Networking lunch
Today at St Thomas’s Hall we held our quarterly networking lunch and our Volunteers’ Week celebration. Ten days ago, we considered cancelling this event as only ten people had registered. In the middle of last week we ordered food for seventy registered participants. By Friday, we had 100 registrations. This morning, people were still trying to register. Then some people just turned up without registering. At one level, it was a very successful event – lively and relaxed and good humoured, we gave out about 40 Certificates of Recognition to volunteers from across Watford, we were joined by the new Chair of WBC Tony Poole and his consort, who showed immense patience and goodwill posing for pictures with everyone. Brilliant.
But there was an alternative view, too. Attendance was chaotic with the numbers who turned up without booking were only partly offset by those who had booked and failed to appear. Our glorious immensely likeable voluntary photographer John took inordinately long to take a group photograph as his camera battery failed. We took a paltry £3 booking fee from people, who then found they couldn’t eat as those joining the food queue earliest helped themselves to liberal (some said greedy) portions. And our chair was late because someone (me) didn’t tell her we were starting an hour earlier than usual.
We muddled through everything in a very chaotic and very British fashion. All in all, I think it was a successful event. But there were lessons to learn and our next lunch will be very different: we must focus more on strengthening voluntarism and social cohesion and less on providing subsidised lunches.
In the afternoon, I finally got to catch up with Sarah Pinnock of WBC and we had a long talk about latest developments. I was also delighted to learn by e-mail that the Disability Law Service (where I am a trustee) has secured £500k funding from the Big Lottery's ADVICE programme. Such good news.
Sunday, 10 June 2007
This morning I took the boys into Watford for some shopping. We returned for an afternoon BBQ. Again, it was very hot. And it stayed that way into the night making sleep almost impossible. I sat up and finished reading Defying Hitler – the extraordinary story of journalist Sebastian Haffner’s life in Germany between 1907 and 1933. He wrote the book in the final months before war broke out in 1939. He despised the Nazis; loathed and despised everything they stood for. Yet for fear of his life and for his loved ones, he wore a Swastika armband, marched with the SA and sang the Horst Wessel Song. He also believed passionately in individual freedom, fled to Britain in 1938, and married a Jewess.
His book describes his personal battle with the Nazi regime, and offers great insights into why the Nazis managed to succeed, at least for a time.
His book describes his personal battle with the Nazi regime, and offers great insights into why the Nazis managed to succeed, at least for a time.
Saturday, 9 June 2007
Very hot. Jackie and I spent the day gardening and in the evening visited friends for a BBQ.
Friday, 8 June 2007
Interviews
Today we interviewed for the post of WCVS Finance and Administration Officer with the interview panel comprising myself, Ian Stageman (a WCVS trustee) and Vanessa (our Development and Training Officer). Last week, we agreed a table of ten or so standard questions, and we met this morning to finalise our scoring system. I arrived about 8:00 for final preparations of the exercises our candidates would tackle: write a plain English explanation of a bank reconciliation and complete a few examples of double entries.
Recruiting finance officers is fraught with difficulty. Under qualifications, someone’s application may simply say “1998 – AAT”. This could mean “paid £50 to register as a student”. Or it could mean: “completed a full-time two year course and passed all exams”. Buyer beware!
The first candidate arrived at 8:30, and by 12:30 we had finished the fourth and final interview. We quickly narrowed the field from four to three. Then from three to two. The final stage took slightly longer but soon we reached a consensus. The exercises helped a little – mostly for confirming our decisions.
Later, at home, I finally managed to contact the successful candidate. She was very pleased and eagerly accepted the appointment. Very gratifying.
Jackie and I spent the evening sharing a drink with our neighbours.
Today we interviewed for the post of WCVS Finance and Administration Officer with the interview panel comprising myself, Ian Stageman (a WCVS trustee) and Vanessa (our Development and Training Officer). Last week, we agreed a table of ten or so standard questions, and we met this morning to finalise our scoring system. I arrived about 8:00 for final preparations of the exercises our candidates would tackle: write a plain English explanation of a bank reconciliation and complete a few examples of double entries.
Recruiting finance officers is fraught with difficulty. Under qualifications, someone’s application may simply say “1998 – AAT”. This could mean “paid £50 to register as a student”. Or it could mean: “completed a full-time two year course and passed all exams”. Buyer beware!
The first candidate arrived at 8:30, and by 12:30 we had finished the fourth and final interview. We quickly narrowed the field from four to three. Then from three to two. The final stage took slightly longer but soon we reached a consensus. The exercises helped a little – mostly for confirming our decisions.
Later, at home, I finally managed to contact the successful candidate. She was very pleased and eagerly accepted the appointment. Very gratifying.
Jackie and I spent the evening sharing a drink with our neighbours.
Thursday, 7 June 2007
Accommodation
At 10:00 this morning, I met with a team from WBC (Kim Bloomfield our grants officer and Tim Sanderson and Andy Large from “property services”) to discuss WCVS’s future accommodation needs.
At present, WCVS occupies a large building at the top of Watford High Street just opposite the Town Hall. This is an ideal location for many reasons. But the Council lease the property from a private landlord and High Street rents are of course expensive, and the lease is coming to an end - there are break clauses in the summer of 2008 and 2009 and the lease finally ends in the summer of 2010.
Naturally, WBC want to surrender the lease at the earliest practicable opportunity and to help WCVS find new accommodation in a cheaper location. But WCVS has a range of quite complex accommodation needs. Most obviously, we have to accommodate ten members of staff and a team of perhaps six volunteers on any given day. We also have a drop-in Volunteer Centre that needs to be in an accessible Town Centre location. For our members, we need to broker affordable town centre meeting space – and access to occasional serviced office space. We also need improved access for disabled users, better storage, and a smaller “carbon footprint”.
These disparate needs are clearly not best met through a single unit of shopfront premises on the High Street. To argue this would make us look foolish.
Stepping back, it is apparent to me that the voluntary sector generally does not make efficient use of the resources they have. I suppose it is understandable that each individual charity wants its own offices, with its own meeting rooms etc. After all, no one would expect Asda and Tesco to share shop space. So why should Age Concern and the YMCA share facilities? Or Watford Asian Community Care and West Herts Against Crime?
There are three answers to this. First, because by sharing charities can make better use of their resources and so deliver a better quality service to the people they were set up to help. This alone should be reason enough.
Secondly, because charities should not work against each other in competition. Sadly, in some of the larger national charities competition is becoming acceptable. But thankfully in smaller local charities, the habits of partnership and cooperation are deeply ingrained. These habits are often necessary for survival and they are in fact what distinguish us from Asda and Tesco.
Thirdly, demonstrating the effective use of resources can enhance our general reputation, raise trust in our competence and so attract even greater resources.
So we now have a timetable for developing a thought-through collaborative strategy for voluntary sector accommodation in Watford. Hopefully this process will be kick-started by a meeting already scheduled for 26 June when various voluntary and community groups will get together to discuss options.
Policy development
In the afternoon, I oversaw preparations for Monday’s networking lunch and drafted new policies on Sick Leave and Staff Development.
Art exhibition
In the evening, from 5:00, we hosted an Art Exhibition. The Guideposts Trust runs a very successful range of mental health services in Watford. They are a splendid organisation run by the impressive Lorna Cunningham who leads an equally impressive staff team. Many of their users are talented artists, and the Trust offer plenty of opportunities for people to practice and develop their art skills. For six months we have been working with the Guideposts Trust to collate sufficient pictures to display at WCVS. We now have forty, and tonight we hosted an evening for friends of Guideposts Trust and WCVS. It was a very pleasant and civilised affair. I was delighted that Alison Stainsby joined us from WBC, but the evening was really about the artists who quite rightly took full advantage of the attention (hopefully next week’s Watford Observer will include a picture).
Just as the artists bristled with pride, I was proud of the quiet and efficient way that WCVS staff set about things: making everything look excellent, making people welcome, serving drinks, bringing out the food, clearing things away. Sometimes they are so good I just want to gather them together and give them a great big hug: I suspect this is not best management practice so I resist all such temptations.
After everyone had dispersed, I finished off our final 2006-07 monitoring report to WBC and made a final few preparations for tomorrow’s interviews. I arrived home tired but rather pleased with things.
At 10:00 this morning, I met with a team from WBC (Kim Bloomfield our grants officer and Tim Sanderson and Andy Large from “property services”) to discuss WCVS’s future accommodation needs.
At present, WCVS occupies a large building at the top of Watford High Street just opposite the Town Hall. This is an ideal location for many reasons. But the Council lease the property from a private landlord and High Street rents are of course expensive, and the lease is coming to an end - there are break clauses in the summer of 2008 and 2009 and the lease finally ends in the summer of 2010.
