Wednesday, 28 January 2009

This morning, I interrupted my week’s leave for a meeting of the Herts CVS group at Great Amwell Scout Hut on the edge of Ware - Scout Huts are much improved since the 1960s.

The meeting was very productive – our new chair Laura Cronshaw (of St Albans CVS) is introducing some much needed modernisation. I was concerned to hear from Jacquie that last week’s Hertfordshire Infrastructure Consortium meeting was poorly attended. I had anyway requested a special Herts CVS meeting to consider the future membership and role of Herts CVS and the Herts Infrastructure Consortium: things have changed a lot over the past year and we need to constantly review how things are working. For example, there is an increasing tension at Herts CVS meetings: on the one hand we have our own needs and concerns as CEOs of local CVSs, while on the other hand we must also address the external timetable and demands of the LAA. This tension has been noticed by all of us and increasingly challenges our organisational and time-management skills. We agreed on a special meeting to confront these issues and find a solution.

Jackie and I had agreed on lunch in Ware and then a walk along the canal to Hertford. But the rain was incessant and by the time I emerged from the meeting, Jackie had no desire to return to Ware and I certainly had no desire to get wet. Instead we visited the White Horse at Burnham Green – there is a local legend that the lanes around Burnham Green are haunted at night by a headless white horse. The pub suffered a disastrous fire about ten years ago and in the renovation, the pub lost its character: it is now open and light and more like a wine bar than a traditional village pub. Thankfully, the food and service were superb.

Back home, I finalised the latest issue of WCVS News. Some important pieces of information were omitted to keep the newsletter short – I just hope people read our website regularly too.