Our once proud and cheerful nation ran, in the main degree, on a good community spirit. Having watched several BBC Pathe News clips recently, we became ultimately aware of a missing vital ingredient to local life. The community spirit has all but disappeared! No-one seems to have the time for anybody else any more, and that is certainly a backward step.

What you can do.

Take the time out to lend a hand freely to one who needs it - albeit assisting with shopping, or even cutting the grass for the elderly. The amiability of a helping hand is a positive thing, and helps you to get to know your neighbours better. It forges friendships that will last with fondness and happy memories of amusing situations that arise in every -day life. Add to this a feel-good factor, and you have something which will enrichen your life.

Apart from this, it can also be an invaluable teaching tool. From de-weeding a jungle and taming it into a garden, up to sharing mechanical knowledge with an obstinate car repair; it's all there for the learning or sharing. Neighbourhood watch schemes work on the same principle; and they DO work well.

The new age mentality of "care only for yourself" is going nowhere. The only product of this is individual isolation for those who choose to practice it; an un-neccessary and un-wanted state, which can only lead to a downward spiral, the outlook of which can only be described as bleak.

Now is the time to act.

We all have a responsibility to others; not only our own family members, but our neighbours too! This is what sets us apart from the rest of the animal kingdom. The best part of it is the "feel-good factor" that only comes from sharing abilities with others. The phrase "A stranger is but a friend you haven't yet met" holds a strong merit here.