Norman Bettison: A true sense of community that can help us all have a better life

THE word "community" is in common use these days. The Police Service, for example, has a focus on community safety; while community health care and community housing, are central to services that used to be delivered by hospitals and "The Corporation".

There are political debates about whether community, and its bedfellow "society", exist at all. I am sceptical of the use of the word simply because it is in vogue if there are no distinguishing features in the policy or service provided. A Community Bank, for example, may be a clever marketing ploy to make the provision of financial services sound more homely.

So, what are the distinguishing features of true community? In my book there are two things. Firstly, to have a "community" anything there must be an identifiable group of people who can influence and access a service that is co-terminus with the defined population. It must, in other words, involve both a service to, and an accountability to, a defined population.

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The second thing that it should engender is a mutuality of interest and support. These two features of community are a part of the human condition. All of us want to belong, we want to have some local control over our lives and we want to care and be cared for in return. It is not easy to engineer these arrangements on a national or even regional basis.

Each year in the run-up to Christmas, this newspaper, that binds us all as Yorkshire folk, runs an appeal for communities in need.

In spite of current austerity and financial hardship, I'm sure the community of Yorkshire will respond to help those in need. This represents the real spirit of community, caring and providing for our neighbours.

In this fabulous county of ours there is still relative poverty and real need. A proportion of pensioners struggle to heat and maintain their homes in winter. Still, too many children do not experience "the joy of Christmas" that most of us take for granted. Well done to the Yorkshire Post and well done to its readership for doing something about that. I have the privilege of being a Trustee on something called a Community Foundation. Yet another body with the word "community" in its title. Given that this year's Yorkshire Post appeal is in conjunction with the Community Foundations of the region's towns and cities, I thought it might be helpful to say something about our work.

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I am a trustee of the Community Foundation for Wakefield District. The seven Community Foundations throughout Yorkshire are all very similar in their ideals. We are a grant-making charity that has a focus across a very local community.

We raise funds within that community, and target grants to make a genuine difference to the lives of local people. Because Community Foundations understand their local area, they can ensure that a donor's money goes where it is most needed.

It is this very local commitment to caring and easing hardship that prompts many local authorities to use the community foundation in their area as a vehicle for targeting relief. All kinds of donors are courted within the community – individuals, companies, charitable trusts, local authorities and Government agencies.

This joint initiative with the Yorkshire Post is an exciting development. The money raised will be divided among the seven Community Foundations in the county. There are some auction prizes including tickets to a Yorkshire County Cricket Club match; a cookery course in Halifax; a tour of the Emmerdale set and a champagne tea at Goldsborough Hall, near Knaresborough to name just a few.

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Today I am pleased to announce one more unique auction prize – a day out with West Yorkshire Police including lunch with the Chief Officers of the Force. It is another means of making ourselves accountable to the public. As well as bidding for the auction prizes, readers can also donate directly to their local Community Foundation through the Yorkshire Post.

I have described why the Community Foundations exist – 95 per cent of the population of Britain is embraced by one of the 55 local Community Foundations; and how the Foundation receives its donations. If we do not have donors, we do not have a Foundation. If local companies or individuals currently undertake fundraising and are looking for a charity that makes a real difference locally then they could develop their own grant programme through the Foundation. Individuals can also make legacy commitments to sustain the very community that has nurtured them throughout life.

Each of the Foundations is particularly keen to meet the minuscule operational costs through such endowment funds. The one paid member of staff on the Wakefield Community Foundation needs to be sustained so that the Foundation continues to make a difference in perpetuity. Not a single penny is taken from charitable donations to meet this administrative cost.

The important part of the story that remains to be told is the kind of difference that your local Community Foundation can make. One example is relieving pensioner hardship: Reconnect Wakefield received 22,000 last year to support a befriending scheme, a number of luncheon clubs, grocery shopping services and household maintenance for all elderly residents in West Wakefield. In Leeds, the community foundation there, together with grants from West Yorkshire Police Trust and the Home Office, has created a project called KICK (karate for inner city kids). Young people learn self-discipline, respect and the importance of a healthy lifestyle as well as boosting their self-esteem. The project changes behaviour.

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Yorkshire newspapers regularly carry stories of local philanthropy and compassion, stories of people looking out for their neighbour. The seven Community Foundations in Yorkshire are doing this on your behalf for 365 days of the year, not just on the Feast of Stephen, as in the legend of Good King Wenceslas.

Christmas, which coincides with St Stephen's Day, is an appropriate time to highlight local needs. The Yorkshire Post Communities in Need Appeal, in conjunction with the Community Foundations of Yorkshire and the Humber, represents a wonderful opportunity for giving – and an opportunity too, remember, to have lunch with the Chief of Police.

Sir Norman Bettison is Chief Constable fo West Yorkshire Police.