I’m supposed to be retired, but . . . .

I could not say no when South Yorkshire charity Who is Your Neighbour? asked me to lend a hand with their strategic fundraising. ‘You need a website’, was my first piece of advice, and I learned that this was something they were working on, but finding difficult. The charity facilitates conversations in white working class communities where prejudice and racism have become issues.

People are not innately racist, but if you don’t encounter people in your day to day life who are different to you, and your community has experienced hardships such as workplace closures and all that goes with it, it’s all too easy to believe the propaganda some extreme right wing groups can be quick to deploy.

As a Quaker so committed to equality, and as someone who has witnessed the damaging impact of community prejudice had on a now late family member (he served a sentence in Dartmoor prison in 1966, because he was gay). I take little persuading if I think I can usefully help others who are working to level life’s playing field.

I’m also encouraging the charity to look further afield, so that the experience they’ve gained in South Yorkshire can be shared with others who are also striving to make a difference. I guess being retired is all about only taking on work that you really want to do!