One of the best ways to give yourself a sense of purpose in life is by getting into a cause that is beyond just you, and focuses on the wellbeing of others. A lot of this can be done through our various community groups as we come together and play our part in impacting our society through social action.

The reality is that there are very many people in need out there, from the homeless, to refugees, to victims of violent crimes and so on. The list is usually endless. This article is meant to encourage us as members of the Havering Borough Community to come together in unity and involve ourselves in services geared towards improving our society.

I will therefore look at four ways in which we can bring our community together through social action.

We need to work on forming better collaboration

As a community where we have a significant number of successful business entities, fully functional government facilities and well as vibrant civil society organizations, we need to focus on bringing together these different entities as well as involving the wider community to tackle some of the various social problems that we face today. It’s a no brainer that there is always strength in unity therefore we need to make use of our joint resources to bring social change.

We need to tackle the stereotypes

One of the greatest modern day challenges that we face are terrorism and extremism, refugees, unemployment and violent crime among others. Whereas we at Havering Borough Community have been spared of some of the negative effects of these social problems, we can’t burry our heads in the sand and assume they will never get to us, we need to be proactive in tackling them and this will involve tackling the stereotypes associated with such problems.

There is need for a common ground

One of the challenges about communities made up of so many diverse people is that they can rarely reach a common ground. Different people will often have different priorities and you therefore can’t make them commit to an activity that doesn’t fall into their priority list. This is why involving the community in social action is a good start because the social problems that we all face give us a common ground to stand on.

There is need for unity

As the saying goes, people who tend to walk alone will walk fast however those who walk with others will walk far. This is very applicable in a community setting because if we decide to live as individuals within our communities then we can be guaranteed that we will be overwhelmed by our problems however if we live united as one within our communities, we will be more stronger in tackling the social issues that we face therefore creating a more conducive environment for us to live in.

I look forward to a scenario where each and every member of the Havering Borough Community comes together in unison through social action so that we can have a better community to raise our children and their children’s children.

Even though most of us may have busy schedules that may prevent us for actively participating in such causes, it may be a good idea to enroll our kids so that they can grow up knowing the benefits of social action.

I trust this has been an eye opening read.

In my previous post, I looked at the benefits that small businesses bring to a community and I believe that there is no dispute that small businesses have tremendous value. It’s however important to point out that whereas they may be of value, not all small businesses end up being successful.

That’s the reason why I am choosing to write this article so that I can share with you a couple of tips on how you can start a successful small business in your community.

Here are 5 tips for starting a small business.

1 You need to start a business that you are sure will work

One of the major challenges when it comes to starting small businesses is the transition from a business concept in your head to an actual living and breathing business. In many occasions the excitement of having a business idea in our heads may prevent us from actually assessing whether or not the idea will work. It’s therefore advisable that we first test out the idea to see whether it works before we invest our hard earned money into the business.

2 You need to ensure that your business solves a problem in the community

One of the ways to guarantee that your business will get customers is if you are sure that the business you are forming will help solve a problem that the community has been experiencing. Businesses formed out of necessity tend to grow into successful businesses because customers will always see the value of the services that you are offering. However, if there’s no apparent problem your business will be solving then you better think twice about it.

3 You need to ensure that your customers will be willing to pay for your services

When you have decided on a small business to start, you have ensured it works and that it solves a problem, the next step is finding out whether your customers who are mostly your community members will be willing to pay for services. It makes no sense to have a good business that customers will not be willing to spend money on. It’s therefore very important for you to package your business in such a way that customers will see value and be willing to comfortably spend their money.

4 You need to ensure that the market is substantial

Without a substantial market then there is no point in starting a business. Just because it’s a small business doesn’t mean that it doesn’t need a large market. You must therefore ensure that whichever business it is you are starting, there must be more than enough customers within your community to ensure that your business is sustainable. It’s also a good idea to consider having an online option so that you can reach out to customers beyond your community.

5 You need to ensure that you have passion for the business

Running a business is never easy and can be full of ups and downs which may end up being very stressful at times. The reality is that if you are not passionate enough about what you are doing then chances are high that you will not have the motivation to fight on through the challenges. You must therefore ensure that you are motivated to do the business out of a passion for it as this will come in handy down the road.

If you are a person looking to start a small business in your community then the above insights will act as a good guide for you. If you can check all the boxes then you are good to go. Just as a recap, get your idea, ensure its practical and it serves a need, it’s affordable and your customers are willing to pay for it, and lastly, ensure you are passionate about it.

We wish you all the best in your entrepreneurship journey.

The Havering platform’s key goal is to bring together community members and business people from the Havering Borough Community in a central platform where they can mutually benefit from each other. This is done based on the realization that our small businesses are struggling to get to customers whereas our community members are struggling to get quality services.

The overall idea is to enhance the growth of our small businesses so that they not only offer quality services but also help build our local economy.

In this article, I am going to look at the 4 key ways small businesses can benefit a community.

Small businesses are a way of keeping community members involved in local economic growth

One of the key things about having small businesses in a community is that they help in enhancing local economic growth. This is because the money the community members spend on the business tends to circulate back into the local economy. This may be through creation of employment opportunities, sponsorship of local events, sponsorship of academic programs, and so on. Most responsible owners of small businesses make it a point to give back to the community.

