Chris Cole FRSA

"Making a living is about what we get - we make a life by what we give" - Sir Winston Churchill.

I must confess to possessing a more than sneaking admiration for Sir Winston Churchill since I read his autobiography 'My Early Life' at school. To my mind he was a superb leader who didn't always get it right with every decision, but nobody could accuse him of not having the courage of his convictions and despite severe depression on occasions, he still kept going. I think he was one of the best examples of a great English leader in the last two centuries.

It is a very sad fact today that many of our role models or celebrities really aren't worth celebrating. Celebrity today is based on good marketing and PR regardless of talent. Many of these celebrities are in the music, television or entertainment industry and it is understandable, human nature being what it is, how the media 'celebrates' itself.

The real heroes are those courageous citizens whose bravery and selfishness we celebrate through those excellent TV programmes which promote the bravery of our youth or those in the vocational public service who have acted selflessly in the line of duty like the nurses, police, fire service, paramedics, voluntary sector workers and everybody else I've missed, who through kindness and thoughtfulness make Plymouth a joyful place to live. (In terms of being a good place to live, Plymouth is fourth in the country, apparently, according to a recent national survey.)

In fact, everybody who strives to make our community a better place and leave the world a little better than they found it is worth celebrating. Many of those people will never get any form of public recognition, and certainly not celebrity status. They are the people who give up their own time and resources in hundreds of ways, whose contribution to the wellbeing of our city is largely unseen, but no less valuable than those we see on our TV screens and in the press.

What capacity do you have to give? Not out of self righteousness, but out of simply being a human being who understands the divine spark within human nature which liberates us to give without thinking what we'll get back.

And if nobody recognises your contribution, remember, God sees it all.

This article was originally published in the Plymouth Shopper, a group of 7 localised community newspapers produced by Cornerstone Vision, reaching 62,000 homes every month in Plymouth. Each edition carries positive news stories and features, and provides local businesses, community groups and organisations with a very localised media platform to reach their own area.