Author: Deborah Castellanos
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Event Insurance and What It Excludes
I remember sitting in a drafty church hall back in ’94, watching a lovely woman from the gardening club burst into tears because a rogue folding chair had collapsed during a tea dance. It wasn’t the broken chair that mattered;… Continue reading
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Estate Papers and What Survives
I spent thirty-one years in local government, and if there is one thing that gets my goat, it’s the idea that you need a high-priced consultant or a degree in urban planning to understand your own backyard. People often think… Continue reading
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Borrowing Gazebos and Giving Them Back
I remember sitting in a damp community hall back in ’94, staring at a broken-down marquee and a pile of rusted garden tools, wondering why everyone insisted we needed a massive capital grant just to get a street party off… Continue reading
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Council Tax Discounts People Miss
I remember sitting in a drafty community hall in 1994, surrounded by half-empty tea mugs and a stack of forms that looked more like legal summons than actual help. A lovely woman from the next street over was staring at… Continue reading
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Taking on a Building and What It Means
I remember sitting in a drafty church hall in 1994, listening to a consultant in a sharp suit explain that we needed a thirty-page strategic framework and a professional management firm just to fix the local playground. It was nonsense,… Continue reading
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Turning Down Help Politely
I remember sitting in a drafty church hall back in ’94, staring at a pile of half-finished minutes and a group of people who had all promised to “help out” but hadn’t shown up for three weeks straight. It’s a… Continue reading
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Bins, Emptying and Where It All Goes
I remember standing in the middle of the St. Jude’s Summer Fête three years ago, staring at a mountain of half-eaten sandwiches and sodas spilling out of a single, overflowing bin. It wasn’t just the mess; it was the sheer… Continue reading
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The Charity That Has Run Since 1680
I remember sitting in a drafty village hall back in ’94, staring at a glossy, expensive-looking prospectus from a regional foundation that promised “transformative community impact.” It looked lovely, but when I actually asked to see their breakdown of administrative… Continue reading
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Two Volunteers Who Will Not Work Together
I remember sitting in a drafty church hall in 1994, watching a perfectly good street garden project fall apart not because we lacked funds, but because two lovely women stopped speaking to each other over a disputed seating plan. There… Continue reading
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Finding Someone Good to Talk for an Hour
I remember sitting in a drafty church hall back in the nineties, staring at a tiny budget and a list of names that felt entirely too “professional” for our little neighborhood project. We had been told that if we wanted… Continue reading
