Bolton Could Become a leading town in kindness.

Like most communities, life among us people of Bolton continues to change.

It’s never static. I noticed that this week as I digested some of the data I’d been sent from the last census. It’s fascinating. In case you’ve not seen it, here’s a few headlines.

While we’re not a big metropolis, we’re also not small, being a town of about 300,000 people where 51% are women and 49% are men.

We’re relatively young, with the median age being 38, which means we have a younger population than most parts of the North West and England.

We’re caring, with almost 10% of people providing between 1 and 50 hours of unpaid care for others.

We’re ethnically diverse, with 72% being White, 20% Asian/Asian British, 4% Black, 2% Mixed and 2% other, and we speak a variety of languages, including English, Gujarati, Panjabi, Polish, Arabic and Somali.

We’re economically diverse, including people who live in poverty as well as affluence, and much in-between, with 26% among the 10% most deprived nationally.

There’s more that could be picked up, but that information alone tells a story.

It describes an expansive community where a breadth of people from diverse backgrounds live together.

It illustrates a supportive community where we look after family and those in need. It speaks of a vibrant community where the energy and innovation of the young is welcomed.

It illustrates a mixed community where some are struggling to make ends meet much more than others. This is us. This is Bolton. This is the town in which we live. The place we call home.

In a decade there’ll be another census.

Given that there are many in our town today who find life really tough, what do we hope the census will show about Bolton, in ten years time?

As a follower of Jesus and a church leader inspired by the biblical call to ‘be kind to one another,’ I hope the data not only displays a town with more Christ-followers and vibrant churches, but also a community marked even more by practical kindness: where those in need are supported, as well as people who are lonely, sad and bereaved.

I’m not exactly sure how they’d measure all that in a census, but assuming they could, wouldn’t it be great if Bolton became a leading town, both in the North West and in England, in kindness?

P.S. Please remember: #prayforpeacewednesday