Naturally, WBC want to surrender the lease at the earliest practicable opportunity and to help WCVS find new accommodation in a cheaper location. But WCVS has a range of quite complex accommodation needs. Most obviously, we have to accommodate ten members of staff and a team of perhaps six volunteers on any given day. We also have a drop-in Volunteer Centre that needs to be in an accessible Town Centre location. For our members, we need to broker affordable town centre meeting space – and access to occasional serviced office space. We also need improved access for disabled users, better storage, and a smaller “carbon footprint”.
These disparate needs are clearly not best met through a single unit of shopfront premises on the High Street. To argue this would make us look foolish.
Stepping back, it is apparent to me that the voluntary sector generally does not make efficient use of the resources they have. I suppose it is understandable that each individual charity wants its own offices, with its own meeting rooms etc. After all, no one would expect Asda and Tesco to share shop space. So why should Age Concern and the YMCA share facilities? Or Watford Asian Community Care and West Herts Against Crime?
There are three answers to this. First, because by sharing charities can make better use of their resources and so deliver a better quality service to the people they were set up to help. This alone should be reason enough.
Secondly, because charities should not work against each other in competition. Sadly, in some of the larger national charities competition is becoming acceptable. But thankfully in smaller local charities, the habits of partnership and cooperation are deeply ingrained. These habits are often necessary for survival and they are in fact what distinguish us from Asda and Tesco.
Thirdly, demonstrating the effective use of resources can enhance our general reputation, raise trust in our competence and so attract even greater resources.
So we now have a timetable for developing a thought-through collaborative strategy for voluntary sector accommodation in Watford. Hopefully this process will be kick-started by a meeting already scheduled for 26 June when various voluntary and community groups will get together to discuss options.
Policy development
In the afternoon, I oversaw preparations for Monday’s networking lunch and drafted new policies on Sick Leave and Staff Development.
Art exhibition
In the evening, from 5:00, we hosted an Art Exhibition. The Guideposts Trust runs a very successful range of mental health services in Watford. They are a splendid organisation run by the impressive Lorna Cunningham who leads an equally impressive staff team. Many of their users are talented artists, and the Trust offer plenty of opportunities for people to practice and develop their art skills. For six months we have been working with the Guideposts Trust to collate sufficient pictures to display at WCVS. We now have forty, and tonight we hosted an evening for friends of Guideposts Trust and WCVS. It was a very pleasant and civilised affair. I was delighted that Alison Stainsby joined us from WBC, but the evening was really about the artists who quite rightly took full advantage of the attention (hopefully next week’s Watford Observer will include a picture).
Just as the artists bristled with pride, I was proud of the quiet and efficient way that WCVS staff set about things: making everything look excellent, making people welcome, serving drinks, bringing out the food, clearing things away. Sometimes they are so good I just want to gather them together and give them a great big hug: I suspect this is not best management practice so I resist all such temptations.
After everyone had dispersed, I finished off our final 2006-07 monitoring report to WBC and made a final few preparations for tomorrow’s interviews. I arrived home tired but rather pleased with things.
Wednesday, 6 June 2007
The lull before the storm?
Today I enjoyed my final day or so of relative peace. I will soon be immersed in another round of meetings and chasing frantically after deadlines.
Radio Times
On the drive home, I listened to FreshFM – the youth / community radio station broadcasting all this week across Watford on 101.8.
Lasy Friday, Des Reid (one of our Connexions PAs) joined FreshFM to talk about bullying. I was hurryign to my grand-daughter’s birthday party and missed the broadcast. By all accounts, Des’s performance on Friday was excellent. But then Des has a natural radio voice, deep and and well modulated and his manner is naturally relaxed and reassuring.
Tonight was the turn of Saud and Farzana (our other two PAs) who joined FreshFM to talk about drug abuse. Both came across very well indeed: young, bright, confident and able to quote masses of information and data. I enjoyed the show greatly and listened attentively until the signal finally gave out around Hatfield.
Today I enjoyed my final day or so of relative peace. I will soon be immersed in another round of meetings and chasing frantically after deadlines.
Radio Times
On the drive home, I listened to FreshFM – the youth / community radio station broadcasting all this week across Watford on 101.8.
Lasy Friday, Des Reid (one of our Connexions PAs) joined FreshFM to talk about bullying. I was hurryign to my grand-daughter’s birthday party and missed the broadcast. By all accounts, Des’s performance on Friday was excellent. But then Des has a natural radio voice, deep and and well modulated and his manner is naturally relaxed and reassuring.
Tonight was the turn of Saud and Farzana (our other two PAs) who joined FreshFM to talk about drug abuse. Both came across very well indeed: young, bright, confident and able to quote masses of information and data. I enjoyed the show greatly and listened attentively until the signal finally gave out around Hatfield.
Tuesday, 5 June 2007
I arrived at work early to complete the overhaul of my office. But at 10:00 I joined a meeting of the Watford Learning Partnership. The WLP provides a forum for all those delivering post-16 education in Watford. Today’s meeting was poorly attended but nevertheless there were some helpful discussions: in particular, we explored possible ways of meeting the voluntary sector’s training needs.
Investing in Communities
On Investors in Communities, I learnt that others also think their current year budget allocations are crazy. IiC works with communities to tackle poverty and need. For education and training, they have a fixed sum of money to spend across the county and decided (I assume with the best intentions) to prioritise needs. To be exact, they decided that 100% of their 2007-08 budget will be spent in just three of Hertfordshire’s 200-odd wards. No-one disputes the need to prioritise. But there is serious doubt that these three wards can even host all the events needed to spend the money. And if they can host the events, will anyone actually attend?
This seems to me a classic (and extreme) example of the “hit and run” tactics favoured by many inexperienced and naive funders. Many people, including the potential targets of the training, will probably be far happier if the money is simply flushed straight down the drain - thus saving everyone the embarrassment of pretending that people will actually benefit from any of this.
It is possible that I would be more understanding about this if one or more of the wards were within Watford.
After the WLP meeting I visited the YMCA for lunch with their CEO Phil Willerton. Apart from leading one of Watford's most successful charities, Phil is also the best person to ask about the Children’s Partnerships / Centres / Funds and I am only slowly getting to understand these things.
Later, I met with Anne (our Funding Advisor) who is about to go on leave for two weeks. I then finally finished overhauling my office – which now looks almost "office-like" (is there an appropriate adjective for this context? officious and professional are just not right).
Around 5:00 I was visited by WCVS's auditors Howard Wilson, who collected from us our audit pack. I then hurried home to my grand-daughter’s third birthday party. Later, I noticed that aged Ken was looking more inform that usual; I wonder if anyone markets copper collars for arthritic cats?
Investing in Communities
On Investors in Communities, I learnt that others also think their current year budget allocations are crazy. IiC works with communities to tackle poverty and need. For education and training, they have a fixed sum of money to spend across the county and decided (I assume with the best intentions) to prioritise needs. To be exact, they decided that 100% of their 2007-08 budget will be spent in just three of Hertfordshire’s 200-odd wards. No-one disputes the need to prioritise. But there is serious doubt that these three wards can even host all the events needed to spend the money. And if they can host the events, will anyone actually attend?
This seems to me a classic (and extreme) example of the “hit and run” tactics favoured by many inexperienced and naive funders. Many people, including the potential targets of the training, will probably be far happier if the money is simply flushed straight down the drain - thus saving everyone the embarrassment of pretending that people will actually benefit from any of this.
It is possible that I would be more understanding about this if one or more of the wards were within Watford.
After the WLP meeting I visited the YMCA for lunch with their CEO Phil Willerton. Apart from leading one of Watford's most successful charities, Phil is also the best person to ask about the Children’s Partnerships / Centres / Funds and I am only slowly getting to understand these things.
Later, I met with Anne (our Funding Advisor) who is about to go on leave for two weeks. I then finally finished overhauling my office – which now looks almost "office-like" (is there an appropriate adjective for this context? officious and professional are just not right).
Around 5:00 I was visited by WCVS's auditors Howard Wilson, who collected from us our audit pack. I then hurried home to my grand-daughter’s third birthday party. Later, I noticed that aged Ken was looking more inform that usual; I wonder if anyone markets copper collars for arthritic cats?
Monday, 4 June 2007
This morning’s journey took an hour and a half so I was relieved that the auditors had delayed their initial visit until Tuesday - helpfully giving me an extra day to collate papers etc. Thanks to Jackie's ministrations, my shoulder was much improved.
It was good to see Vanessa (Development and Training Officer) back from her leave and we had a helpful discussion on local training. I also had talks Helen (Volunteer Centre co-ordinator) about the LAA, and with Anne (Funding Advisor) on preparations for her forthcoming leave. And I completed preparations for this Friday’s interviews, rebuilt a laptop computer and fixed a flickering light. Jack of all trades, then.
