By Ammar Mirza CBE
“Alone we can do so little; together we can do so much.”
Helen Keller
One of my favourite subjects at school was Greek mythology. I was fascinated by its extraordinary collection of gods, giants, heroes and monsters, and by the timeless stories, tales and fables that brought them vividly to life.
These were never simply stories about superhuman strength. They were stories about ambition and arrogance, courage and consequence, loyalty and leadership. They reminded us that even the most powerful could fall, that the smallest act could alter history and that no hero, however gifted, ever truly succeeded alone.
Today, it sometimes feels as though we are witnessing our own Clash of the Titans.
Across politics, business, nations and neighbourhoods, powerful personalities and competing interests collide. Debate too easily becomes division. Difference becomes distrust. Social media can turn every disagreement into a battlefield, creating modern-day versions of Medusa, where anger, fear and misinformation threaten to turn compassion and common sense to stone.
The pressures are real. In March 2025, 87 per cent of adults identified the cost of living as an important issue facing Britain, 83 per cent named the NHS and 72 per cent the economy. By January 2026, almost one in four adults said they felt lonely often, always or some of the time.
Yet this is only part of the story.
The latest Community Life Survey found that 62 per cent of adults felt a strong sense of belonging to their immediate neighbourhood. Some 44 per cent had helped someone informally during the previous year, while 28 per cent had volunteered through a group, club or organisation.
Behind every statistic stands a person choosing to care.
I see that spirit every day across the North East. It lives in the volunteer opening a community centre before sunrise, the teacher staying late to encourage a child, the business creating opportunities beyond its balance sheet, the emergency service worker protecting strangers and the neighbour checking that someone is safe, warm and well.
They may never command thunderbolts like Zeus or possess the strength of Hercules, but they carry something more important. Humanity, humility and hope.
Jason did not find the Golden Fleece alone. He needed the Argonauts, a crew of people with different strengths, experiences and abilities, united by a shared destination. Their greatest asset was not one individual hero. It was collective endeavour.
That lesson matters now.
We do not need to agree about everything to work together on something. We can challenge without condemning, compete without destroying and lead without diminishing others. We can choose dialogue over division, service over self-interest and practical action over performative outrage.
The North East has always understood this. Our greatest strength has never been found solely in institutions, buildings or balance sheets. It is found in our people, our pride, our passion and our instinct to stand shoulder to shoulder when circumstances demand it.
Perhaps our challenge is not to search for a mythical hero to rescue us, but to recognise the heroic potential present within ordinary people. Leadership is not reserved for those on mountaintops. It appears whenever someone steps forward, reaches back and brings another person with them.
The Titans may continue to clash. The monsters may appear larger and the seas more difficult to navigate. But history, mythology and lived experience teach us the same uplifting truth.
When good people come together around a shared purpose, giants can be overcome, communities can be transformed and even the impossible can become possible.
We may not be Gods.
But collectively and collaboratively, we possess the power to do extraordinary things.
High Sheriff of Tyne and Wear, Ammar Mirza CBE, is Chair and Founder of ABConnexions & Executive Chair of the AmmarM Group. He also serves as Honorary Colonel of the 101st (Northumbrian) Regiment Royal Artillery and holds a range of roles across the public and private sectors as a leader in inclusive innovation, investment and internationalisation.