Small businesses are a way for communities to have an identity

In each and every community, there are usually those businesses that help give the community a sense of identity by offering services that are only unique to that community. Most of these businesses are formed out of necessity because they solve a community need that they happen to be the best at solving. These could range from antiquities, a veterinary shop, a bakery, and so on. This usually helps in giving the community character.

Small businesses enhance a service delivery

One of the biggest benefits of small businesses is that because they predominantly serve members of the community, there is a very high likelihood that the business owners get to know each of their customers by name. This therefore enhances service delivery because when a business owner knows each of their customers personally, they will strive to keep offering them the best service because they don’t want to damage their standing in the community.

Small businesses are good for the environment

At a time when there is a lot of clamor to help tackle global warming by reducing greenhouse gas emissions, small businesses can be one of the best solutions because by virtue of being local, community members can be encouraged not to use their cars when going shopping and instead cycle or walk to the local shop. This is a great way to reduce vehicle emissions into the environment and in the long run give a community a sense of participation in improving the environment.

With all these benefits and many more that I may not have mentioned such as increased job opportunities, fostering a culture of entrepreneurship and so on, the benefits of promoting small businesses in a community can’t be overstated.

After reading this, you probably now have a better appreciation as to why platforms such as Havering are a no brainer. I trust that you are already making use of this valuable platform.

I strongly believe that for Havering Borough Community to grow into a tight knit community there is need for us to embrace a number of community services that will help enhance social cohesion. In this time when we need to boost our local economy, enhance our security and grow our community into a desirable place for residents, the need for social cohesion can’t be overemphasized.

In this article, I am going to look at 4 ways to enhance social cohesion through embracing community services.

1 It enhances our desire to want to give back

As members of our community, there’s not a greater feeling than that of wanting to give back to your community through service. This doesn’t just benefit us in the long run but will also benefit our kids and their kids especially if they choose to live their lives in this community just as most of us do. Embracing this sense of social responsibility with the desire to work together to uplift our community is the best decision one can ever make.

2 It helps us instill good values on our children

There’s nothing that makes a parent proud like raising up kids with good values. One of the best ways to achieve this is through involving them in community service. Letting kids know that working hard should not be just about becoming successful but that they can also work hard in the service of others is one of the best life lessons you can give them which will help enhance their value system as they also transition into adulthood.

3 It enhances our social connectedness

The more community members are jointly and actively involved in community services, working together for the betterment of their community, the stronger their interpersonal relationships. This will help enhance social connectedness between the different members. It even becomes more enhanced if both adults and kids are involved in this act of giving back because these values then get handed down to generations to come.

4 It can be a way to discover our passions

Most people have a tendency to live through life without ever discovering what their purpose in life is and this has resulted in many living unfulfilled lives. Taking the time to get involved in community services may be the way in which you discover your purpose. By taking up a cause that serves others, you may end up discovering that this is your passion and is actually what your purpose in life was meant to be.

With such tremendous long term benefits of getting actively involved in community services, I would like to take this opportunity to encourage members of the Havering Borough Community to sign up to be volunteers and let’s work together to grow our community.

It’s also a good idea for you to enroll your kids into community service so that they can have an avenue to make use of their extra time and in the process learn a couple of values that will benefit them later in life.

Research has revealed that private community schools produce better academic and extracurricular performances from pupils in comparison to public schools. This research sort of contradicts our previous article which demonstrated that maintained schools within the Havering Borough Community produced better results when compared to other schools.

In this article, we are going to look at some of the benefits of community schools which help in ensuring better overall performances from pupils in such schools.

Here are 4 benefits of community schools.

1 They provide a better learning atmosphere

In most cases, the size of a private community school will be much smaller than a public school and this therefore means that the school will have a small number of students therefore guaranteeing a better student to teacher ratio. In addition to this, the fact that pupils are smaller in number means that there will be more opportunities for them to interact thereby forming good friendships which have been proven to promote better learning.

2 They provide more discipline

Cases of indiscipline in private community schools are usually much lower in comparison to public schools because the former are much stringent when it comes to enforcing discipline. You will therefore realize that cases of bullying are much lower or even nonexistent in private community schools, the same of which can’t be said for public schools. This therefore means that private community schools will produce an all rounded pupil both academically and socially.

3 They produce more social pupils

Most private schools focus on offering curriculum that is learner centered and this type of curriculum encourages pupils to actively participate in class that nurturing them to be self-expressive thereby getting rid of their shyness. This is a quality that goes on to tremendously benefit them in college because they are already used to speaking up while in class. The same can’t be said of public schools because their mode of delivery is mostly teacher centered thus promoting introverted tendencies among pupils.

4 Pupils learn how to form strong relationships

Because of the small number of students in a private community school, most of the interactions be they between the pupils themselves or between the pupils and teachers will often be on a one-on-one basis. This has the benefit of teaching these pupils early on how inter-personal relationships work and this is something that ends up benefiting them later in life. The same can’t be said of public schools because there are very limited opportunities for one-on-one interactions.

With all these benefits of private community schools, as members of the Havering Borough Community, we can encourage the formation of more of them or pick these best practices and introduce them to our maintained schools.

All in all, we can be confident that we are one of the boroughs in the UK that are enjoying the benefits of a very good academic track record.