From down under to Wales: a journey to re-establish community life

From rural Australia, Marion Pearse is now in a Welsh market town, with a mission to re-establish community life. This is her journey.

Marion, now in her late forties, grew up in a close knit farming community in Victoria. Like so many who possess a range of valuable abilities, she found that academia wasn’t her strength. After school, Marion moved to the City where she developed her skills and rose through the ranks as a personal assistant in Retail. After seven years behind a desk, a light bulb moment told her to travel abroad.

In 1989 aged twenty eight, she sailed for America, working her passage on a cargo ship, that lead to new opportunities in Canada, Alaska and Europe. While working in London her life course altered when she met her husband. Starting a family, and with other changes in their work/life aspirations, in 1995 the family moved to Abergavenny in South Wales, close to her husbands’ family roots.

Often said, yet perhaps not taken seriously by education policy- makers, is that life experience is invaluable for personal development and for building communities. Reflecting on her travel experience, Marion said: “What I learned from being in vulnerable situations is that when I had to exercise trust, people responded to my human need. I call it ‘goodwill currency’ which is a two way street.” Her practical life skills and experience cemented an understanding that, no matter how little we have, we all have something of value to give others. “It is what occurs during human exchange which equips people for life, in a way that algebra cannot.”

Marion’s early years in Wales, with little money and no transport, reinforced her separation from family and friend networks in Australia. “Looking back, She said: I had four very young children and I got very low. I realise now that I had missed out on a sense of belonging which comes from having people to rely on, but who also relied on me.” When she found that her own story was echoed in the lives of other people around her she was inspired to take action so that others might be given a chance to avoid the collisions that lead to the GP and to relationship breakdowns.

The solution comes together, in one space, for the needs of individuals, local groups and small business. The opportunity arose when an infants school came up for sale and local people decided to buy it from the council. She created an enterprise to buy the school from the council, which would not only meet local (changing) needs, but would also generate its own profits that can then be used for the community (known as social enterprise).

The plan creates a place for local people to meet and exchange ideas, time, goods, services and expertise. Emphasis is placed on creating space for socialising because we can all solve our own problems with a bit of support.

The proposed plan offers services ranging from childcare, staffed office and meeting space, a café, rooms for new business and homeworkers (who may also benefit from crèche or nursery provision) right through to a place to offer training for skills development, and provide out of school learning opportunities. Young or old (carers, single parents, couples, families, elders, childminders, grandparents in childcare or happily retired) can all come together to enjoy contact with others and tap into each others’ strengths and experience. In this way we re-establish these informal support networks, which is the stuff that communities are made of and, which if the truth be told, we can all benefit from.

Dealing with a council and blazing a trail brings personal challenges not least explaining a new type of community enterprise – run like a business for community benefit - is new to a lot of people, unlike a charity or a standard community centre. Yet once people are informed, the support is there. Marion’s passion and determination is high, as is increasing local support, because what people see, unlike other initiatives, is that this type of enterprise responds to actual needs - not ticking the boxes of bureaucrats.

Despite the emotional toll on Marion she carries on. She explained: “Modern living is threatening the level of meaningful interactions between people - we have less time for each other outside work and necessary practical tasks. Life is getting busier, people are working longer and this means we can all suffer from having little or no quality family and community time.”

“And while technology connects people and also offers different possibilities it remains from within our comfort zone. It must be, that at some point in our lives, situations occur which will make us test our relationships with other people (like in our street) and if that relationship hasn’t been built up then maybe the connection needed to call for help or to give help just won’t be there.”

Contact Marion on marionpearse@aol.com

Photo by Philip Sims