The litter gets picked, the Christmas lights get switched on, and the local plans get a proper looking-at because people give up their time to make it happen. I’m one of them, and I’d happily argue it’s the best-spent time in my week.

Locally, I chair Irvine Community Council (the statutory local voice for the town) and I’m vice chair of Our Irvine / Irvine Neighbourhood Board, which helps steer a long-term regeneration programme for the town. Different rooms, same idea: making sure the place and the people in it get a fair say.

You don’t need a title to be useful, mind. Community councils, neighbourhood groups, school committees, the litter pick at the end of the road: they all run on folk simply turning up. If you’ve ever reckoned your wee bit wouldn’t matter, it does, and they’d have you tomorrow. Have a look at who runs things where you live; you might be surprised how much a handful of committed people can shift.

It’s the same itch that has me building websites for local organisations and, aye, the odd daft game. I don’t care if it’s a dodgy curly brace in a page of C# code or a failing service from a local authority: give me a problem, and I’ll have a go.