But most importantly I spent two hours clearing up my own office. The eccentric and bohemian stacks of books and papers and computer drives had begun to take on the depressing appearance or permanent fixtures. With things cleared away, I hope I can start to concentrate on the large projects for this summer:
- completing the audit and annual report;
- contributing to the strategic plan for the Hertfordshire Infrastructure Consortium;
- securing IiP status for WCVS;
- contributing to Watford's Community Development Strategy;
- revitalising the Watford and Hertfordshire Compacts;
- appointing and inducting a new Finance and Administration Officer;
- finding partners to begin developing local strategies for volunteering, training, and accommodation.
It should be a busy few months.
Recent reading
I completed David Stuart Leslie's Two Gentlemen Sharing, best described as a comedy of manners and set in the Notting Hill of 1960. I also ploughed through The Rising of the Workers of Hertfordshire in 1381 and am now reading Hertfordshire 1731 – 1800 as Recorded in the Gentlemen’s Magazine. A Hertford woman was found guilty of witchcraft in 1712; I believe this was the last such guilty verdict and she subsequently received a Royal Pardon and was sheltered and provided for by Lord Cowper until her death. Touchingly, Lady Cowper paid for a regular sermon to be preached against witch hunts. Perhaps this tradition should be revived? But the sermon did little for the west of the County for in Tring in 1751, an elderly couple were dragged from the Poor House under suspicion of witchcraft and badly beaten by a mob. The woman died and one of the mob was subsequently hanged.
It was good to see Vanessa (Development and Training Officer) back from her leave and we had a helpful discussion on local training. I also had talks Helen (Volunteer Centre co-ordinator) about the LAA, and with Anne (Funding Advisor) on preparations for her forthcoming leave. And I completed preparations for this Friday’s interviews, rebuilt a laptop computer and fixed a flickering light. Jack of all trades, then.
But most importantly I spent two hours clearing up my own office. The eccentric and bohemian stacks of books and papers and computer drives had begun to take on the depressing appearance or permanent fixtures. With things cleared away, I hope I can start to concentrate on the large projects for this summer:
- completing the audit and annual report;
- contributing to the strategic plan for the Hertfordshire Infrastructure Consortium;
- securing IiP status for WCVS;
- contributing to Watford's Community Development Strategy;
- revitalising the Watford and Hertfordshire Compacts;
- appointing and inducting a new Finance and Administration Officer;
- finding partners to begin developing local strategies for volunteering, training, and accommodation.
It should be a busy few months.
Recent reading
I completed David Stuart Leslie's Two Gentlemen Sharing, best described as a comedy of manners and set in the Notting Hill of 1960. I also ploughed through The Rising of the Workers of Hertfordshire in 1381 and am now reading Hertfordshire 1731 – 1800 as Recorded in the Gentlemen’s Magazine. A Hertford woman was found guilty of witchcraft in 1712; I believe this was the last such guilty verdict and she subsequently received a Royal Pardon and was sheltered and provided for by Lord Cowper until her death. Touchingly, Lady Cowper paid for a regular sermon to be preached against witch hunts. Perhaps this tradition should be revived? But the sermon did little for the west of the County for in Tring in 1751, an elderly couple were dragged from the Poor House under suspicion of witchcraft and badly beaten by a mob. The woman died and one of the mob was subsequently hanged.
Sunday, 3 June 2007
A beautiful day. Jackie and I rose early and spent the entire day together gardening. All very pleasing. We finished in the garden about 6:00 pm, bathed and ate. I made a final round of telephone calls arranging interviews with shortlisted candidates in WCVS's current recruitment process for a Finance and Administration Officer. I had thought to spend the rest of the evening doing some final preparation for WCVS's audit but this was out of the question.
For some weeks, I have been nursing along a "frozen shoulder" - a stiffening of my left shoulder and elbow, usually accompanied by great tenderness and occasionally by extravagantly shooting pains. After a day in the garden, the pain was constant and intense. I sat with my elbow perched on top of five cushions while Jackie lovingly massaged me. I felt so miserable and pathetic that even a new episode of Midsomer Murders did little to raise my spirits.
For some weeks, I have been nursing along a "frozen shoulder" - a stiffening of my left shoulder and elbow, usually accompanied by great tenderness and occasionally by extravagantly shooting pains. After a day in the garden, the pain was constant and intense. I sat with my elbow perched on top of five cushions while Jackie lovingly massaged me. I felt so miserable and pathetic that even a new episode of Midsomer Murders did little to raise my spirits.
Saturday, 2 June 2007
I woke up about 7:00 this morning to the sound of Bethany crying from her bedroom. I rushed in and found her sitting up and claiming that she had seen "bats" at the window. This was probably not a bad dream, but a misunderstanding as two sparrows often do flutter around the window apparently picking spiders from the wall of the house. I reassured her (without mentioning spiders) and we went to wake up Jackie before enjoying a wonderful breakfast in bed. All too soon, we had to restore Bethany to her mum and dad; I do hope she visits again soon.
At lunchtime, Jackie and I headed off to see Blithe Spirit at the Watford Palace Theatre. Simon Dunton was particularly good as the husband; but what to do about Margaret Rutherford's incomparable performance as Madame Arcati? A clever bit of casting allowed Aicha Kossoko full reign and she didn't disappoint.
Watford is very fortunate to have the Palace Theatre but theatres struggle against many other competing demands for our time. Rather depressingly, the only Palace Theatre event "SOLD OUT" is a performance by Frank Skinner. I myself am keen to see the Indian production of A Midsummer Night's Dream in September.
At lunchtime, Jackie and I headed off to see Blithe Spirit at the Watford Palace Theatre. Simon Dunton was particularly good as the husband; but what to do about Margaret Rutherford's incomparable performance as Madame Arcati? A clever bit of casting allowed Aicha Kossoko full reign and she didn't disappoint.
Watford is very fortunate to have the Palace Theatre but theatres struggle against many other competing demands for our time. Rather depressingly, the only Palace Theatre event "SOLD OUT" is a performance by Frank Skinner. I myself am keen to see the Indian production of A Midsummer Night's Dream in September.
Friday, 1 June 2007
Today, I completed a year with Watford CVS. Disappointingly, no holiday was declared and there was no parade on Watford High Street. Like everyone else, I marked the event quietly by simply ignoring it.
I spent part of the day sorting out preparations for the forthcoming Networking Lunch. I chased Herts CVS colleagues for some comparative data on activities etc. This morning I met with Lincoln Beckford, one of my trustees, to learn about his work and background. After, I had a long talk with Helen about volunteering and the One Watford LSP. In the afternoon I met with Mary Green from Three Rivers CVS to talk through our respective BASIS bids.
Des Reid (one of our Connexions PAs) was preparing to go "on air" on local youth radio station Fresh FM: he looked very relaxed about it. I hurried off home at 5:00 sharp as Jackie and I were hosting our (nearly three year old) grand-daughter Bethany for the night and I didn't want to miss anything. She is a beautiful child and it is a delight to have her stay. Sadly it meant that I missed Des's radio performance. Sorry Des.
I spent part of the day sorting out preparations for the forthcoming Networking Lunch. I chased Herts CVS colleagues for some comparative data on activities etc. This morning I met with Lincoln Beckford, one of my trustees, to learn about his work and background. After, I had a long talk with Helen about volunteering and the One Watford LSP. In the afternoon I met with Mary Green from Three Rivers CVS to talk through our respective BASIS bids.
Des Reid (one of our Connexions PAs) was preparing to go "on air" on local youth radio station Fresh FM: he looked very relaxed about it. I hurried off home at 5:00 sharp as Jackie and I were hosting our (nearly three year old) grand-daughter Bethany for the night and I didn't want to miss anything. She is a beautiful child and it is a delight to have her stay. Sadly it meant that I missed Des's radio performance. Sorry Des.
Thursday, 31 May 2007
I again planned to work from home today to make progress on our BASIS bid and prepare for our audit next week. But circumstances conspired against me and I first needed to pay a visit to the office: I stole in around dawn to minimise traffic delays.
Back home I started work about 8:30 and had ten urgent telephone calls to make before I could really focus on anything else. I managed to complete these and spend some very useful hours on BASIS.
At one point I had a meeting on the Herts Compact at HCC County Hall with Andrew Burt (of HCC) and Jacquie Hime (of N Herts CVS). As I've previously written, there are some serious issues emerging for the Compact.
In this meeting, we were each wearing our "Herts Compact Group" hats, so our brief was simply to examine process and on this the discussions were productive. I think we also reached a sort-of-solution to the long-running problems over HomeStart funding where HCC appear to find themselves in a bit of a mess. But give the hats we were wearing, this "solution" has to focus on getting the various parties to resume meaningful dialogue.
