Who the hell is Lefi ?

Over the last few years a number of research projects have highlighted the importance of ‘community’ in helping to develop an individuals sense of value, place and importance. Unfortunately running alongside the growing understanding of the importance of a sense of community has been social trends that can make people feel increasingly isolated in their lives and their locality

The benefits of a strong community are many fold – a sense of belonging, a sense of pride, a growth in participation, greater level of care for the local environment, shopping locally – strong and resilient communities

Today the BBC publishes a report on loneliness in London. More than a quarter of Londoners say they feel lonely often or all of the time, the same proportion said there was little or no sense of community where they live and a third said they felt they did not know their neighbours.

Last night I had the pleasure to talk about Lefi Ganderson and the Spirit of Seething in helping to combat isolation and encourage community.

Why a little Goat boy is changing Surbiton.

Those of us who live in Surbiton know it as a special place but those who don’t live here or know the area are filled with a strange prejudice. Surbiton, or ‘Suburbiton’ as many call it, has become a shorthand for all that is wrong with the perceived suburbs – parochial, petty and stuck in the past. For others we are ‘The Good Life’ but always Margo and Jerry never Tom and Barbara but many who live believe there is more of the ‘Good’s’ about us than the ‘Leadbetter’s’.

However, we do have problems and one of those is the fact that we are a commuter town. For many Surbiton is the place where they sleep – they work and have their fun in London and come back here worn out. How many times have you heard people say “what’s great about Surbiton is we are 20 minutes to London and 20 minutes to the countryside”. Just think about that. To describe where you live by the speed you can leave it seems odd. Wouldn’t it be nice to have a town where we say “you should come to Surbiton, we are just twenty minutes from London” etc.

Studies show that areas with a high level of commuting can lose their sense of community and sense of ‘place’. In 2009 we started to see if we could encourage those people to get involved locally with some projects that would help people to mix, share and smile. To attact their attention the ideas needed to be fun, sparky – possibly ‘mad’.

We worked to write a new ‘legend’, a local folk tale. It is interesting that when people imagine a past they rarely think of one that is bad. They want an idyllic past where good triumphs over bad, where fair play and justice are seen to be done and where people live together in harmony. That folk tale ‘Lefi Ganderson – the Goat Boy of Mount Seething’ is a story of how one person can make a difference and that at strong community that cares and shares is vital to a healthy life and healthy town. Imagining a positive past challenged those involved to think about their lives today and ask the question – ‘why can’t life be like that now?’

Over the last three years we have held a wide number of regular events ranging from Surbiton Ski Sunday to the Seething Festival, from the Community Sports Day to the Freshwater Sardine Festival, from the Trycyclingathon to The King’s Soup and many more. The numbers attending has grown massively year on year as have the numbers getting involved in putting them on. We want to encourage people to think differently about Surbiton, we want to help people smile and laugh, we want to make that positive past exist now.

Our events are run by volunteers who give their time to make a special things happen. Anyone can get involved in helping and it doesn’t matter if you don’t think you have anything you can offer – it’s about having fun.

But there is a serious side. We want to help develop and support a community that is at ease with itself, a community that wants to engage with each other. Our ambition is live in a town where, if you are walking down the road, you are likely to see someone who you can wave or smile at. When you know your neighbours, when you know people in your community, you no longer just live in a commuter town – you are at ‘home’. Studies show that people who engage with local activity have a greater sense of pride and belonging and are ultimately more fulfilled.

We are delighted that people in Surbiton are now inviting their friends to come and visit our events. It is a great thing to be able to share the fun with other. Our visitors have an entirely different perspective on Surbiton now, their innate prejudices have been overcome. To them Surbiton is a fun place – and they get to appreciate our great local restaurants, pubs and businesses as well. As one person said “I will no longer call it Surburbiton but instead Superbiton”.

