The BBC Reith Lectures 2025

WENVOE FORUM

Considering Tomorrow Today

The BBC Reith Lectures 2025

Moral Revolution – Rutger Bregman

As I write we are three-quarters of the way through the BBC Reith Lectures, given this year by Dutch historian and author, Rutger Bregman. If you have not listened to the series, you will find it on BBC Radio 4 website. He presents interesting and challenging ideas that are worth a listen.

At the heart of the message Bregman is conveying is the famous quote: “Never doubt that a small group of thoughtful, committed citizens can change the world; indeed, it’s the only thing that ever has.” Margaret Mead.

When we set the Wenvoe Forum in motion a few years ago now, we weren’t trying to change the world. We were hopefully intending to make a few people think, change a few minds and possibly inspire individuals to consider what they could do to make a better future for Wenvoe and its community. We acknowledged that Wenvoe is an active, skilled and resourceful community, with lots being done by the community for the community. Forum members also avoided projects that were too ambitious and settled for some easier wins to start with, and indeed, over time we have contributed to a few small successful actions, activities and projects.

Rutger Bregman, however, seems to challenge us to do a bit more. Like many of us he finds a vacuum at the heart of leadership, and it seems to me that he urges us to heed the call and make the change. He warns that it takes commitment, energy and resilience. However, maybe we should indeed at least try to tackle something a bit more substantial in scale and impact. Here are some projects that other communities have succeeded in developing:

  • It has taken 25 years! But a derelict industrial site has been developed into a lovely community amenity which includes a hydroelectric scheme. Profits from generation go towards community activities of all sorts, sports, drama etc.
  • Many schemes that use the solar power generated on Community Buildings for community benefit.
  • Car clubs that provide electric cars that are bookable by community members to use.
  • EV charging services – shared to reduce cost for individuals or community charging points.
  • Community composting schemes.

The success of the Wenvoe Repair Café in terms of both the number of volunteer repairers and the number of people who have been trying to avoid scrapping items and bringing them to the café, demonstrates a community keen to address climate change.

So, we will be exploring our next project with optimism in our January meeting. If you would like to be part of it e-mail Gwenfo.forum@gmail.com.

Wenvoe Repair Café – Potential New Service

One of the volunteers has an idea for a new service which, as far as the Wenvoe Café knows, is not offered anywhere else locally … read on

Do you have an old laptop that you have stopped using? Perhaps you are using Windows 10 or an earlier version that is no longer supported and are considering a new purchase. There is a possible alternative. At the Wenvoe Repair Café we are committed to avoiding the sending of electrical items to landfill and have been researching the process of migrating old laptops to the open-source Linux operating system to give them an extended life. One of our fixers is now able to offer advice on the suitability of the system for your laptop and, where appropriate, carry out the migration process for you. With effect from our repair café on 28th February 2026 you can bring along your laptop to see if we can help. As long as you have the necessary power lead and your laptop will switch on and is, at best, not more than 10 or 12 years old, then bring it along and we will see what we can do. Be sure to back up any data that you wish to keep as the process involves erasing the hard drive. We will not be able to deal with hardware problems or replacement parts, but maybe we can save some of these faithful old machines from the skip and possibly save yourselves the expense of a replacement!

To join our Facebook group, please ‘friend up’ with the GwenFo account @ https://www.facebook.com/gwen.fo.1 and then jon the Wenvoe Forum @ https://www.facebook.com/groups/635369267864402

Some further information and updates, blog site https://wenvoeforum.wordpress.com/. Any Wenvoe community member is welcome to join the Forum meetings, via Zoom, which are normally held 19.00 on the second Thursday of each month. E-mail gwen-fo.forum@gmail.com if you wish to join