All this may be too late to rescue the 8 June Doing Business with the Public Sector event organised by HCC. The first invitation was only circulated on 16 May and this is simply not sufficient notice for people to organise themselves and their diaries. And faced with a diary conflict, the HomeStart situation certainly does not encourage people to give HCC the benefit of the doubt.
Back home I started work about 8:30 and had ten urgent telephone calls to make before I could really focus on anything else. I managed to complete these and spend some very useful hours on BASIS.
At one point I had a meeting on the Herts Compact at HCC County Hall with Andrew Burt (of HCC) and Jacquie Hime (of N Herts CVS). As I've previously written, there are some serious issues emerging for the Compact.
In this meeting, we were each wearing our "Herts Compact Group" hats, so our brief was simply to examine process and on this the discussions were productive. I think we also reached a sort-of-solution to the long-running problems over HomeStart funding where HCC appear to find themselves in a bit of a mess. But give the hats we were wearing, this "solution" has to focus on getting the various parties to resume meaningful dialogue.
All this may be too late to rescue the 8 June Doing Business with the Public Sector event organised by HCC. The first invitation was only circulated on 16 May and this is simply not sufficient notice for people to organise themselves and their diaries. And faced with a diary conflict, the HomeStart situation certainly does not encourage people to give HCC the benefit of the doubt.
Wednesday, 30 May 2007
I spent some time talking with colleagues about the forthcoming networking lunch event. In recent times, these have been organised by Sue who has now moved to new pastures. All other staff are rallying round brilliantly to help out, but organising for the 11 June event is anyway a bit more complex than usual, and without Sue I am fussing like an old mother hen.
Community centres
I then met with some representatives from the Watford African Caribbean Association who are in discussions about establishing a new partnership to take over the management of one of the local Community Centres.
This was an extremely interesting meeting. Discussions began a year or more ago, but so far have not moved beyond the initial relationship-building phase. Or at least there do not yet seem to be any answers to fundamental questions about the future management of the centres: who will own the building, who will be responsible for different aspects of maintenance, etc. Doubtless all will become clear in time, but time is moving on and groups have to start taking decisions.
Community centres
I then met with some representatives from the Watford African Caribbean Association who are in discussions about establishing a new partnership to take over the management of one of the local Community Centres.
This was an extremely interesting meeting. Discussions began a year or more ago, but so far have not moved beyond the initial relationship-building phase. Or at least there do not yet seem to be any answers to fundamental questions about the future management of the centres: who will own the building, who will be responsible for different aspects of maintenance, etc. Doubtless all will become clear in time, but time is moving on and groups have to start taking decisions.
Tuesday, 29 May 2007
After the long bank holiday weekend taking refuge from the rain, I spent today working from home pulling together our second stage bid for BASIS funding. At last I feel like I'm making progress on this. Just as well as the deadline is looming.
I also managed to prepare comments on draft 7 of Every Child Matters in Watford - the strategic plan of the local Children's Partnership.
I also managed to prepare comments on draft 7 of Every Child Matters in Watford - the strategic plan of the local Children's Partnership.
Monday, 28 May 2007
A bank holiday. And the storms promised for yesterday finally arrived this morning – big booming winds and heavy rains. We popped out for some supplies but otherwise spent the day taking refuge and I spent a productive few hours sorting through my in-tray.
On Friday, I finished reading Wingless Victory – the story of a RAF pilot (Wing Commander Basil Embry – later Air Marshal Sir Basil Embry KCB, KBE, DSO, DFC, AFC) shot down days before the Dunkirk evacuation and whose escape back to England included witnessing the German Victory Parade in Paris.
Today, hiding from the rain, I finished Sap Rising by AA Gill. This was rather less edifying and contained possibly the most unnecessary and harrowing scenes I’ve ever read. But I persevered and there were also some interesting passages and many that made me laugh. Imagine Puck of Pook Hill re-written by Tom Sharp as bestial pornography: is this what modern literature is like?
On Friday, I finished reading Wingless Victory – the story of a RAF pilot (Wing Commander Basil Embry – later Air Marshal Sir Basil Embry KCB, KBE, DSO, DFC, AFC) shot down days before the Dunkirk evacuation and whose escape back to England included witnessing the German Victory Parade in Paris.
Today, hiding from the rain, I finished Sap Rising by AA Gill. This was rather less edifying and contained possibly the most unnecessary and harrowing scenes I’ve ever read. But I persevered and there were also some interesting passages and many that made me laugh. Imagine Puck of Pook Hill re-written by Tom Sharp as bestial pornography: is this what modern literature is like?
Sunday, 27 May 2007
Another quiet and relaxing day. Jackie and I had planned to spend the day at a music festival in Welwyn Garden City. But although we were spared the storms and torrents premised by the forecasters, it did rain steadily throughout the day and we decided against venturing out.
Instead, I read through the applications received for the Finance and Administration Officer post, ranked them against the person specification and arrived at a draft shortlist. I’ll have to wait until next week to see if the rest of the selection panel agree with me.
Instead, I read through the applications received for the Finance and Administration Officer post, ranked them against the person specification and arrived at a draft shortlist. I’ll have to wait until next week to see if the rest of the selection panel agree with me.
Saturday, 26 May 2007
According to the Meteorological Office, this was to be the only half-decent day of the Bank Holiday weekend so we spent the day laying in supplies. While Jackie went on some other domestic errand, I started going around Asda alone. More from curiosity than from any lofty ideal, I decided to base my shopping decisions on broadly ethical considerations: what was healthy food, what was good for the environment, what was politically sound etc.
What a nightmare! Fair Trade bananas from the Windward Islands seemed a good decision, but surely flying bananas across the Atlantic can’t be good for global warming. Organic tomatoes from Spain or Fair Trade tomatoes from Africa? And what does “organic” mean anyway? I was really not very good at it all. I suspect that we have all got too used to having “everything all the time”. Heaven help us when the oil runs out. Or when the seas rise.
When Jackie caught up with me at the check-outs. She was not impressed: Why have we paid £1.29 for two peppers? No, I’ll rephrase that: have we won the Lottery?
What a nightmare! Fair Trade bananas from the Windward Islands seemed a good decision, but surely flying bananas across the Atlantic can’t be good for global warming. Organic tomatoes from Spain or Fair Trade tomatoes from Africa? And what does “organic” mean anyway? I was really not very good at it all. I suspect that we have all got too used to having “everything all the time”. Heaven help us when the oil runs out. Or when the seas rise.
When Jackie caught up with me at the check-outs. She was not impressed: Why have we paid £1.29 for two peppers? No, I’ll rephrase that: have we won the Lottery?
Friday, 25 May 2007
Today started with one of my regular supervision meetings with Pam Handley, my Chair of trustees. Pam is an exemplary trustee possessing a wonderful mixture of technical knowledge, local political nous, and strategic awareness. I look forward to these meetings but I fear I am not yet extracting maximum benefit from them – perhaps I need to prepare more?
The deadline passed for receiving applications for the vacant post here of Finance and Administration Officer. The first time this was advertised (in The Guardian national paper) we had just two applications. We re-advertised in the Watford Observer and at the local Job Centre, and we had a further thirteen applications. Of these, two had simply sent in their CV with no covering note. I am by no means sure that these are even intended as applications for the post, but in any event they really aren't admissible. Another applicant completed the application form with a name and address, but against every other questions had then written “will discuss at interview”. I don’t think so. So we were left with twelve valid applications (including the two from the first round). I will read through these over the weekend.
In the evening I had a long chat on the telephone with Mum who had just returned from a day out with one of the local history societies.
The deadline passed for receiving applications for the vacant post here of Finance and Administration Officer. The first time this was advertised (in The Guardian national paper) we had just two applications. We re-advertised in the Watford Observer and at the local Job Centre, and we had a further thirteen applications. Of these, two had simply sent in their CV with no covering note. I am by no means sure that these are even intended as applications for the post, but in any event they really aren't admissible. Another applicant completed the application form with a name and address, but against every other questions had then written “will discuss at interview”. I don’t think so. So we were left with twelve valid applications (including the two from the first round). I will read through these over the weekend.
In the evening I had a long chat on the telephone with Mum who had just returned from a day out with one of the local history societies.
Thursday, 24 May 2007
The journey to Watford took an exasperating two hours, leaving me barely time to get to a meeting of a project steering group I’d been invited to join. The project is run jointly by the Guidepost Trust and Watford Asian Community Care and is looking at mental health services for women from south Asia. This is not a field of which I have much knowledge, but I have plenty of experience of project management and I was able to make some useful contributions.
From this meeting, I headed off to Hitchin for a meeting with the Big Lottery’s East of England representative to talk about the second stage of the BASIS programme. Although Watford CVS did well from the first stage, everyone recognises that it was fraught with difficulties. The only people attending form Hertfordshire were myself, Jacquie Hime (from North Herts CVS) and Steph Gallagher (the HIC development worker) and we all stressed that the two key needs were to focus money on core services and to avoid a competitive bidding round. I think our points were well taken.
