Monday, 5 November 2007

This morning we finalised the publicity materials for the 9 February Hertfordshire Trustee Conference. The brochure looks pretty good (thanks to Sha-Lee) and there is an impressive list of workshops and speakers (thanks to Vanessa). I hope the speakers are all as good as they look on paper. My big anxiety is that the conference will get swamped with professional advisors (like me) rather than actual real-life trustees (like me, too). It’s a complex form of anxiety.

And I heard from the Charity Evaluation Service that I had finally been accepted onto their forthcoming PQASSO training. I also did more work on some HIC project specifications, and prepared myself for tomorrow’s selection panel for the HCC Advocacy tender we submitted. If anyone can make sense of the jargon in this paragraph, they have my deepest sympathy.

WOW!

At 3:00, we had a planning meeting of the Watford One World forum. Seventeen people attended and Vanessa brilliantly led us through the session.

We reached some key agreements. Our agreed vision is - Watford: a successful community that values togetherness and celebrates diversity. What a lovely thought.

Our mission is to influence social change and promote community cohesion with one voice, to make a positive difference for the wider community. A little awkward admittedly, but I’ve seen far worse.

The best outcome from the meeting was the goodwill and solidarity that flowed from everyone present.

After the meeting, there was a meal at a local tapas restaurant. Even the good feeling wasn’t enough to overcome my nagging toothache and I returned early to the office to clear some more paperwork, eventually leaving about 8:00.