I have a friend, Jem, who is a juggler. He’s very good at it. I’m not. I’m a rubbish juggler. I’ve tried it. I’ve even tried quite hard, so I’m aware of how difficult it is to tell jokes while juggling, juggle fruit of amusingly different shapes and sizes, juggle on stilts. It’s very hard …
As a boy, I was a member of the 2nd Headstone Scout Group. I was a cub, a scout and a Venture Scout. I made friends and I misbehaved. I learned to camp, make a fire, climb a hill, clean my shoes, paddle a canoe, chop wood, make plaster-casts of animal tracks, sharpen a knife, …
This summer I didn't have a 'summer holiday'. I camped for a couple of days each in Wales and Dorset. I visited friends for a couple more, and I volunteered at a festival. In every case, someone shared. Some friends shared their garden for camping and others their house for more refined sleeping. To prove …
Community is a tricky idea these days. Surveys tell us we no longer know our neighbours and TV tells us that, when we do, they are very often ‘from Hell’. Online communities are elusive and shifting. The Guardian reported recently that ‘Facebook is now dead and buried to teenagers’. But politicians like the word ‘community’. …