Of course, the natural thing would be to ask the Herts Infrastructure Consortium to distribute the money. We’ll see: the Big Lottery will soon have a more formal consultation period and decisions on stage two will be announced later this year.
After this meeting, there were further talks about the HIC strategic plan and then I managed to arrive home by five. Jackie and I celebrated my early return by taking a brisk walk through the local woods.
From this meeting, I headed off to Hitchin for a meeting with the Big Lottery’s East of England representative to talk about the second stage of the BASIS programme. Although Watford CVS did well from the first stage, everyone recognises that it was fraught with difficulties. The only people attending form Hertfordshire were myself, Jacquie Hime (from North Herts CVS) and Steph Gallagher (the HIC development worker) and we all stressed that the two key needs were to focus money on core services and to avoid a competitive bidding round. I think our points were well taken.
Of course, the natural thing would be to ask the Herts Infrastructure Consortium to distribute the money. We’ll see: the Big Lottery will soon have a more formal consultation period and decisions on stage two will be announced later this year.
After this meeting, there were further talks about the HIC strategic plan and then I managed to arrive home by five. Jackie and I celebrated my early return by taking a brisk walk through the local woods.
Wednesday, 23 May 2007
I had a very busy day on communications - organising meetings, talking with staff, responding to e-mails, chasing contacts, etc.
I feel like I achieved a lot, but it was all very bitty ...
I feel like I achieved a lot, but it was all very bitty ...
Tuesday, 22 May 2007
I enjoyed a quiet morning catching up on e-mail and reviewing my calendar to make sure I can have some time free to concentrate on preparations for our Audit and our second stage bid to the Big Lottery Fund’s Basis programme.
One Watford
In the afternoon, we were hosting a meeting of the One Watford Local Strategic Partnership. In the morning, I spent time making sure we had available a laptop with internet access so that the new One Watford website could be demonstrated.
There were several apologies for the meeting and this resulted in a subtle change to the dynamics of the group. The meeting just seemed to step up a gear in terms of its engagement with the issues: there was more enthusiasm, more commitment, and things were more relaxed. Perhaps it is unkind of me to attribute this to the change in personnel; it could just as well have been the change in the venue, the coming of spring, or some other unnoticed environmental phenomenon. But it was a good meeting.
Helen (our Volunteer Centre co-ordinator) and I also presented a new paper on volunteering and the LAA targets. Helen was again excellent, the paper was well-received, and there was a very positive response to our specific requests for help. There was also positive news about the Health Campus and the redevelopment of the Town Centre. And Jenny Tomley (head of Watford’s John Lewis store) brought forward a proposal for promoting civic pride in Watford.
All very good stuff. A distinctive Watford approach to things is emerging and is becoming more familiar and more easy. There is a (still slight) buzz of excitement as things do seem to be coming together. I think that Mayor Dorothy Thornhill knows this too, although she will also know there’s a whole lot more work to do yet.
After the One Watford meeting, I had a quick talk with Chris Pearson of West Herts College about the local voluntary sector’s training needs. We agreed to talk further.
Then I hurried off home, dropping off en route to get cheques signed by my smart and welcoming vice chair Althea McLean OBE.
At home, Jackie and I enjoyed a cup of tea together and then shunned the delights of the gym to have a brisk walk. All very invigorating.
Reading
At the weekend, I completed Great Adventures and Explorations: from the earliest times to the present as told by the explorers themselves. Not the sexiest book title ever, the writings were collected together in the 1950s by renown arctic explorer Vilhjarmur Stefansson who added his own extensive notes and glossaries. Quite exhilarating.
Since the weekend, I have re-read another minor epic: The Story of Mary Jones and Her Bible (a poor Methodist Welsh girl in the 1790s and her struggle to own her own Bible). I have a beautiful 1891 edition and I wanted one final read before parting with it.
One Watford
In the afternoon, we were hosting a meeting of the One Watford Local Strategic Partnership. In the morning, I spent time making sure we had available a laptop with internet access so that the new One Watford website could be demonstrated.
There were several apologies for the meeting and this resulted in a subtle change to the dynamics of the group. The meeting just seemed to step up a gear in terms of its engagement with the issues: there was more enthusiasm, more commitment, and things were more relaxed. Perhaps it is unkind of me to attribute this to the change in personnel; it could just as well have been the change in the venue, the coming of spring, or some other unnoticed environmental phenomenon. But it was a good meeting.
Helen (our Volunteer Centre co-ordinator) and I also presented a new paper on volunteering and the LAA targets. Helen was again excellent, the paper was well-received, and there was a very positive response to our specific requests for help. There was also positive news about the Health Campus and the redevelopment of the Town Centre. And Jenny Tomley (head of Watford’s John Lewis store) brought forward a proposal for promoting civic pride in Watford.
All very good stuff. A distinctive Watford approach to things is emerging and is becoming more familiar and more easy. There is a (still slight) buzz of excitement as things do seem to be coming together. I think that Mayor Dorothy Thornhill knows this too, although she will also know there’s a whole lot more work to do yet.
After the One Watford meeting, I had a quick talk with Chris Pearson of West Herts College about the local voluntary sector’s training needs. We agreed to talk further.
Then I hurried off home, dropping off en route to get cheques signed by my smart and welcoming vice chair Althea McLean OBE.
At home, Jackie and I enjoyed a cup of tea together and then shunned the delights of the gym to have a brisk walk. All very invigorating.
Reading
At the weekend, I completed Great Adventures and Explorations: from the earliest times to the present as told by the explorers themselves. Not the sexiest book title ever, the writings were collected together in the 1950s by renown arctic explorer Vilhjarmur Stefansson who added his own extensive notes and glossaries. Quite exhilarating.
Since the weekend, I have re-read another minor epic: The Story of Mary Jones and Her Bible (a poor Methodist Welsh girl in the 1790s and her struggle to own her own Bible). I have a beautiful 1891 edition and I wanted one final read before parting with it.
Monday, 21 May 2007
Investors in People?
The whole of this morning was devoted to a meeting with Len Simkin, our Investors in People advisor. We are getting very close to submitting our application for IiP status, and this was a final meeting to check through the requirements of the standard.
I then worked on the Hertfordshire Infrastructure Consortium strategic plan, and on the Herts CVS strategic plan. And then had some discussions over the new Watford One World forum and associated matters.
At some point I had an angry telephone call from the people who came to see me on Friday about registering a new Charity. They didn't like the advice I gave and hadn't followed it, but they still very much wanted more advice on how to raise funds. And quickly. They weren't amused when I explained that we couldn't accommodate them. Then they arrived at the office causing more disruption. Ho hum.
The whole of this morning was devoted to a meeting with Len Simkin, our Investors in People advisor. We are getting very close to submitting our application for IiP status, and this was a final meeting to check through the requirements of the standard.
I then worked on the Hertfordshire Infrastructure Consortium strategic plan, and on the Herts CVS strategic plan. And then had some discussions over the new Watford One World forum and associated matters.
At some point I had an angry telephone call from the people who came to see me on Friday about registering a new Charity. They didn't like the advice I gave and hadn't followed it, but they still very much wanted more advice on how to raise funds. And quickly. They weren't amused when I explained that we couldn't accommodate them. Then they arrived at the office causing more disruption. Ho hum.
Sunday, 20 May 2007
A long long day working in the garden, crowned by a BBQ with Rhiannon and her family and then a very early night. There is a world of difference between speciality sausages (Lincolnshire, venison) and novelty sausages (pork and peach, grapefruit and squirrel).
Saturday, 19 May 2007
Jackie and I had agreed to spend a long lazy day at home doing absolutely nothing. However, late in the morning Jackie realised that we didn’t have quite enough linen and cotton in our house and this meant an urgent shopping trip to Watford to remedy the problem.
On the return drive, on the A405, we saw scores of grey rabbits alongside scores of other creatures. We agreed that these other creatures looked exactly like chocolate-coloured guinea pigs, but I suppose they could just as well have been chocolate-coloured rabbits with scrawny fur and invisible ears.
In the evening we were too tired to accept an invitation out for a meal. Instead, we watched a BBC 4 programme about Jimi Hendrix. I enjoy a great many musicians and writers and entertainers; and there is lots and lots of good music around today - possibly the best crop of British musicians for decades. But Jimi Hendrix is one of only a very few musicians ever who have made me stop in my tracks with jaw open and think: “how on earth does that happen?”
The only person who produces the same effect on me now is Derren Brown.
And Jackie, of course.
