A Year Ago

Just about a year ago, I embarked on the challenge to bring the Great British Community project to life. And during that year, I have been overwhelmed by the positive messages, feedback and support that I have received. That’s not to say that it’s been easy, far from it in fact, I think the best way to describe it is as a rollercoaster ride of immense highs and ridiculous lows, all within 5 seconds of each other.

But now, it has taken shape, the plan is formed, we have a website, we have an office (thanks to the Coexistence Trust), we have a team of amazing advisors, and statements of support from individuals and organisations from all sorts of backgrounds.

There is one more year to go, before we fully launch this project to the public. And there is a lot to do in that year. We will need to find a sponsor, find games creators, make films, get more supporters on board, develop our research, create the most amazing website, get the media on board, develop an education pack, launch our art project, and just a few more things. But it’s going to happen, watch this blog for more regular updates.

Being British

Every day I walk around London, a city I was born and brought up in, there is something that makes me smile. Whether it's the name on a curtain makers shop - Peter the Pleater, or the sign on the Italian take away saying 'don't fogetti, we now do spaghetti' there is something that will always bring a smile to my face. I'm not sure if it's familiarity, or the fact that so much resonates with my personal sense of humour, but this is home. It's my city, my country, my way of life.

But this has made me think about what does it mean to be British? Is it the humour, is it the football, is it the pub culture, or is it just that this is where I choose to live?

I am British, and I am proud of being British. Not in some xenophobic, blinkered sort of way, but in the way that I belong here, and as much as I am a part of Britain, Britain is a part of me.

And my parents were also British, yet my grandparents were Polish immigrants, so I suppose I’m part Polish as well. And on the other side of the family, we seem to come from so many other countries, that technically I’m also part Spanish, part German and part Dutch. A true European mongrel.

This has got me thinking about what it means to be British, but not just to me, but to everyone else who is British, and by British, all I mean is anyone who has British citizenship. It doesn’t matter if they can trace their ancestry to the signing of the Magna Carta, or can trace their ancestry back 5 years. All of us who are a part of this country, who contribute, who make this place our home, are British.

But that doesn’t mean that we all feel the same sense of belonging or ownership that we could, so how can we make everyone feel happy to be, proud to be, deserving to be.... British? Well for me, the answer lay in developing this project – the Great British Community project. By getting the public to nominate those people who have contributed to society today, we will end up with a picture of Britain in 2012 that is made up of people from all different backgrounds, and so directly show the benefit that diversity has made, and how much we all belong. Sounds simple doesn’t it?!