Civic Pride: Let’s carry on bringing hope to all the people who live in the city...

I looked down only to see the shocking news that poet Benjamin Zephaniah had died.

Over the next few days, in newspapers, on TV and online, there was an outpouring of grief, emotion and appreciation for a man who inspired, entertained and taught.

I was fortunate enough to meet Benjamin on a number of occasions, most notably on 13 July 2009 at the official opening of the John Clare Cottage in Helpston, where I took a photograph of him chatting to Keely Mills, the then Poet Laureate for Peterborough.

He was a keen advocate of Helpston’s John Clare who he believed was one of the English poets who "doesn’t get as much credit as he should get”.

On BBC Radio 4’s Poetry Please, broadcast on 26 November, two weeks before he died, Benjamin chose one of Clare’s poems, The Instinct of Hope, to close the programme.

Keely is one of those local poets and ‘word activists’ who continues to work tirelessly to promote our city. This month she and others organised the 25th Poet Laureate competition, a proud local tradition much appreciated by many. This year’s Peterborough laureate is Lauren Kendrick and I greatly look forward to reading and hearing what she produces in her poetic year.

Tributes to Benjamin described him as a “force of nature” and “friend of the marginalised”. I met him again at the 2013 We Love Words festival at Bushfield School where he was judging the poet laureate competition and inspiring people to ‘give it a go’ themselves.

He was a warm, kind-hearted man who looked for the positive and who wanted the best for those inhabiting the world around him.

Thinking about wanting the best for the world around us, I attended a meeting at Railworld two weeks ago. The meeting was convened by Dave Cramp, who is creating Opportunity Peterborough’s Visitor Economy Strategy.

This plan is designed to coordinate the efforts of individual organisations within the city, with a view to combat negativity and develop civic pride.

Of course this chimes well with the Civic Society’s aims and objectives and we will do all we can to continue to promote Peterborough whilst remaining realistic about some of the city’s challenges.

Dave’s strategy is designed to “promote Peterborough as a destination of choice in the UK for staycations, whether day visits or overnight stays”.

I want to assure you, dear reader, that there are many individuals and groups in the city who are looking to promote and support the city, both in a theoretical and practical way, whether that be Civic Society or Friends of Central Park planting areas so that the city looks good next spring or community groups conducting seemingly never-ending litter picks.

There are so many positive, hard-working folk in Peterborough who just want to make life better for themselves and others.

Let’s hope that his ‘can do’ attitude spreads to full Council meetings, the December one of which I watched on YouTube a few weeks ago.

I was ashamed to witness the constant sniping across the floor. One minute a councillor was saying he was “on his best behaviour” and ten seconds later he was demonstrating the exact opposite.

Why should the rest of us bother to act in a civilised, reasonable manner when those supposedly representing us in the Council chamber can’t do the same?

The current mayor, Cllr Nick Sandford, deserves a medal for managing meetings where this sort of behaviour is exhibited.

So, as we approach the end of the year, we can all learn from Benjamin Zephaniah whose last words on Poetry Please were to say that the task of poets like him was to “carry on … and bring hope to people’.

We don’t have to always agree, we can disagree in a civilised and calm manner.

Let us all make the effort to bring just a little bit more hope into our world next year. Now wouldn’t that be something for 2024?