a massive legal team just to host a summer fete.… Continue reading
