Thursday, 10 May 2007

The morning was devoted to preparations for the afternoon’s meeting of the Watford Voluntary Sector Alliance. This is an established forum for local voluntary groups but it seems to be losing its way.

This afternoon, a dozen people attended to discuss volunteering and the LAA target to increase the number of volunteers in Watford. Helen (our Volunteer Centre co-ordinator) was superb and really seems to be hitting top form. But there were difficulties.

The problem was that about half of those present were keenly interested in the topic. The other half weren’t, but attended the meeting to "network" and to keep people informed about the activities of their own group. So those present were split into two equal camps with competing expectations about what the meeting was to achieve. Everyone was very polite and patient, but this simply cannot go on.

After the VSA meeting I had a series of discussions about what we can do to re-focus and reinvigorate the VSA forum. There were some interesting ideas on which I will soon consult.