This is a call...

 on behalf of the small.

We received our projected electricity bill this week. We live in an apartment and, because of a mess up by British Gas when we left them, we are significantly in credit. Even so, the projected figure made me clasp my hand to my mouth in the manner of a particularly stupid young woman who, against good advice, has insisted on going into the woods in the middle of the night and catches sight of something that convinces her that this is not going to end well. Still, we should be ok. Things may need to be put on hold but we should be ok. As long as my job is ok. Because I work for a small charity. Our margins are slim. We'll see.

There's a lot of talk - all of it justified - about how the energy crisis is going to affect pensioners and single mums and the like. This is a shocking time and hopefully, someone who, if they had to, would sell their own mother to retain political power is going to step forward and work out a way to support people who need it. Because the last thing anyone wants is the sight of desperate people taking to the streets or standing on picket lines - am I right? I'm not 100% sure. I quite fancy those who look down on the poor (unless they need their votes) having the wind put up them a bit. 

Yet there is another level in this crisis. A level full of unsung heroes. The people who populate this level may not qualify for price caps or UC payouts, because they are the small groups, the non-corporates, the communities. These people run "Knit and Natter" in the Community Hall. I had to squeeze past a Knit and Natter in the Library last week - they were all plonked in front of the Christopher Fowlers. Just two old ladies and a younger one. They were helping her to cast off and asking her to explain The Masked Dancer. They were all laughing and warm. They were in the Library. It's open every day. But if you meet in a village hall which opens just for you or in a cafe. Will the opportunity still be there when the Parish Council has to weigh up whether they can afford to open and put on the heat and lights for just a handful of people? Or when a small cafe looks at energy bills and decides to open on busy nights only?

Then there are the volunteers. So many things are run on volunteer power. Volunteers were already difficult to get. Society has changed -  there are so many pulls on our time. But when someone who has taken early retirement weighs everything up, they may decide that they have no choice. They can't teach people how to claim benefits because they need to sit on a till and make sure they are financially sound themselves. 

The small charities - run entirely on volunteers - driving people to and from appointments - but the drivers may not be able to do it anymore because fuel is so expensive and because there has been so little government, the long-promised review of the maximum fuel reimbursement still hasn't happened so volunteers just can't afford it. 

The Foodbanks - have seen demand increase and donations decrease. People's kindness stretched to the limit struggling to provide enough suitable food for people who are boiling pasta in their kettles because a pan takes too long. Foodbanks are seeing fewer people wanting to learn reading or maths because - what is the point? Just feeding a family and staying warm is taking all they have.

We depend on this network of kindnesses. Often but not always these things are rooted in faith groups. I have to say though that I have never seen the heart of Jesus easier to sense than I have on a minibus of old people on their way to get their shopping together - laughing, teasing each other, not being alone. I tell you the truth, I saw God more clearly there than in all the massive church meetings I have attended where people are loudly and energetically pledging their allegiance to God or something. 

Someone said to me a few weeks ago that he had decided now to look after his own, his loved ones, his family. I said that, unfortunately, as a follower of Jesus I wasn't given that luxury. I have a call. I'm nothing special. I'm a Christian. I have a call. The two things go together.

This warp and weft of our society. This weaving in and out of each other in small groups, small businesses, small numbers of caring people is under threat now. And I think, if we are not careful, we will soon see the volunteers and the brewers up and the drivers and all those who provide havens against the loneliness and how cold that can be start to fall away and - we may soon see these tiny, unappreciated structures start to buckle and then people will fall through the net - even more than they are now.

We need to make sure the small, the unappreciated, the unglamorous can continue. Lots of people start ministries and things saying that they want it to cover the world and change lives in their millions. There is, however, a lot to be said for sitting in a Community Centre in downtown Farnworth, brewing a hot drink for ladies and gents who, accompanied by Gordon on his accordion, work their way through Elvis's finest moments stopping only to be occasionally convulsed with laughter because "Burning Love" is proving very difficult for Gordon to keep up with. 

It's difficult - even more so at the moment - but by fighting to support the small - we click in back to where we are supposed to be, doing what we are supposed to be doing and noticed by the one who gave us the instruction in the first place.

I’m telling the solemn truth: Whenever you did one of these things to someone overlooked or ignored, that was me—you did it to me. Matthew 25.

Have a good week. (Photo courtesy of Access Plymouth)