I should emphasise that this is an independent, community-led project, not a council initiative. I don’t need official permission to proceed, but I would welcome the council’s thoughts and suggestions. Yesterday I wrote to the Mayor, as a representative of the people I hope this project will serve. My intention is simply to keep the council informed and establish a friendly relationship from the outset.

After a considerable amount of work today, I have discovered that my original ambitions were rather too ambitious, even by my standards. I had initially envisaged covering everything within a four-mile radius of Midsomer Norton. At first glance, this produced no fewer than 293 organisations, clubs, groups and service providers of one sort or another. Looking at the wider area, I would be surprised if the eventual total were fewer than 600. That is quite enough to keep a small army occupied, never mind one enthusiastic individual sitting at his computer.

So a little pruning has been necessary. I have decided to concentrate initially on five communities: Farrington Gurney, Timsbury, Radstock, Midsomer Norton and Paulton. Even this more modest selection gives me something like 160 relevant groups, considerably more than I encountered during my Chard project.

The population of the wider area is approximately 46,000, and the five communities I have selected account for roughly half that number. This seems a much more manageable starting point, although I use the word manageable with some caution.

The idea itself is straightforward. There will be a website containing a calendar of events, so that anyone wondering what is happening locally can find out without having to search through a dozen Facebook pages, noticeboards and assorted websites. Alongside this, I intend to produce a printed directory of organisations, giving readers not only their contact details but also some idea of what they do, what they stand for and, most importantly, why someone might want to join them.

I want the directory to be inviting rather than merely informative. The object is not to produce another list of names and telephone numbers. It is to encourage people to get out of their houses, meet others and discover activities they might never have known existed. Increased participation is the whole point.

In a fit of considerable optimism, I am hoping to publish the directory at about the same time as the proposed website launch in late January. Whether this proves possible remains to be seen. There is the small matter of Christmas and New Year, when, from about 15 December until early January, much of the country seems to go into a state of suspended animation. This means that a great deal of the work will have to be squeezed into the remaining weeks.

Still, I don’t particularly mind working long hours when I am doing something I enjoy. Indeed, I sometimes have to remind myself that there are other things in life besides sitting at a computer, making telephone calls and thinking up new projects.

Underlying all this is something I feel quite strongly about. There are many people living in our communities who could benefit enormously from becoming more involved. I am thinking particularly of those who live alone, newcomers who have yet to establish friendships, people who have recently retired, and those who have experienced divorce or separation and find themselves having to rebuild their social lives.

For such people, the simple act of joining a group, attending a meeting or discovering a shared interest can make an enormous difference. The difficulty is often not a lack of willingness but a lack of knowledge about what is available, coupled perhaps with a little hesitation about turning up somewhere for the first time.

If a Somer Valley Diary can help overcome those obstacles, bring more people together and give our local organisations a few more friendly faces through the door, I shall consider the effort well worthwhile.

Now all I have to do is make it happen.