A sense of community? What does this mean to you?

[Kangaroobrain]

Recently watched a reel from an online doctor about a Japanese island with the most long lived people in the world. Apparently this is largely down to diet (lots of veg, fibre etc), exercise, sense of purpose and sense of community.

Obviously sense of purpose is a very individual thing (and would make another interesting thread), but I wonder how many of us feel a sense of community any more? If you do, where do you find it?

Come again

you mention longevity of life
and then move on to community

little confused what you’re asking

Hell yes I feel like I live in a community

lovely town in SE.

I think community is becoming harder and harder to find in the modern world. Many people are connecting with others who live a long way away and forming online communities which are meaningful, but they don't have the day to day, face to face interactions which are really important. So whilst they have friends and people who care about them, they might not know the person who lives next door.

I am part of several communities, both in person and online, but they are not physically on the street where I live. I know hardly anyone in the immediate vicinity of my home.

If it wasn't clear, 'sense of community' was listed as one of the factors attributed to longevity in that Japanese society. I was simply curious as to what 'sense of community' means to most people.

Being made to feel welcome and seeing friendly faces at community areas like the park, baby groups, the school.

Community events, like summer scarecrows, Christmas lights.

Feeling safe and secure moving out and about - ie not threatened or vulnerable by other residents.

Where i grew up had a old school pit village community feel. The local community centre running themed discos for the children, natter and knit for the oldies, bingo, small productions put on by locals, scarecrow trails, christmas advent window displays in the village. Local people running the local businesses, you knew most of your neighbours. My mother had her garden done recently, by a lad that lived a few doors down and his friends who were all different tradies, anything they needed was a phonecall away to another local mate- need a mini digger ring X, rubbish removal ring Y etc. It certainly had its pros and cons.

I feel like I have several amazing communities but none of them are actually based in my neighbourhood. My close friends who are my ‘family’ (I only have one family member left in the UK and he’s a long way away). My sports friends. My kids’ schools. My kids’ sports teams. I feel incredibly lucky with the people that are in my life and knowing there are people I can rely on, and actually possibly more so being relied on, is definitely important to my well being.

Yes, I do feel part of a community - mostly through my work and voluntary activities that bring me into contact with others in the community who share a common purpose.

The blue zones… I watched that and thought what lovely, sedate, stress free lives they lived. Very different from here in the UK

My BIL wouldn't move because of his 'community' - but they're all similar ages in similar professions, similar aged children, all middle class - and to me that isn't really a community. It has to include everyone, rather than just a network of parents who go camping together a few times a year and meet up for pub lunches on the weekend.

I moved to an entirely new area 6 months ago and I feel we are in a community now.

It’s a small village and most people seem to know most people. It’s not uncommon to walk down the road through the village and bump into people I know and have a chat.

There are village events where people get involved and stuck in. People help each other out where they can. I live down a private road with 2 neighbours and we all get on well, help each other out with our pets or whatever. Always happy to stop and have a chat or a bottle of wine.

It’s really lovely and a world away from where I came from!

Loneliness and longevity (or lack thereof) are very strongly linked.

The safety of being part of a community has been repeatedly shown to reduce inflammation in the body, strengthen the immune system, and ease the neurobiological impact of the fight-or-flight response of stress.

I do. I live in a very mixed bit of SE London. Lots of volunteering which engenders a sense of collective purpose, the local churches put on lots for (all) kids, I run into someone I know every time I leave the house (which has its downsides too, but never mind). Love it, feel very lucky.

I’ve lived in the same village for most of my 50 years.

It used to have a huge sense of community in the fact that many, if not most residents participated in all the village events and you knew most people.
If you walked through the village there would always be a familiar face to stop and chat with. People knew each other’s names and kept a look out for one another.

The primary school mainly housed the children who lived in the village and the Headmaster knew everyone’s names and was deeply involved with the village too. When my own dc went to the same school many children were from outside villages and towns.

When I was a child, the local shop keeper had a large van which he had converted into a mobile shop and would visit the elderly. He would allow us to come inside and always had a tray of sweets for us to choose from.
We also had a local policeman who would walk around the village and chat with the locals, everyone know him by name. We now have a PCSO who is rarely seen.

Sounds a bit twee but that was my childhood growing up in the village. I see that as a sense of community.

However, we have recently had 3 very large estates built. It has now all changed a lot and sadly not for the better.