My goodness, it’s blowing a gale today. The BBC and the mainstream media seem to be making an increasingly big production out of naming storms. It is no longer sufficient to have a storm or a spell of high winds; everything has to be an event, complete with a name and a sense of impending doom. And just to cheer us up further, the Prime Minister has apparently been advising us to stock up on food and water in case of war with hostile countries. Nothing like a little encouragement to start the day.

Anyway, enough of that. I thought I would take you through the various stages of yet another of my ideas, from conception to what I hope will eventually be a successful birth. Whether the baby will turn out to be healthy and vigorous or require intensive care remains to be seen.

As regular readers may know, during the past year I have published two books, one about three villages in the Mendip area and another about the town of Chard. Both can be found on Amazon simply by typing in my name. Following the Chard project, I offered to help develop a community information service for the town, but for reasons I have discussed elsewhere, my offer was not taken up and nothing came of it.

So I have decided to return to my own backyard. Why not try something similar here in the Somer Valley? The idea is to create a comprehensive directory of community activities, available through a simple, user-friendly website, completely free to everyone.

Now, I must confess to a weakness. I sometimes fall into the trap of assuming that because I think something is a splendid idea, everyone else will immediately recognise its brilliance. When something seems blindingly obvious to you, it is difficult to understand why others don’t instantly see the benefits. Experience, however, has taught me otherwise, sometimes rather painfully.

I am also conscious that people have quite enough on their plates already. Many are struggling to make ends meet, keep their families together, meet unexpected bills and work out where the next pound is coming from. Add to that the daily diet of alarming news and warnings about what might befall us next, and it is hardly surprising that people are not necessarily in the mood to embrace yet another bright idea from an enthusiastic local resident.

There is also the question of trust. I sense a growing scepticism towards politicians, institutions and, increasingly, anyone who comes along offering something new. The danger is that this atmosphere of suspicion becomes infectious. If we are not careful, we begin to distrust one another almost as a matter of habit. Not a particularly healthy basis on which to build a community.

Yesterday, the idea of creating a local information service came into sharper focus, and I produced a colourful leaflet to illustrate what I had in mind. This morning, despite the wind and rain, I ventured down to the local library to make a few enquiries. By the time I arrived, my trousers were thoroughly soaked, but at least the expedition was productive. I was given the name of Martyn Plant, who has been elected Mayor of Midsomer Norton for the third successive year. That suggests a certain degree of dedication, and I understand that he takes a keen interest in social and community matters. I have now written to him, so we shall see what happens.

One thing I have firmly decided is that I am not going to charge ahead on my own this time. Before committing myself, I want the understanding and encouragement of a reasonable number of key people in the area. Otherwise, I could spend months creating something that nobody feels sufficiently involved in to support. I have been down that road before, and I have no particular desire to repeat the experience.

The real attraction of the proposed website is its simplicity. Imagine waking up on a Thursday morning with nothing planned and thinking, “I wonder what’s happening locally today?” Instead of searching through dozens of Facebook pages, websites and noticeboards, you could visit SomerValleyDiary.co.uk and see at a glance all the activities taking place that day, or indeed during the coming week. It might be a coffee morning, a local history talk, a keep-fit class, a musical performance, a church gathering or simply an opportunity to meet other people. Everything would be brought together in one place, completely free of charge.

For newcomers, people living alone or anyone wanting to widen their social circle, this could open doors they never knew existed. And for organisers, the advantage would be equally simple: tell us about your event once, and potentially reach the whole community without having to advertise it in half a dozen different places.

I suspect there may be getting on for a hundred local organisations with something useful to contribute, and that is before taking account of the churches, which I certainly intend to include. So there is no shortage of potential material. The challenge will be bringing it all together and persuading people to participate. I am under no illusions about the amount of work involved, and I am not expecting an army of volunteers to appear on my doorstep offering assistance.

Then there is the small matter of the technology. This is where an apparently simple idea can become surprisingly complicated. Most free event-listing software handles individual events perfectly well, but recurring activities are another matter. If a group meets every Tuesday, every other Thursday or on the second Sunday of each month, the organiser should only have to enter the information once. Nobody wants to sit down week after week repeating the same details.

Fortunately, suitable software does exist, although it is not always free, and getting everything to work exactly as intended may involve some additional expense or technical ingenuity. I suspect that while most entries could be handled automatically, there will still be occasions when a little human intervention is required. Computers are wonderful servants, but they have yet to master the art of common sense.

Fortunately, I already have a good website hosting arrangement from my Chard project, so at least I am not starting entirely from scratch. That is one less thing to worry about.

Before proceeding, therefore, I need two things. First, some genuine encouragement and support from people who hold positions of responsibility in the local community. Second, a system so straightforward that the average organiser can enter an event without needing a degree in computer science or the patience of a saint.

I am deliberately taking my time over this. In the past I might have rushed ahead, fuelled by enthusiasm and the conviction that everything would somehow fall into place. This time I intend to proceed more cautiously, testing the ground before committing myself too deeply.

If we can have the website up and running and an accompanying book by the middle of January for a launch Wednesday, 27th January, I shall be well pleased. That may sound a long way off, but believe me, when you are busy, the weeks have an alarming habit of disappearing. Also the period between Christmas and New Year is a write – off for business of any sort. 

And who knows? Perhaps by then my latest brainchild will have taken its first steps. I only hope it doesn’t require too many sleepless nights from its proud but slightly apprehensive parent.