Let’s have it off!
Woke up with a cold this morning, and thought “wouldn’t it be nice to have a bank holiday today and get up a bit later?”. Fat chance though with our miserly quota of public days off, and a dreary 16 week run without hols between August and Xmas.
The Bank of England used to recognise more than 30 holidays and saints’ days, which were whittled back to a miserly four in 1834 (a bad thing). These were then increased to six (in practice) in 1871, when the cricket-mad Liberal MP John Lubbock introduced the Bank Holidays Act to include two traditional village cricketing days, but we then had to wait over 100 years for another day off, with the last two coming in the 70’s as a result of union campaigning.
But that’s still nearly 20 years ago, I reckon another couple are very much deserved. Especially so as in the Euro holiday league tables, we’re right at the bottom, and probably about to be relegated - The average European enjoys three more public holidays.
But how to go about it here, with Mr Protestant-work-ethic in charge? Here’s a sneaky idea. Let’s try for a meaningful day - A day to celebrate volunteering and get more people chipping in to sort out the UK’s communities. The benefits to the country should make it a thoroughly quids-in affair. It could be in October - today in fact - and cheer everyone up a little, as well as getting lots done.
Go on - join the TUC, NCVO, Volunteering England, Community Service Volunteers and NAVCA, in the campaign for a new Community Day, and add your name to the list at the campaign website. Who knows, this time next year, I might get to lie-in (before going off to paint a school or something, natch…)
Tags: bank holidays, Community Day, TUC
