Craigentinny Community Fair

On Saturday I spent a couple of hours at the Craigentinny Community Fair down in my ward. For many years the Fair was an annual event but this was the first one for 12 years.

There was the usual gala king and queen, music, food and activities for kids. I was given the great honour of judging the glamorous granny, great granny and bonny baby competitions. A classic no-win situation for me!

What was excellent was that it was a genuinely locally organised event. The committee was all local volunteers supported by the community education worker. Their driving motivation was simply to celebrate our community and they did so in style.

These events are always much more than who win what competition. They build what academics call “social capital” and what you and I might call “a strong community who look out for each other”.

In a world where communication is instant and the global village is a reality, our relationships with our neighbours are often limited. Yet its those relationships that can make the difference about a community feeling safe, feeling strong, feeling cared for, feeling prosperous.

You can’t buy that, but its value is immense.