2013 will be a busy year for us. Just visit www.seethingwells.org to see what we have got planned and why not join in the fun. Everyone is welcome whatever your age and whatever you think you can give in time, skills and energy. This is not a club, it’s a community that wants to grow so that we can live up the phrase ‘Surprising Surbiton – a place we are proud to live’.

We know a lot of people don't understand what we are doing or why, indeed some people are against it but we hope that we are doing our bit to strengthen our community and strengthen Surbiton's pride. A phrase comes to mind – ‘Don’t talk to the person saying it can’t be done – talk to the people who are doing it’, so in 2013 why not join in and help.

Jarek the Oresemen - a tale of bravery in the face of ridicule

Ancient tales tell of a time before much of our land was discovered. A time when the bravest of tribes would set sail to explore and discover new worlds. A time of adventure and risk, of pain and joy.

One such sect, as recalled in the great book of Lamnes Cumfuld, was the Dextairous. This group would build mighty rowing boats to explore the seas that surrounded them. Under their leader Camronest they set off on many voyages to claim new lands. Unfortunately a profound weakness in them meant little success for the entire clan was right handed and could only row on one side of their boats. As a result they would set off full of hope and high ambition only to, unnoticed by them, merely circle their land.

A combination of stupidity and hope would see them land on their own shores where they would lay claim to the ground and celebrate. Exploration parties would be sent off to map their new kingdom. Soon they would stumble on a village not dissimilar to their own, indeed not dissimilar at all as it was their own village. Often they would attack it only to find they were fighting their own families.

But one in the village was different. One man stood apart. Jarek Sinestrada had been born different to the others. His strange loping gait had marked him out as odd to his family and the rest of the clan from an early age. As he matured it became clearer, he was left handed.

When they set off the explore Jarek would sit on the other side of the boat and row. Now thirty rowers on one side and one on the other made little difference to the direction of the vessel. Camronest and his crew would ridicule Jarek and soon this turned to hate. A hate so strong that on the very eve of The Feast of Garcencher Jarek was taken to a small boat, given a paddle and shunned from the clan.

Bravely Jarek began to row away from the island. As he began to strike out the people looked on in awe and wonder as the boat headed in an entirely new direction. The villagers looked at Camronest and realised that they had been fools to not listen to Jarek. Soon they began to chant in support as Jarek’s mighty arms forced the boat through the high waves to new seas.

They even began to call him a new name, ‘Jarek the Oresemen’. As dusk began to fall and his boat was just a tiny speck in the distance the villagers went back to celebrate Garcencher. All they could talk about was Jarek the Oresemen and what he might find in a new land

Days later Jarek, tired, exhausted and hungry, brought his boat to rest upon a sandy white beach. He fell upon the shore and slept.

Meanwhile his own tribe had decided that Jarek the Oresemen was a true leader. He had asked them to question what they did and what was right. Just because you had always done something one way did not mean you couldn’t change. Camronest was thrown out and new leader elected who promised to be more open to new ideas.

When Jarek had recovered his strength he decided to explore his new found land. For days he walked until, with his food and water almost gone, he saw in the distance, smoke from a fire. Forcing himself forwards, his body cut and bleeding from the rocks and branches, he stumbled into an opening.

For the villagers he was an astonishing sight. Wild hair, bloody skin and wild eyes. He tried to speak but his throat was too dry and all he could do was let out a gutteral screech.

As one, the villagers lifted their arms and pelted him to death with stones. It was only as they dragged the lifeless body to their square that Camronest let the smallest smile fall upon his face.

A Leopard Can Change its Spots

In the jungle, there is one thing that all the animals read; Vague – the greatest, animal fashion magazine in the world.

Each month, its front cover shows what the best-dressed and most fashionable animal is wearing. On the day it comes out, all the animals fall quiet as they flock round to devour the photographs and articles.

All that is, except Anabelle the Leopard. She just wasn’t interested in fashion at all and was very happy being exactly the way she was.

Then, one day, as Anabelle was walking through the jungle, saying good morning to all the other animals, a copy of Vague blew under her paw. It was the February issue and on the cover was a Zebra.