On the return drive, on the A405, we saw scores of grey rabbits alongside scores of other creatures. We agreed that these other creatures looked exactly like chocolate-coloured guinea pigs, but I suppose they could just as well have been chocolate-coloured rabbits with scrawny fur and invisible ears.
In the evening we were too tired to accept an invitation out for a meal. Instead, we watched a BBC 4 programme about Jimi Hendrix. I enjoy a great many musicians and writers and entertainers; and there is lots and lots of good music around today - possibly the best crop of British musicians for decades. But Jimi Hendrix is one of only a very few musicians ever who have made me stop in my tracks with jaw open and think: “how on earth does that happen?”
The only person who produces the same effect on me now is Derren Brown.
And Jackie, of course.
Friday, 18 May 2007
This morning I had one meeting with an established local group looking to register as a charity. Sometimes, groups emerge naturally from activities that people undertake and then at some stage it becomes necessary or helpful to formalise things. And then the group exceeds the Charity Commission's registration threshold and so has to register with the Charity Commission. This is the natural order of things.
Then I had another meeting with some people who want to set up a new charity. Of course there are situations where the natural order has to be circumvented in some way. But it concerns me when people want to register a new charity to work with vulnerable people when they have no work experience in that area, no clear idea of what activities they want to undertake and have no clear purpose or goal in mind. But they very much want advice on how to raise funds. I gave what advice I could, and hope it is followed.
Mostly I devoted the day to getting our accounts up to date as it’s now six weeks since Sue left and three weeks since Priti left.
I finally left the office around 7:00 pm, looking forward to a nice relaxing weekend at home with Jackie.
Then I had another meeting with some people who want to set up a new charity. Of course there are situations where the natural order has to be circumvented in some way. But it concerns me when people want to register a new charity to work with vulnerable people when they have no work experience in that area, no clear idea of what activities they want to undertake and have no clear purpose or goal in mind. But they very much want advice on how to raise funds. I gave what advice I could, and hope it is followed.
Mostly I devoted the day to getting our accounts up to date as it’s now six weeks since Sue left and three weeks since Priti left.
I finally left the office around 7:00 pm, looking forward to a nice relaxing weekend at home with Jackie.
Thursday, 17 May 2007
This morning, I was at a Herts CVS meeting in St Albans to discuss the Herts CVS Strategic Plan. I think we managed to turn a potential rout into, not perhaps a triumph but at least a minor victory. More work is of course needed, but I do feel that the end is now in sight – largely thanks to the efforts of several of my colleagues (thanks Ann, Robin, Laura and Ian) and doubtless others whose contributions I am less familiar with.
In the afternoon, Jacquie Hime and I drove to Hitchin to discuss the strategic plan for the Herts Infrastructure Consortium. During the journey north we saw a beautiful roe deer cross the road before us. We also managed very expeditious discussions on Herts Compact, IT and the future of Volbase. Once at Hitchin, we were joined by Steph and talked through the requirements and vision of Capacitybuilders. After two or three months of apparent upheaval, things are beginning to fall into place a little.
I arrived home in time to enjoy a few hours with Jackie and grand-daughter Bethany.
In the afternoon, Jacquie Hime and I drove to Hitchin to discuss the strategic plan for the Herts Infrastructure Consortium. During the journey north we saw a beautiful roe deer cross the road before us. We also managed very expeditious discussions on Herts Compact, IT and the future of Volbase. Once at Hitchin, we were joined by Steph and talked through the requirements and vision of Capacitybuilders. After two or three months of apparent upheaval, things are beginning to fall into place a little.
I arrived home in time to enjoy a few hours with Jackie and grand-daughter Bethany.
Wednesday, 16 May 2007
Over the past few months, so much effort has gone into preparing for tonight’s meeting, so everything today was secondary to the launch of the Watford One World forum.
During the day, I chased up people to attend, I also talked to several groups about WCVS’s new membership arrangements, received a dozen or so e-mails back re: yesterday’s e-mailed newsletter, wrote to the One Watford LSP group with a paper on volunteering, wrote to WCVS with proposals on marketing, struggled and failed to sort out some technical problems in the Gents’ loo, and finalised arrangements for a briefing of WBC staff next month.
Did I really do all that today? Before the Lord Mayor’s Show?
The evening began very well. I was delighted to see Althea McLean OBE (one of my trustees) attending and also very pleased at the turnout from the Muslim Community Project and from elsewhere.
We were also joined by some people form Norwich and Norfolk Race Equality Council who have been commissioned by East of England CRE to prepare a report on setting up a new race equality organisation in Hertfordshire. Inevitably this stimulated interest and the short report stretched to nearly 40 minutes before I (from the chair) managed to move the meeting on without ruffling too many feathers.
But from that moment on, the meeting went absolutely swimmingly. There were lively discussions and my proposals suffered several amendment. But the changes were needed and this just went to show that people were engaged and gully committed to the new forum. There wasn’t a single note of discord. Vanessa (our Development and Training Officer) was magnificent and Althea’s experience proved invaluable.
Elections were held and officers are now taking up their posts. I have high hopes for this group playing a positive and high-profile role in Watford.
After the meeting, everyone was on a bit of a high and took time to disperse. I took the opportunity to talk with Latif Khan from the Muslim Community Project about the possibility of a voluntary sector event focused on building a better understanding with Islam. I hope to report more in this later.
During the day, I chased up people to attend, I also talked to several groups about WCVS’s new membership arrangements, received a dozen or so e-mails back re: yesterday’s e-mailed newsletter, wrote to the One Watford LSP group with a paper on volunteering, wrote to WCVS with proposals on marketing, struggled and failed to sort out some technical problems in the Gents’ loo, and finalised arrangements for a briefing of WBC staff next month.
Did I really do all that today? Before the Lord Mayor’s Show?
The evening began very well. I was delighted to see Althea McLean OBE (one of my trustees) attending and also very pleased at the turnout from the Muslim Community Project and from elsewhere.
We were also joined by some people form Norwich and Norfolk Race Equality Council who have been commissioned by East of England CRE to prepare a report on setting up a new race equality organisation in Hertfordshire. Inevitably this stimulated interest and the short report stretched to nearly 40 minutes before I (from the chair) managed to move the meeting on without ruffling too many feathers.
But from that moment on, the meeting went absolutely swimmingly. There were lively discussions and my proposals suffered several amendment. But the changes were needed and this just went to show that people were engaged and gully committed to the new forum. There wasn’t a single note of discord. Vanessa (our Development and Training Officer) was magnificent and Althea’s experience proved invaluable.
Elections were held and officers are now taking up their posts. I have high hopes for this group playing a positive and high-profile role in Watford.
After the meeting, everyone was on a bit of a high and took time to disperse. I took the opportunity to talk with Latif Khan from the Muslim Community Project about the possibility of a voluntary sector event focused on building a better understanding with Islam. I hope to report more in this later.
Tuesday, 15 May 2007
Today I finalised and circulated the WCVS newsletter, minutes of the recent Trustees’ meeting, and papers for tomorrow’s inaugural meeting of the Watford One World forum. Written down like that, it doesn’t seem much.
Monday, 14 May 2007
I spent the best part of today preparing WCVS’s new e-mail newsletter. WCVS has been published irregularly, but without a break, since 1974. This is issue 127 and the first to be distributed electronically. Issue 126 had 24 pages and lots of pictures etc. This has been stripped right down to just four pages, there are no pictures and lots of cross references to material on the internet.
Other issues during the day included finalising the payroll run, preparing a note for trustees on source of advice and information, responding to several queries about charitable status, and discussing Compact issues with Andrew Burt at HCC.
Over the past six months, HCC has changed the way it funds HomeStart, the family support charity. I have read and re-read the paperwork on this. The best possible spin that can be put on it is that HCC have made errors before, during and after their review of funding. The end result was a decision taken without warning and behind closed doors.
HCC have rightly won several awards for their Compact work, and Andrew Burt is a great and genuine champion for the Compact. But one or more of his colleagues seems to have taken their eye off the Compact ball. Sometimes things just go awry.
All this helps illustrate the need ultimately for the Compact to have some teeth. I hear much talk of reliance on Public Law, and perhaps this will provide a solution.
Other issues during the day included finalising the payroll run, preparing a note for trustees on source of advice and information, responding to several queries about charitable status, and discussing Compact issues with Andrew Burt at HCC.
Over the past six months, HCC has changed the way it funds HomeStart, the family support charity. I have read and re-read the paperwork on this. The best possible spin that can be put on it is that HCC have made errors before, during and after their review of funding. The end result was a decision taken without warning and behind closed doors.
HCC have rightly won several awards for their Compact work, and Andrew Burt is a great and genuine champion for the Compact. But one or more of his colleagues seems to have taken their eye off the Compact ball. Sometimes things just go awry.
All this helps illustrate the need ultimately for the Compact to have some teeth. I hear much talk of reliance on Public Law, and perhaps this will provide a solution.
