December 20th, 2010<\/p>\n
THE BIG SOCIETY\u00a0<\/strong><\/p>\n It brings out the best in people and not just because it\u2019s Christmas.<\/p>\n The recent weather has been a challenge for us all as we tackle the worst snow in decades.<\/p>\n Whether it\u2019s getting to work, taking the children to school or even just making it along to the shops for the essentials, the snow and the cold weather present a significant challenge.<\/p>\n While it created a logistical nightmare for most of us, some people were impacted more than others.<\/p>\n Pensioners become virtual prisoners in their home as the streets iced over and made walking even the short distance to the shops or a friend\u2019s house impossible.<\/p>\n At times like this, we really learn to value our family, friends and neighbours who I am sure we have all had to rely on over the last couple of weeks.<\/p>\n Picking up the children from a closed school if mum and dad are at work, clearing snow-covered pathways to make them useable again and dropping in a loaf, milk and a paper to an elderly neighbour have all become part of people\u2019s daily routine.<\/p>\n This year, we have heard a lot about the \u2018big society\u2019 from the Tory Government in Westminster.<\/p>\n Well, I am pleased to report it is alive and well in Inverclyde and happens every day whether the Prime Minister claims it as his flagship policy or not.<\/p>\n I see the big society on a daily basis in my community and it is more than just a sound bite for politicians \u2013 it\u2019s a way of life for people.<\/p>\n Have a great festive holiday everyone and remember to be a good neighbour this Christmas.<\/p>\n \n \n \n \n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":" December 20th, 2010 THE BIG SOCIETY\u00a0 It brings out the best in people and not just because it\u2019s Christmas. The recent weather has been a challenge for us all as we tackle the worst snow in decades. Whether it\u2019s getting to work, taking the children to school or even just making it along to the […]<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":1,"featured_media":0,"comment_status":"closed","ping_status":"closed","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[14],"tags":[],"class_list":["post-585","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","hentry","category-holyrood-message"],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/duncanmcneil.com\/wordpress\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts\/585","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/duncanmcneil.com\/wordpress\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/duncanmcneil.com\/wordpress\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/duncanmcneil.com\/wordpress\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/users\/1"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/duncanmcneil.com\/wordpress\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Fcomments&post=585"}],"version-history":[{"count":1,"href":"https:\/\/duncanmcneil.com\/wordpress\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts\/585\/revisions"}],"predecessor-version":[{"id":586,"href":"https:\/\/duncanmcneil.com\/wordpress\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts\/585\/revisions\/586"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/duncanmcneil.com\/wordpress\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Fmedia&parent=585"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/duncanmcneil.com\/wordpress\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Fcategories&post=585"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/duncanmcneil.com\/wordpress\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Ftags&post=585"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}