Goldthorpe recently featured in a TV programme about benefits and was portrayed pretty negatively. The view from many people is that this area is not a good place to live and is full of cheats, liars, scroungers and people with addictions and problems who don’t have any future (a little bit like the view in Bible times that Cretans were all liars, evil brutes and lazy gluttons, perhaps!) Whilst we are not blind to the many problems in our area, we absolutely refute the view that this is not a good place to place. We love where we live!
Love Where You Live Barnsley, Goldthorpe Development Group, Dearne Area Team and the Big Local groups in Goldthorpe, Bolton-on-Dearne, Highgate and Thurnscoe do an amazing job in promoting community spirit, and our local businesses also work tirelessly at helping the local community. Most of all, the vast majority of people who live in our area want this to be a good place to live and so many are involved in volunteering initiatives (like the Dearne hOurbank) which significantly affect the quality of living in this area. Volunteers in local churches (the Parish church on Lockwood Road, Furlong Road Methodist Church, the Salvation Army, GPCC and many others) put in countless hours of unpaid work to support the local community. There are lots of people here whose community spirit reflects God’s interest in and love for our community.
Our church has recently had someone move into the area from ‘down south’ and one of her recurring comments is ‘the community spirit in Yorkshire is phenomenal!’ Sometimes, those of us who have always lived in this area don’t realise how amazing this is. Sister Carmel had a nun visit from London recently, and her car broke down. When local people pushed her car off the junction she was blocking to safety, the nun said in astonishment, ‘that would never have happened in London!’ We can’t comprehend that, for to us, it is simply normal to offer a helping hand to those in need.
The Goldthorpe Christmas Market is a great community event and we are pleased to be involved with that event and grateful for the community in which we live. We count it a privilege to work together with other local churches and make a difference to local families through our giving – whether that is through craft activities, organising games, serving refreshments, baking cakes, giving time or singing carols. Most of all, we know that such working together reflects God’s generous, giving heart and we want to be lights in our local community: ‘with God in the community, with God for the community.’ Christmas demonstrates God’s giving heart to the world, for He gave His only Son to rescue us from the mess that sin brings. Our community may well look a mess to outsiders at time, but with God’s help and people’s goodwill, we can make a difference.
It’s time to believe truth, not lies, and to speak well of where we live, for God loves Goldthorpe and hasn’t given up on us!