UMUGANDA FROM RWANDA TO PRESTON
Meet the councillor who wants to bring a ’community service day’ to Preston. Preston should establish a regular ‘community service day’ to encourage residents to volunteer a few hours of their time to help improve their neighbourhoods – and strengthen the bonds between locals. That is the call from a city councillor who says he has been inspired by an initiative in Rwanda, a version of which he believes would benefit Preston. By Paul Faulkner, Local Democracy Reporter
By MANZI
On Monday 29 December 2025
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Cllr Maxwell Green, deputy leader of the Conservative group at the town hall, discovered the “umuganda” scheme when studying for his PhD in international relations, which focused on efforts to rebuild Rwanda in the wake of the genocide that occured in the country in 1994.
On the last Saturday of every month, everybody who is physically capable of doing so spends three hours taking part in organised public works projects which range in scale from building new facilities to tree-planting and litter-picking. They can also use the time to help vulnerable individuals who may need assistance around their own homes.
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