The greatest legacy anyone can leave is to have bettered the lives of others.
Physical monuments decay, as the poet Shelley taught us in his poem Ozymandias. Statues are reinterpreted by subsequent generations, or even torn down. Instead, it is the positive impact on human beings that truly endures.
That is the legacy of Prince Philip, whose memorial service took place this week in Westminster Abbey.
The most powerful moment in the service was the address from Doyin Sonibare, 28, from London who spoke about how the Duke of Edinburgh awards scheme changed her life. She went from someone with fragile confidence to studying for a PhD at Brunel University, securing her first job at 18 and becoming an advertising account executive.
The inspiration for his scheme came from Prince Philip’s childhood. As a boy, he was taught by Kurt Hahn, a German Jew who had fled the Nazis. Hahn’s motto was ‘There is more in you than you think’. It is a brilliant lesson for life. Churchill echoed it in his own uplifting observation that ‘There is treasure, if only you can find it, in the heart of every man’.
Here in Cheltenham, there are organisations which live and breathe that ethos. I think of the Cheltenham Festival of Performing Arts which offers the opportunity for young people to gain the self-belief that comes from performing to an audience. Then there is the National Citizen Service in Gloucestershire, which brings together young people from a broad range of backgrounds to be challenged and encouraged. There are the Army, Navy and Air Force cadets, and sporting bodies like the Cheltenham Youth Football League.
All those who volunteer and devote themselves to the next generation enrich our Cheltenham community, and wider society.
And that is the greatest legacy of all.
[Column published in the Glos Echo]