“Oooh,” said the Macaws to Anabelle, “you would look so good in that!”

Suddenly Annabelle began to wonder what she would look like with stripes. “Perhaps I would look better” she thought. As she stared at her own fur, she began to see how uneven her spots were and that there wasn’t really a proper pattern.

As she gazed at the stripes, she thought, “I don’t look as pretty as that Zebra and those stripes are so thinning. I think I should change the way I look so that I am more fashionable and then I will be happier and the other animals will like me more”

Now, if you are a Leopard, there is one easy way to get inside someone else’s skin.

And so, with a growl and a leap and a gnashing of teeth, Anabelle was wearing a Zebra coat...

As she paraded through the jungle, she waited for all the other animals to whistle and shout their appreciation. But they didn’t. In fact, the Monkeys howled at her and the Hyenas laughed until they were hoarse.

Anabelle couldn’t understand what was wrong – she was wearing the most fashionable skin, surely she must look lovely?

In March, the front cover was Parrot. Anabelle looked at the picture with envy – wouldn’t she look good in all wonderful those colours? Maybe it was just stripes that didn’t suit her and anything was better than her tatty spots.

And so, with a growl and a leap and a gnashing of teeth, Anabelle was wearing a Parrot’s plumage.

But no one said she looked lovely. In fact, many of the animals just ran away and hid…

In April a Crocodile was on the cover. “OOOOOh”, thought Anabelle, “I would look so good in that! Feathers were such a ridiculous idea for a figure like mine.’

And so, with a growl and a leap and a gnashing of teeth, Anabelle was wearing a Crocodile’s skin…

In May, June, July, August, September, October and November the same thing happened as Anabelle wore the front cover.

In the jungle, all Anabelle’s friends had started avoiding her because she frightened them but silly Anabelle thought is was because they didn’t like the way she looked. She got more and more worried about her appearance and felt more and more unhappy.

When the December issue was published, Anabelle didn’t even bother to look at a copy. She just knew she was never going to look fashionable. She just lay on a branch feeling very, very sad.

But then, strange things started happening…

Her friends and other animals started coming up to her and saying how good she looked. At first they were nervous but, once they realised that Anabelle wasn’t going to take their skins, they got closer and closer, just like they used to.

Anabelle was confused. Here she was, in her spotty fur and suddenly everyone was saying how fashionable she was!?!

Then she saw it - the cover of Vague. The headline read ‘SPOTS - the fashion for next year!’

Anabelle just didn’t know what to think. Half of her was really pleased to be seen as fashionable but the other half was angry. Why did she need someone else to tell her she looked good?

Then she remembered back to a year before when she didn’t follow fashion. Back then, all the animals had been her friends and she was happy. She didn’t even think about how she looked, it was how she felt that was important, and she had felt happy.

Finally, she spoke;

“Thank you for saying I look pretty and it is nice to hear but what is more important is how I feel about how I look. For a whole year I have tried to look and feel like someone else in the hope of being fashionable. It has taken me a year of being sad to realise that I was, and should be, happy just being me.

I never want to see Vague  Spots, stripes, feathers, fur, skin, red, yellow, green, blue and black doesn’t matter – it’s how you feel inside that’s important and nobody should tell you otherwise.”

So some of us are big and some of us are small,

Some of us are very short and some of us are tall.

That some of us are grey and some of us are pink,

Should make us want to celebrate and should have made me think

That although some of us have feathers and some of us have hide,

It’s not what’s on outside counts but how you feel inside.

From today, I shall be happy in my own skin and with how I look and I will not care what other people might say and I hope you will be the same.”

I know now that a Leopard can change it’s spots – but I would much rather not!”

And, with that, all the animals let out a big cheer and threw their copies of Vague to the ground where Shrews went about tearing them to shreds.

“Ooh” said one Shrew to another “I’ve heard Vague nests are sooooo this season!”…