Wednesday, 14 May 2008

My morning meeting was postponed and I was thankful for the chance to work on our application for the NVCA quality standard. I think we are very nearly there but there are still one or two areas where it is difficult to identify the right sort of evidence.

In the afternoon I went to County Hall in Hertford for a meeting of the Herts Volunteers Emergency Committee. This is a loose alliance of volunteer groups who can work with statutory agencies in the event of a major civil emergency in the county.

All the groups represented around the table are perfectly solid and respectable and experts in their field: the Red Cross, Samaritans, Victim Support, St Albans Diocese.

But there is still something wrong with this HCC-led forum: there is no over-arching strategy shaping the voluntary sector’s engagement, there is no gaps analysis, no efforts to engage with new agencies, and no co-ordination between this and the many other areas of voluntary sector engagement with statutory agencies.

I was pleased that David Fitzpatrick was there from the Hertfordshire Community Foundation and we made many of the same points. I think I sensed some uncomfortable shuffling. We shall see.

I suspect there was also some uncomfortable shuffling at Watford FC as their season ended in an ignominious 6-1 aggregate defeat to Hull City. Ouch.