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Being, belonging and bestowing: differing degrees of community involvement amongst rural elders in England and Wales

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Abstract

Government exhortations for full community involvement in their locales in England and Wales have particular significance for rural elders as the literature suggests that they are amongst the most active in this sphere. But different people have different propensities to ‘join in’. A taxonomy of different degrees of involvement in community is derived: antagonising, absenting, being, belonging, bestowing and communing. Being, belonging and bestowing are explored empirically, because they are the elements of principal concern to policy, making use of surveys of rural elders in six locations in England and Wales. A minority of respondents undertook bestowing activity (actively assisting others or taking part in voluntary activity) but most felt there were benefits from being (just living in a place) or belonging (having an identity with place) to a community. Of those who did not join in, most claimed that this was because they did not want to. Education and qualifications had the strongest association with ‘joining in’, although income and wealth per se had little impact. Two lessons for government community policy are important. First, many older people do not wish to ‘join in’, and second, the variables that tended to be associated with participation may not be that easy to influence through community policy.

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Notes

  1. This paper derives from a research project funded by the United Kingdom Research Councils under the New Dynamics of Ageing Programme, entitled Grey and Pleasant Land? An Interdisciplinary Exploration of the Connectivity of Older People in Rural Civic Society. As a whole, it involves an exploration of the voluntary collective action of older people formed around shared interests, purposes and values such as formal and informal associations and community groups.

  2. The index of multiple deprivation, income deprivation ranking and geographical deprivation domain were each used to inform the selection of the study areas.

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Acknowledgments

We are grateful to the United Kingdom Research Councils for funding to conduct this research under the Grant Grey and Pleasant Land? An Interdisciplinary Exploration of the Connectivity of Older People in Rural Civic Society. The views expressed in this paper do not necessarily reflect the views of the Research Councils and errors and omissions in the paper remain the sole responsibility of the authors.

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Authors and Affiliations

  1. Countryside and Community Research Institute, Oxstalls Campus, Oxstalls Lane, Gloucester, GL2 9HW, UK

    Nigel Curry

  2. Royal Agricultural College, Cirencester, Gloucestershire, GL7 6JS, UK

    Rhiannon Fisher

  3. University of the West of England, Bristol, UK

    Nigel Curry

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  1. Nigel Curry
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  2. Rhiannon Fisher
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Correspondence to Nigel Curry.

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Responsible Editor: H.-W. Wahl.

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Curry, N., Fisher, R. Being, belonging and bestowing: differing degrees of community involvement amongst rural elders in England and Wales. Eur J Ageing 10, 325–333 (2013). https://doi.org/10.1007/s10433-013-0277-5

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