Month: August 2013

St. Ives and seals (or sea-lions)

We, my family, the in-laws and I, spent a glorious Bank Holiday weekend at St. Ives in Cornwall. After doing a key exchange with my neighbours so they could look after Tin Tin, the cat, whilst we were away, we were off.

We had to exchange keys as we had taken care of their guinea pig, Lily, before the weekend. That had been a concern as Lily had been to the vet a number of times prior to us looking after her. I was worried that the hormonal Lily, who was overheating and had to have an ice pack in her cage day and night would not make it and I didn’t want her to expire on my watch. Fortunately we left her in good health as we set off on our long weekend.

St. Ives has a beautiful little harbour that is quite unspoilt. The resort still has a feel about it that must have been there in Victorian times. When the tide is out you can walk and paddle in the harbour itself but there is also a lovely long and wide beach next to the harbour.

My babies loved paddling in the sea and building sandcastles on the beach. No other entertainment was needed. On one of our evenings we had a Cornish pasty al fresco. Just as the babies were tucking in to their pastry we were joined by a gang of sea gulls who, given half a chance, would have run off with our dinners.

sealsThe evening was completed by a walk up the quay where fishermen were bringing in their catch. As we walked along we noticed huge eyes looking up at us from the sea. The seals (or sea-lions, I don’t know the difference) were seemingly waiting for easy pickings from the fisherman. The whole family of 4 seals came up for a feast which they never got. Children in wet suits were jumping off the quay for fun and neither the children nor the seals were bothered by the presence of the other. It was lovely to watch.

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How to engage with the local community?

My family and I took a walk in Grovelands Park over the weekend. We had a lovely time visiting the playgrounds, watching the wildlife, playing ball and eating ice lollies.I met a lady with her 3 year old son who attends the playgroup that I also attend with my 2 year old twins and we enjoyed a catch up chat.

I mention this because as we chatted it became obvious that she did not know anything about the concept proposal by Enfield Council for a new school in the land adjacent to Grovelands Park. Admittedly these proposals are in the very early stages and it will not go ahead without the approval of English Heritage however this is something that directly affects this lady and her son and she has no knowledge of it. She will be applying for a primary school place this autumn and visits Grovelands Park recreationally.

How can we reach mothers with young children so that they are aware of news that they need to know of? I assume that details of this new school proposal will not go out in the School Pack that Enfield Council will provide to the parents of primary school aged children this year.

I know that many mothers use social networking, as I do, but do I find out information that I feel is life affecting through Twitter or Facebook? For me that is a resounding No.

I am a committee member of the Fox Lane and District Residents’ Association and we need to attract the younger community, such as young mothers to join up. When members join our association they receive a newsletter and weekly email updates of local news. News that mothers should know about such as schools, local projects and the like.

Unfortunately Residents’ Associations tend to attract mainly older citizens which means that the whole community is not represented and an emphasis is put on things that may not interest younger generations. On the plus side I can say that being a member of FLDRA makes me feel very young even though I am middle aged.

An issue does exist of how to engage with all members of the local community.