Community. It’s a word that gets thrown around a lot these days. We all know it’s important…but we don’t always pause to think why. After all, if local community is so important, that begs the question: how do we make a community work in the first place?

It’s well documented that a strong community is something that makes you feel welcome. It makes you feel at home in your own area, knowing that you’re surrounded by people on whom you can rely, who can help you if you’re in a pinch.

With that knowledge acting as a safety net, studies have shown that we feel more supported, more purposeful and less isolated within our communities. And surely that’s all something that we all want to have. After all, there’s nothing more important than the place we call home and feeling secure, welcome and happy there is incredibly important.

In order to foster that sense of belonging, it’s necessary to foster an environment where neighbours are happy to help each other. Bringing practical benefits to the lives of people around you, and having people do the same for you, is the ideal way for communities to come together.

From asking neighbours to look after the cat while you’re on holiday, to sharing gardening equipment, to going for a coffee…it’s the small, everyday things that you do for and with your neighbours that ultimately contribute to making a good community, something which Streetlife’s local social network aim to achieve. The site’s seen lost pets reunited with their owners, helped to catch doorstep scammers, helped isolated people find a new lease of life and helped voluntary groups find people who are willing to give their time to make their community a better place.

It’s impossible to understate the importance of local community. Everyone’s lives get better when we feel at home in our local areas – when we’re prepared to go out of our way to help and be helped by the people who live around us. With organisations like Who London helping to bring people together, the future looks bright for local communities.

Guest blog post by Joe Cockerline from Streetlife, who spoke at our Free Tea & Streetlife Talk event. SEE THE VIDEO AND SOME PHOTOS FROM THIS EVENT!

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