Honours are thanks for volunteers
TWO volunteers were the recipients of New Year’s Honours from the King over the holidays, both, in their own ways, summing up the kind of contribution a volunteer can have in the island.
One happens to get paid something for it, the other doesn't, but nobody forced either Mike Chapple or Lyndon Trott into it.
In Mr Chapple’s case, he was keen on sailing and felt he would support his own children learning the sport/skill, and others too. Many other sporting volunteers fall into giving such commitment in the same way.
It’s Saturday mornings or Sunday mornings or weekend evenings, and suddenly the children have grown up or given up, but the volunteer sticks to his or her task, doing it for others and for enjoyment.
Deputy Trott’s path is rather different, but some 25 years ago he thought he could make a contribution to the island’s politics, a move people might make for myriad reasons. We shall almost certainly see that this spring.
The commitment for the deputy used to be to do ‘their bit’. Now there are agendas all over the place, while ‘the bit’ rarely seems to get done.
But we need people to put themselves forward, to try to make a difference, to make things better, or at least to make a contribution. As the Bailiff said yesterday: ‘We are incredibly fortunate as a community that so many people volunteer.’