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Good morning. Evacuated residents from the Whaley Bridge area are now returning to their homes. By all accounts most have coped well. Although it’s an experience none will wish to repeat, coming through adversity together can make local communities stronger and more resilient. They have a shared story, and shared stories bind. A day after the evacuation of Whaley Bridge, a Housing Commission on which I have been serving, published its report. We were exploring what is needed for somewhere that is not overtly wealthy, or even comfortably off, to be a Great Place to live. We saw inspiring examples of people committed to the wellbeing of their communities. We learned how they create and sustain groups, activities and meeting places that do much to build morale and to help overcome challenges. Most religious institutions place a high value on community, and express that in practical action. Very often we found a church group, building, or local vicar at the core. For some time to come Whaley Bridge will be known as the community living in the shadow of the dam that nearly burst. Residents will need to draw on their key people and institutions, and face the future together. A little while ago I visited mining sites in Southern Africa, on behalf of the Church of England’s investing bodies. Sometimes we are criticized for holding shares in companies whose products and ways of working are not above challenge. Our policy is to try to influence for good the ways companies work. When that fails, then we disinvest. Our core theological principles, including the value of human life and community belonging, chimed with the learning from our visits. When a dam collapsed in Brazil, claiming many lives, we quickened our pace, building an international partnership that is now pressing for greater transparency and better standards. Not all our partners profess our faith, but they share our desire for action. An investor and business alliance is a very different community than a Derbyshire village, but by working together we also can make a difference. I hope that the national review into dam safety, which the UK government is considering, will indeed take place, and soon. In Whaley Bridge and elsewhere, anyone living downstream of a dam must feel nervous. I expect that part of the agenda for their community organisations will be to demand that safety concerns are thoroughly addressed. Industry, from mines to reservoirs, must be held accountable for the value it places on the lives and wellbeing of the communities where it operates. Local communities can be at the heart of that holding to account.
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