To Pledge or Not to Pledge?

Mamma Burch
Aug 9, 2017 · 4 min read

Do you Love Ramsgate? I do!

What do you love about our town? It can be anything, from the architecture/beaches to the bar you met your spouse in. What is it that makes you feel this way? Does it make you want to shout it from the rooftops, or quietly keep it to yourself?

What will happen when we do this? Well, hopefully we will harness the power of social media for social good. We can make the love of Ramsgate infectious and in return, who knows? Investment into Regeneration? Investment into our Heritage, our Culture, our Retail centre and our livelihoods? We can but hope and dream. No harm in trying is there?

How can you do this? Just follow these very simple instructions which will plant the seed that will spread your love for your town.

IMPORTANT: Remember to add the hashtag #iloveramsgate

(if you’re posting on FaceBook, please set the privacy to Public on your post)

Last week, I was given the task to come up with a pledge for my Love Ramsgate community campaign, which will run across three social media platforms (Facebook, Twitter and Instagram). The remit was broad, and the advice was to keep it simple. It’s currently the Summer holidays for schools in the UK, and I am juggling the 4 littles ones (and the dog), so I was pleased about the “simple”, but wondered what I could come up with that should take as little effort for me and my community audience as possible.

My previous blog post highlighted how I felt about being positive: in what we have, and appreciating our surroundings, being mindful if you like, of where we live and seeing it through the eyes of someone not trying to change anything but appreciating what it is now. By doing this, it’s easier to see our lives and our surroundings in a more enlightening way; “always seeing the good in things, whatever they are”.

I was prompted to do this for several reasons; firstly because I believe in focusing on the positives in Ramsgate, and secondly, because there seems to be a great deal of negativity and hard-feeling in our town and that can reflect badly to outsiders (and the community as a whole). What does that all mean, and why is it important to think this way? There are plenty or professionals and a mountain of research out there that demonstrates why it’s a good idea to air on the side of positivity. Being less stressed and generally feeling happier for one:

Positive thinking: Stop negative self-talk to reduce stress. … Indeed, some studies show that personality traits such as optimism and pessimism can affect many areas of your health and well-being. The positive thinking that usually comes with optimism is a key part of effective stress management.”

So that’s when I thought, hang on then, let’s just get fellow ‘Ramsgatians’ to pledge to demonstrate their love of our town and it’s beaches. Simple! That way, we could spread the love and show the world of social media we mean business!

To Pledge or not to Pledge, that is the question…

What is a pledge and why do we ask people to get involved?

“a solemn promise or agreement to do or refrain from doing something: a pledge of aid; a pledge not to wage war. 2. something delivered as security for the payment of a debt or fulfillment of a promise, and subject to forfeiture on failure to pay or fulfill the promise.”

Simply put, it’s a little promise. Usually for an action to be undertaken that shows that someone cares enough to do a little something about it. Basically.

Therefore, asking the Ramsgate community to pledge to demonstrate why they ‘Love Ramsgate’ seemed to be a promising idea. I intended to show people how easy it is to spread the love! After-all, there are plenty of people in Ramsgate that love to show the world, (via social media amongst other online persuits), on a daily basis, exactly why they love the Town and its beaches and seascape. However, it seems it’s no easy job persuading “the people” to attach a hashtag to an image/video or words. That’s why I’m writing this blog. To highlight the reasons why its’ important to pledge to spread the love for Our Town.

Go get em folks! Pledge away!

Mamma Burch

Written by

Mother to 4 boys (including twins), and perinatal mental health therapist. Lover of walking in nature, the sea and butterflies.

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