Working Together
It’s official: ‘being social is associated with some tangible benefits.’
No less a publication than the Philosophical Transactions of the Royal Society has published its study of 152 species, including mammals, birds, insects and even corals. The research found that ‘more social animals live longer’, ‘postpone maturity, and are more likely to reproduce successfully.’
Humans thereby sit alongside elephants, monkeys, flamingos and parrots.
So as the lead author has said, ‘being social is associated with some tangible benefits’ – such as ‘sharing resources, being better protected against predators and having support to raise offspring.’
In the countryside we are used to social animals. The sheep flock together most noticeably. The cows herd together, and our piglets all sleep in a huddle together, even when its warm. A sense of collaboration is essential to the farming community, and of course to rural life. This Moorland Parish Link is about keeping people together, communicating, sharing news and information.
One of the values for the groups of young people who come to East Shallowford is learning to work together, appreciating and practising teamwork.
During October school half-term, we entertained one of our regular partners, a group from Providence House in south London. Only half a dozen this time, but team work was the chorus line. Team work around the house. Working together outdoors. Collaborating together to discern new things around water. Team work on the farm.
The group was given a task on the farm, and asked how they might work out how to get the sheep from the field into the barn. There were different suggestions, and one young person suggested picking them up one by one. He soon gave up on that one. In the end they worked out a collaborative plan, of who should stand where, who should open the gate, who quietly go behind the sheep in the field, and so on. They were pleased when the sheep were all gathered in safely.
Our weekly group from a school in Exeter worked together to move 45 piglets onto a trailer to take them on a journey to a farm near Cullompton, to eat pumpkins and be in drier fields than our soggy winter fields on Dartmoor.
Teamwork, of course, is not just for kids. It’s for all of us. On the farm, in the community, in the church. In 2025 East Shallowford is going to make a big thing about teamwork and offering opportunities to volunteers. So watch this space…
Robert Musgrave MBE, The Shallowford Trust. November 2024.