Last year regular visitors to the site might have picked up that I set myself the challenge of writing a weekly one-page blog which I managed to achieve although it wasn’t always easy. This year we decided to make it a monthly blog and share it around a bit, so you have had pieces from the other three trustees so far this year – but now it’s come back to me.
When you write a weekly blog, you start to develop a flow each week and a regular discipline emerges. With the gap since my last one I’ve found it a bit more difficult this time (this may not go up on the site until the start of May) and I’ve struggled a little to find a theme to write about.
Last year readers may have picked up that some of my blogs became quite personal, perhaps too much so sometimes, and I hesitate to go back down that road, but this charity has become a bit of a personal mission at times, with Jackie who told some of her story very eloquently a couple of months back here: https://wimbledoncommunity.org/blog/a-trustees-view-why-i-enjoy-voluntary-work/, so please forgive me if I return to some of my original themes.
Before I do, you may have picked up that we have had another changeover of staff. Natalie Romero has now moved on to a new full-time job elsewhere (our thanks for all your hard work during your time with us, Natalie) but I am pleased to say we have recently recruited Sarah Carroll in her place. She will introduce herself on the site and in a blog in the coming weeks. Welcome Sarah!
One of the challenges we all have in life from time to time is finding a purpose. Work obviously takes over for a huge chunk of our lives for most of us. I won’t rehash the old debate about ‘working to live’ or ‘living to work’ here, save to say that I know the latter unconsciously became a huge driving force for many years with me until I gradually took a step back from that about a decade ago.
I’ve explained before why I got involved in this charity and the important role that I think it can still fulfil in our local community in connecting people of different backgrounds and interests as well as providing a site of useful information. Sarah is joining us with several ideas on helping develop that further, but we also continue to be on the look-out for new trustees and volunteers willing to expand our mission and extend our reach. Please contact us if you’re interested.
At the end of last year, I said I was planning to take some time out to travel (partly to do research on a family story I want to write). For various personal reasons that hasn’t happened yet, and my various writing projects have also stalled a little, but I am still hopeful it may happen later in the year once I have resolved my various domestic challenges. I may elaborate on that at a later date.
I have written several times before about family connections and how important that has been in my life locally, as well as our journey of discovery bringing up an autistic son. I have recently been reading a wonderful book by John Harris called ‘Maybe I’m Amazed’, about his own personal journey, with his wife, bringing up their own autistic son, James, and their mutual connection with music, particularly the songs of the Beatles.
John and James are about a decade younger than me and my son (Xander is now 26) but the parallels are uncanny, and it really is an emotional rollercoaster of a story. Ironically Xander chose a piece for the Carlton showcase last February for he and I to perform, loosely based on a heart-warming short Pixar animation about autism called Float, where we incorporated a scene based on his own interest in the Beatles, so its relevance to the book has been even more poignant.
Xander recently got a six-month performing contract as a resident singer at The Grand Hotel in Llandudno – his first time away from home – and like any parents going through that we are immensely proud of him but also missing him hugely. Jil (his mum) and I have been separated for a while, so it’s arguably made that ‘empty-nest’ syndrome even tougher – but life moves on.
I’ve recently been given the opportunity to resurrect the lead role in an Agatha Christie play (The Unexpected Guest) that I first performed with Sutton Amateur Dramatic Club 18 months ago with another group even further out of borough so I won’t advertise it here, but two of our Merton based theatre groups are performing locally in the week ending 17 May (Carlton with Richard III, and Parish Players with Ghost Train) so do look out for their productions on the site.
Like so many of us, I still have a burning desire in life to make a difference and like to express that, where I can, through theatre and this charity. Whether that continues to be my over-riding purpose in the months and years to come remains to be seen. Arguably I sometimes use it as a distraction from life’s other challenges, but it’s important that we all find things which bring us joy from time to time.
One thing I used to enjoy that I want to get back to is running – Xander and I used to regularly do the 5k Wimbledon Common Parkrun every Saturday morning. I am always slightly in awe of those who take on the annual London Marathon, and this year I knew of several people who achieved that extraordinary feat. With the heatwave which the country has experienced over recent days, the achievement last Sunday was even more impressive.
One of my other passions (following AFC Wimbledon) has been severely tested in recent weeks, with a drop in form and the club facing a difficult away game on Saturday to stay in the end of season play-offs but such are the trials of being a supporter of a local, lower league, fan owned football club. At such times I always try to remind myself of the achievements that the fans have made to bring our club back home and the amazing work that the club and its charities do locally.
Whatever your passion – and let’s face it we all have stories to tell – please don’t hesitate to drop us line at general@wimbledoncommunity.org to tell our local community about things that give you a purpose, a desire to make a difference, or simply bring you joy. We’d love to hear from you!
Written by David Hall
Chair of the Wimbledon Community Association