Sunday, 13 May 2007
This was supposed to be a quite day at home up catching up on things. But I also drove to Letchworth to pick up some free (and much needed) book-shelves and delivered them to WCVS in Watford. Bobby came with me to provide some extra muscle.
In the evening, I began planning the next few weeks of work. There are some serious deadlines approaching fast and the next 4-6 weeks are going to be very busy indeed.
In the evening, I began planning the next few weeks of work. There are some serious deadlines approaching fast and the next 4-6 weeks are going to be very busy indeed.
Saturday, 12 May 2007
I went to see the first serious match at the new Wembley Stadium: Stevenage Borough against Kidderminster Harriers in the FA Trophy final. A thrilling game with Stevenage emerging as 3-2 winners. Excellent stuff.
Friday, 11 May 2007
I worked on our SLA with Watford Borough Council, and then travelled to Stevenage where I met with Chiltern Accountancy, a new county-wide charity offering accountancy and bookkeeping services to the voluntary sector. I wanted to see how they could add depth and value to the services we offer our members in Watford.
After this, I travelled even further afield to Chesterford in Essex for a meeting of the Trustees Together group. This is an important regional group trying to co-ordinate and improve the support provided to trustees across the East of England. For example, we are looking to use training materials developed in Suffolk to help establish a trustee support network in Watford – possibly in parallel with a similar initative in South Bedfordshire.
After this, I travelled even further afield to Chesterford in Essex for a meeting of the Trustees Together group. This is an important regional group trying to co-ordinate and improve the support provided to trustees across the East of England. For example, we are looking to use training materials developed in Suffolk to help establish a trustee support network in Watford – possibly in parallel with a similar initative in South Bedfordshire.
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.
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.
Wednesday, 9 May 2007
This morning’s re-entry to the office was quite painless. I spent most of the morning with Helen talking through Watford’s voluntering targets and preparing for tomorrow’s meeting of the local Voluntary Sector Alliance. We also drafted a paper for next week’s One Watford meeting.
I had arranged other representation for this morning’s meeting of the Herts BME Partnership, and I had sent my apologies to the Sunflower Board in order to attend a meeting to discuss Community Development with Sarah Pinnock and Kathryn Robson of WBC and consultants from Community Matters. This turned out to be an excellent choice as the meeting was very useful and we made great progress, also discussing accommodation issues and the specific needs of groups in West Watford.
Leaving the meeting, I encountered heavy rain - the first time I have been wetted for several months, and not an unpleasant experience. I left the office shortly after 6:00 keen to rest.
I had arranged other representation for this morning’s meeting of the Herts BME Partnership, and I had sent my apologies to the Sunflower Board in order to attend a meeting to discuss Community Development with Sarah Pinnock and Kathryn Robson of WBC and consultants from Community Matters. This turned out to be an excellent choice as the meeting was very useful and we made great progress, also discussing accommodation issues and the specific needs of groups in West Watford.
Leaving the meeting, I encountered heavy rain - the first time I have been wetted for several months, and not an unpleasant experience. I left the office shortly after 6:00 keen to rest.
Tuesday, 8 May 2007
Another day of annual leave.
In the morning, Jackie and I spent 45 minutes at the gym. My first time. All very curious. I don't think I will run at the Olympics after all.
I spent the rest of the day in the garden failing to construct a pergola from 2.4 metre lengths of wood. Jackie spent the day successfully finishing off her latest Magnus Opus: a magnificent 64 square foot hand-sewn quilt.
The day finished perfectly with a new episode of Midsomer Murder which I watched while reading through CVS correspondence and papers: tomorrow it’s back to work.
In the morning, Jackie and I spent 45 minutes at the gym. My first time. All very curious. I don't think I will run at the Olympics after all.
I spent the rest of the day in the garden failing to construct a pergola from 2.4 metre lengths of wood. Jackie spent the day successfully finishing off her latest Magnus Opus: a magnificent 64 square foot hand-sewn quilt.
The day finished perfectly with a new episode of Midsomer Murder which I watched while reading through CVS correspondence and papers: tomorrow it’s back to work.
Monday, 7 May 2007
Whiel on an errand in Watford, I popped into the office and spent an hour or so catchign up on some e-mails - paving the way for a smooth re-entry to the world of work on Wednesday. Otherwise, I spend a relaxing bank holiday devoted to the garden.
Sunday, 6 May 2007
I spent the day with my Mum going through yet more of my Dad’s papers: much of it fascinating, some of it very funny, and all of it very moving.
Saturday, 5 May 2007
A relaxing day at home with the family - and a not-so-relaxing trip to the shops waiting 90 minutes for Welwyn's John Lewis store to find a lamp they had told us was ready for collection.
Friday, 4 May 2007
Annual leave and Jackie’s birthday trip to Kew Gardens (via Watford's Hobbycraft store and Market). All wonderful.
Thursday, 3 May 2007
Jackie's birthday
It was Jackie’s birthday so she enjoyed breakfast in bed and expressed girlish delight with her cards and gifts. We had both booked the afternoon off work to attend the gym together.
At work, I spent the first part of the day meeting with Chris Leicester from the firm that developed Vol-base. We discussed WCVS implementation plans and the need to integrate Vol-base properly within an overall IT strategy for WCVS and the local voluntary sector.
After these helpful discussions, I agreed minutes for recent meetings of HIC and Herts Compact Group, and then we had a brief staff meeting to keep everyone up-to-date with agreements at last night’s trustees’ meeting.
I left the office at lunchtime and headed home. Jackie and I never made it to the gym.
It was Jackie’s birthday so she enjoyed breakfast in bed and expressed girlish delight with her cards and gifts. We had both booked the afternoon off work to attend the gym together.
At work, I spent the first part of the day meeting with Chris Leicester from the firm that developed Vol-base. We discussed WCVS implementation plans and the need to integrate Vol-base properly within an overall IT strategy for WCVS and the local voluntary sector.
After these helpful discussions, I agreed minutes for recent meetings of HIC and Herts Compact Group, and then we had a brief staff meeting to keep everyone up-to-date with agreements at last night’s trustees’ meeting.
I left the office at lunchtime and headed home. Jackie and I never made it to the gym.
Wednesday, 2 May 2007
Another day of organising meetings: getting Watford representation to the Herts BMW Partnership meeting, organising Watford representation at a new Herts Training Consortium for the voluntary sector, following up actions agreed at the recent meeting on Hate Crime, agreeing to attend a 9 May meeting with Community Matters on a Community Development strategy for Watford, and sending my apologies for the Sunflower Board meeting on that same day.
There was an interesting e-mail exchange between Herts CVS chief officers highlighting how much variation there is on vcs representation on Local Strategic Partnerships.
In the evening, there was a meeting of our trustees. I received a few last minute apologies and for a moment I feared that the meeting might be inquorate, but this fear was soon dispelled.
As ever, Pam conducted the meeting in an efficient and businesslike manner. My budget proposals were reviewed and agreed with a minor amendment. The meeting also agreed a policy on staffing and remuneration, and an amendment to the Memorandum and Articles of Association to be proposed to our September AGM.
Vanessa (our Development and Training Officer) attended the meeting and introduced a paper on Risk Assessment. This was welcomed and Pam suggested a fuller discussion at the next trustees' meeting.
Discussions among the trustees also highlighted that many Watford voluntary groups are currently facing accommodation problems or changes. Helpfully, it was agreed that future WCVS trustee meetings should include a standing item to exchange information about our member groups. This will help maintain an outward focus for trustee meetings.
After the trustees meeting, I sent some quick follow-up e-mails and left the office about 10:00 pm.
There was an interesting e-mail exchange between Herts CVS chief officers highlighting how much variation there is on vcs representation on Local Strategic Partnerships.
In the evening, there was a meeting of our trustees. I received a few last minute apologies and for a moment I feared that the meeting might be inquorate, but this fear was soon dispelled.
As ever, Pam conducted the meeting in an efficient and businesslike manner. My budget proposals were reviewed and agreed with a minor amendment. The meeting also agreed a policy on staffing and remuneration, and an amendment to the Memorandum and Articles of Association to be proposed to our September AGM.
Vanessa (our Development and Training Officer) attended the meeting and introduced a paper on Risk Assessment. This was welcomed and Pam suggested a fuller discussion at the next trustees' meeting.
Discussions among the trustees also highlighted that many Watford voluntary groups are currently facing accommodation problems or changes. Helpfully, it was agreed that future WCVS trustee meetings should include a standing item to exchange information about our member groups. This will help maintain an outward focus for trustee meetings.
After the trustees meeting, I sent some quick follow-up e-mails and left the office about 10:00 pm.
