Author: Deborah Castellanos
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Where to Go About Housing
I remember sitting in a drafty community hall back in the nineties, watching a young mother try to navigate a mountain of official forms just to keep a roof over her children’s heads. She wasn’t looking for a miracle; she… Continue reading
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Laying Out Stalls So People Walk Past All of Them
I remember standing on a windswept corner in Northfield back in ’94, watching three different local groups try to run their own little craft markets on the exact same Saturday. There was no coordination, no shared map, and certainly no… Continue reading
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The Nhs Complaints Route
I remember sitting in a drafty community hall three years ago, listening to Mrs. Higgins sob because her local clinic had simply stopped returning her calls. She had spent weeks trying to navigate those labyrinthine online portals and “patient experience”… Continue reading
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When the Volunteer Does Not Arrive
I remember sitting in a drafty church hall back in ’94, staring at a half-empty table and a pile of unfiled invoices because our treasurer had suddenly decided to move to Spain. There was this panicked, whispered feeling in the… Continue reading
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Booking a Band for a Village Event
I remember sitting in a drafty church hall back in ’94, staring at a clipboard and a very confused local folk trio, wondering why we had spent three hours arguing over a rider for organic cider when we hadn’t even… Continue reading
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A Rota That Survives Illness
I remember sitting in a drafty village hall back in ’94, watching a perfectly good community garden project fall apart simply because three people had promised to weed the beds, but nobody had actually written down who was doing what.… Continue reading
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Managing People Who Are Doing You a Favour
I remember sitting in a drafty church hall in 1994, clutching a lukewarm cup of tea and watching a well-meaning woman dismantle our entire floral display because she “felt it lacked spirit.” There was no HR department to call, no… Continue reading
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Delegating Without Dumping
I remember sitting in a drafty church hall back in the nineties, staring at a mountain of damp flyers and a lukewarm pot of tea, feeling my heart sink because I was the only one actually doing anything. I had… Continue reading
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Moderating a Local Group Without Making Enemies
I spent thirty years in local government watching well-meaning neighborhood projects wither away, and most of them died for the same reason: they tried to do too much, too fast, without a proper paper trail. Nowadays, people think that learning… Continue reading
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Captions of Forty Words
I remember standing in a drafty community hall during my final year in local government, watching a lovely local photography display go completely ignored. The talent was immense, but the little white cards next to the frames were filled with… Continue reading
