Friday, 21 September 2007

Talking of chairs

In the morning, I met with Pam Handley for my monthly supervision meeting. In all truthfulness, rarely a day goes by when I do not at some point have cause to be thankful that I have Pam as my Chair of trustees. At this meeting, we had a typically constructive and wide-ranging discussion about politics, needs and priorities. Enormously helpful.

After, I spoke with Helen Price about the vacant role of Chair at Volunteering Herts. I suggested that she might consider offering to fill the role for a short period. Obviously she has the skills and ability to perform this role, but I had previously been concerned that Helen is already swamped with work within Watford. But this is a good development opportunity for Helen too, and she is smart enough to make sure that Watford gains maximum benefit from her closer engagement with county-wide agendas. So I hope Helen will “allow her name to go forward”.

I confirmed to WBC that I would attend a meeting on how to overcome inequalities in health care. As I was packing my bag to leave the office, I took a call from Herts County Council who invited me to a “desktop exercise” on planning for local emergencies. I think this was in response to an enquiry I had made about emergency planning in Watford following the summer’s flooding. Anyway, I said I would attend the event to make sure that I understood what might be expected of the voluntary sector in an emergency.

I replaced the receiver and was about to leave rushing to catch a train, when I received a message that the Ministry of Defence were on the telephone for me. My curiosity piqued, I took the call. There was a very pleasant man on the telephone inviting me to a meeting in London as advance planning for Veterans Day on 27 June. Different to Remembrance Sunday, the main purpose of Veterans Day is to remind people that veterans are of all ages and backgrounds and that they make an active contribution to their communities. I couldn’t make the London meeting but said I would be interested in helping stage a Watford event on 27 June.

At the end of the call I bolted from the office and just caught my train into London for a meeting at the Disability Law Service in Whitechapel. It was a useful meeting. DLS has made enormous strides in the past month or two and is still waiting to learn the outcome of further funding bids. London seems to change every time I visit. I arrived home just after 7:00 pm and enjoyed a nice evening at home.