Stories from the Edge - Volunteer Now

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Wilson Freeburn, another local volunteer worker, to set up the Inter Friendship Group. He explains, "It was time that theordinary people had their say and told the gun men to get off our backs."The genesis of the Inter Friendship Group had been shown several years earlier when local community workers hadencouraged both Catholic and Protestant clerics to cross the sectarian divide. Three Protestant ministers in what was anhistoric first, walked up the centre isle of St Peters Catholic Church. Catholic priests in turn attended the Church of Irelandin the centre of Lurgan. It was ironic that no cameras or news reporters were there to record the unique event. "Until thenwe could not get the clergy men to say the Our Father together without changing the end," Hugh remarks with his blandsense of humour, "They just wanted to stand in their wee corners without ever meeting. It was only when the localcommunity volunteers encouraged a hands across the sectarian divide that they came together. From this beginning,concerned lay people felt it was time for the Inter Friendship Group." Prayer and protest meetings were held denouncingthe sectarian slaughter in Lurgan and Portadown.It was a particularly black period, which“volunteers come and gobut Hugh Campbell hasstood solid for almostthree decades”saw the UVF kill children in a mobileshop. The Provisional IRA murdered twopolice men and gunned down twocivilians who were wild fowl shooting onthe southern shores of Lough Neagh. Allof the murders were personally felt byevery individual who realised the futilityof the killing. Large crowds gathered inthe early autumn drizzle to hear laypeople and clergy call for an end to thesenseless slaughter. Hugh was nevermuch of a public speaker but hismedium build and flat cap could always be seen standing in the background. At the time, the Inter Friendship Group hadcaught the mood of the people. Hugh is adamant that this mood was reflected in the ranks of the politicians andparamilitaries. Something was stirring in the undergrowth. A new mood of reconciliation between the warring fractions ormaybe a realisation that it was time for a change.The first IRA ceasefire, followed closely by the moving apology and further ceasefire call by the loyalists, seemed to offerhope, but that was soon dispersed with the London dockland bombing. The Ulster public was on an emotion roller coaster.Then Lurgan was again in the headlines when two community police officers were shot dead in the town centre. The InterFriendship Group organised a petition calling for an end to violence. Hugh with others stood on Lurgan Main Street in thebright June sunshine as crowds lined up to express their horror by signing a petition.Of course there was always those who hung about the street corners grumbling at the courage of the Inter FriendshipGroup. However, the slaughter didn’t stop and 18 year old Bernadette Martin was murdered as she slept in her boyfriends’house at Aghalee. The Inter Friendship Group took again to the streets protesting at the absurd murder of the young girl.Still the begrudges gathered on the same street corners.
The second ceasefire was called and the Inter Friendship Group continues to meet regular for prayer sessions. "The powerof prayer is important," Hugh again explains. It is a theological position. But beneath the religious façade it is clear thatfaith is not only a means of easing the horribleness of the sectarian murders it is also a cry of protest at the irrationalismof it all.In his 30 years of volunteer work Hugh Campbell has been recognised twice by the local council and other communitygroups. He proudly shows off his Tyrone Crystal and a medal given to him by the then Craigavon mayor Sammy Gardiner.Yet any observer would be forgiven for thinking that it is little to show for those selfless years. His home, where he livesalone, is spartan containing just basic furniture and a television set. Hugh is modest when he is asked to explain why heputs up with it all. "I like helping people and the payback is that I feel good."It is typical of so many volunteers that they have not sat down to reason why they give up their time to help. In a societythat often engenders the selfish gene and other manifestations of rabid and often vicious individualism, lone figurestraipsing the streets or sitting in small rooms planning community events are often ridiculed. The more cynical look for ahidden agenda of self interest. The I’m alright’ syndrome can not conceive its opposite in a world of self interest. Yet itexists. There rarely is a hidden agenda. Certainly people like Hugh Campbell find it difficult to articulate what drives himas a volunteer. Unseen forces in the id bubble up a strange brew of christianity and common decency. Or maybe it is hischristianity which provides him with the concepts that helps him understand why he acts as a social being."I think people appreciate what I do; at least some have told me that. I don’t expect much from life and my habits aresimple. I like nothing better than to go into Cafolla’s café, get a cup of tea and do the crossword," he said.But he admits there are those days that he wants to walk away from it all, "I sometimes feel as if I’m hitting my headagainst the wall and the future is just not there anymore and then something happens and I get a boost, it’s nothing drasticbut it is the lift I need to start again," he said.Volunteers come and go but Hugh Campbell has stood solid for almost three decades. He admits at times he is the onlymember left on the committee of the local association. Then suddenly people come from all directions only to fade awayagain. In September last year he held a Freecrow 2000 exhibition. He dug deeply into his personal yesteryear photographcollection and his bound folder of World War One and Two postcards and letters, and put together Freecrow Down TheYears. The modest presentation was held in the local church hall attracting a fair proportion of folk coming out of St PetersChurch from Sunday Mass. Standing at the back was ubiquitous Hugh Campbell discussing who was who in those ancientfaded pictures, many of which had frayed and worn out edges. On nearby table were small desk top computer producedpublications and Hugh’s latest book of poetry ‘Scarecrow and Friends’. Most people would not have bothered, but HughCampbell did.
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Stories from the Edge - Volunteer Now

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