Letter from Stoke Mandeville: Liz Tice

Late last year, Wendover News was contacted by Liz Tice. She said that a number of people in Stoke Mandeville felt an affinity for Wendover and that they were wondering if there was any prospect of getting their village involved with the magazine. We loved the idea. We asked her to tell us why she thinks participation helped her feel part of the community. She said:

Moving from a rather down-at-heel town in north Kent to Stoke Mandeville, I was amazed at how little I knew about Aylesbury Vale and the Chilterns. Indeed, it took me a good couple of years before I stopped feeling that I was on holiday and actually lived here! I can remember catching an episode of Midsomer Murders many years before and wishing that I could live in such a beautiful place (without the murders of course!). Little did I know…

It was during the Covid lockdown that I really began to appreciate just what we had locally. I adopted my fourth retired racing greyhound, Ronnie, and I’d spend my lunchtimes (while working at home) exploring the fields and footpaths around the village. In 2022 I spotted a notice outside St Mary’s church about The Stoke Mandeville Village Society. The original society, set up in 1973, was known as The Village Green Association. A group of residents had come together in December 2021, partly by distance-meeting during the weekly lockdown ‘Clap for Carers,’ with a similar aim –to preserve a village way of life, along with developing community

spirit. Lockdown had shown me how important community spirit can be and so I dropped the Society an email and went along to the next meeting. The rest, as they say, is history.

The Society has achieved a lot since its formation. Campaigning on behalf of residents for a War Memorial has been its biggest project so far, as well as Christmas sing-a-longs, visits to the local care home and the provision of a small free lending library situated by the church. I’m very proud to be the current chairman and grateful for the contributions, support and friendship of the committee.

What have I learned about community? Well, the most important thing is that if you want things to happen, to change, then don’t expect everyone else to do it. With anything, you get out what you put in. Every day I read posts on social media ‘why are the council doing this?’, ‘whose idea was it to do that?’ Yet, when it comes to recruiting people to join committees, become local councillors or volunteer their time, it’s sometimes a real struggle. If you find yourself frustrated by the lack of action, then I would encourage you to step up. It can be incredibly rewarding, and you won’t regret it.

Communication is so important within communities, making sure that everyone knows what’s going on, and that they can be heard. Having lost our only local publication, I’m so very pleased that Stoke Mandeville is now included in Wendover News. The village stockists are always delighted to see us when we take the monthly edition into them. It’s just one more thing that makes it such a pleasure to live here.

Liz Tice