Tuesday, 1 May 2007
I arrived early this morning to fix on the walls the artwork that has been kindly leant by the Guideposts Trust. All of the art has been produced by the Trust's users, and all of it is wonderful. I was very pleased, and so was everyone else who saw the pictures.
Shortly after 9:00, Mary Green (my “opposite number” in neighbouring Three Rivers CVS) arrived and we had a useful talk with Vanessa about the future of our joint training programme.
Meanwhile, in partnership with Angelo our ICT contractor, I sent 2,000 e-mails to voluntary groups across Hertfordshire asking them to visit a website and update their contact details etc. A pleasingly large number had already started to amend their details when I disappeared into the HIC meeting at 10:00.
HIC
This morning’s HIC meeting went well. Jacquie and I made our proposals for how to push this work forward, and after discussion these were accepted. There was also a useful update on VCS relations to Hertfordshire’s Local Area Agreement.
All in all, the meeting was very business-like and purposeful and (most importantly) ended sharp at 12:00.
Herts CVS
In the afternoon, the Herts CVS group of chief officers met to consider a strategic plan. This is a seriously difficult undertaking, and Ian Richardson from Broxbourne has done a wonderful job pulling everything together.
There are three key facts we are still slightly struggling with.
First, Hertfordshire is a two tier authority and CVSs are funded locally by Districts and Boroughs, not by the County. Funding levels vary: some CVSs receive £100k in core funding and others receive nothing. Local groups broadly receive the level of support that their District has paid for.
Secondly, Hertfordshire County Council is funding the Herts CVS Group to provide strategic leadership for the voluntary sector in Hertfordshire. This has been interpreted (in part) as securing a minimum level of infrastructure support across the County. But with no significant new resources.
Thirdly, in trying to reconcile these two fact, the Herts CVS Group has to recognise that it is not an executive agency: it has no powers and cannot take “decisions” except unanimously - and even then each CVS is an independent charity and its trustees may or may not accept the conclusions reached collectively by Chief Officers.
Somewhere within all these irreconcilables, the Herts CVS Group of Chief Officers must still adopt a plan demonstrating its Strategic Leadership of the county's voluntary sector. I think this is a work in progress.
Home at last
After a frantic, but productive, day, I arrived home about 8:00 pm. Jackie and I watched a programme about the Large Hadron Collider – the huge circular tunnel beneath Switzerland and France. I was occasionally distracted by Aged Ken (our hopeless toothless old cat) cavorting on the carpet like a young kitten to play with a catnip mouse. Poor old Ken. Will there ever be a Grand Theory of Everything?
Shortly after 9:00, Mary Green (my “opposite number” in neighbouring Three Rivers CVS) arrived and we had a useful talk with Vanessa about the future of our joint training programme.
Meanwhile, in partnership with Angelo our ICT contractor, I sent 2,000 e-mails to voluntary groups across Hertfordshire asking them to visit a website and update their contact details etc. A pleasingly large number had already started to amend their details when I disappeared into the HIC meeting at 10:00.
HIC
This morning’s HIC meeting went well. Jacquie and I made our proposals for how to push this work forward, and after discussion these were accepted. There was also a useful update on VCS relations to Hertfordshire’s Local Area Agreement.
All in all, the meeting was very business-like and purposeful and (most importantly) ended sharp at 12:00.
Herts CVS
In the afternoon, the Herts CVS group of chief officers met to consider a strategic plan. This is a seriously difficult undertaking, and Ian Richardson from Broxbourne has done a wonderful job pulling everything together.
There are three key facts we are still slightly struggling with.
First, Hertfordshire is a two tier authority and CVSs are funded locally by Districts and Boroughs, not by the County. Funding levels vary: some CVSs receive £100k in core funding and others receive nothing. Local groups broadly receive the level of support that their District has paid for.
Secondly, Hertfordshire County Council is funding the Herts CVS Group to provide strategic leadership for the voluntary sector in Hertfordshire. This has been interpreted (in part) as securing a minimum level of infrastructure support across the County. But with no significant new resources.
Thirdly, in trying to reconcile these two fact, the Herts CVS Group has to recognise that it is not an executive agency: it has no powers and cannot take “decisions” except unanimously - and even then each CVS is an independent charity and its trustees may or may not accept the conclusions reached collectively by Chief Officers.
Somewhere within all these irreconcilables, the Herts CVS Group of Chief Officers must still adopt a plan demonstrating its Strategic Leadership of the county's voluntary sector. I think this is a work in progress.
Home at last
After a frantic, but productive, day, I arrived home about 8:00 pm. Jackie and I watched a programme about the Large Hadron Collider – the huge circular tunnel beneath Switzerland and France. I was occasionally distracted by Aged Ken (our hopeless toothless old cat) cavorting on the carpet like a young kitten to play with a catnip mouse. Poor old Ken. Will there ever be a Grand Theory of Everything?
Monday, 30 April 2007
Today I prepared the final e-mail we will shortly send to 2,000-odd charities across Hertfordshire as part of the Value and Volumes study. So many irritating technical problems!
I also spent time preparing for Tuesday's two big meetings: Herts Infrastructure Consortium (HIC) in the morning and Herts CVS in the afternoon.
Both are important generally for the VCS in Hertfordshire, and particularly for Watford CVS.
HIC is a Consortium of all organisations that support voluntary groups in Hertfordshire. It is, I suppose, an umbrella group for umbrella groups and this makes it a dangerous thing. Every county in England has such a Consortium and each has been allocated money to review its operations and write a develop plan. Simple? No.
HIC is pretty well-run, and certainly seems to be healthier and more inclusive than many other Consortia I’ve seen. But there are Big Questions that need to be asked - and to which we must find answers.
Is membership of HIC right? Almost certainly not – some changes seem inevitable. Is the structure of HIC right? Ditto. Do the various members of HIC work effectively together to provide an integrated and thought-through service to voluntary groups? No, not even slightly. Individually or collectively, do we actually do any good? We like to think so. Does anyone else think so? Er, probably not. How do we demonstrate our impact? Er...? Does anyone else even know HIC exists? Ummmm …
Before leaving the office, as Chair of HIC I talked through these issues (again) with Jacquie Hime of North Herts CVS.
Back at home, Jackie and I enjoyed a short programme about H H Munro (better known as Saki). The programme was good, but it also annoyed me by failing to distinguish between fact and supposition - and there’s little that annoys me more.
I also spent time preparing for Tuesday's two big meetings: Herts Infrastructure Consortium (HIC) in the morning and Herts CVS in the afternoon.
Both are important generally for the VCS in Hertfordshire, and particularly for Watford CVS.
HIC is a Consortium of all organisations that support voluntary groups in Hertfordshire. It is, I suppose, an umbrella group for umbrella groups and this makes it a dangerous thing. Every county in England has such a Consortium and each has been allocated money to review its operations and write a develop plan. Simple? No.
HIC is pretty well-run, and certainly seems to be healthier and more inclusive than many other Consortia I’ve seen. But there are Big Questions that need to be asked - and to which we must find answers.
Is membership of HIC right? Almost certainly not – some changes seem inevitable. Is the structure of HIC right? Ditto. Do the various members of HIC work effectively together to provide an integrated and thought-through service to voluntary groups? No, not even slightly. Individually or collectively, do we actually do any good? We like to think so. Does anyone else think so? Er, probably not. How do we demonstrate our impact? Er...? Does anyone else even know HIC exists? Ummmm …
Before leaving the office, as Chair of HIC I talked through these issues (again) with Jacquie Hime of North Herts CVS.
Back at home, Jackie and I enjoyed a short programme about H H Munro (better known as Saki). The programme was good, but it also annoyed me by failing to distinguish between fact and supposition - and there’s little that annoys me more.
Sunday, 29 April 2007
At the start of the week, the NSPCC launched a campaign to encourage all supermarkets to adopt a “no smacking” policy after market research showed that 40% of shoppers would prefer to shop in a “smack free” environment. Then Alcohol Concern called for parents to be arrested if they offer any alcohol to any child under the age of sixteen. I would not belittle the problems of alcohol abuse or child abuse, but both of these two initiatives seem to be conceived by Marketing people with too little real work to do. People’s personal lives should not be micro-managed by the state, still less policed by their local supermarket. Isn’t this History lesson number one?
But today there were two much more important demonstrations. Across Europe and the world, there were demonstrations to draw attention to the humanitarian disaster in Darfur. IN the UK, demonstrations were supported by Amnesty International and many others. Now this is what charities should be doing: acting as the world’s conscience and drawing attention to real need and injustice.
And in Turkey there was a million-strong demonstration against the intermingling of religion and politics. Imagine. Thomas Jefferson’s call for the separation of church and state has never been more relevant.
At home, Jackie and I spent the entire day in the garden. Excellent.
But today there were two much more important demonstrations. Across Europe and the world, there were demonstrations to draw attention to the humanitarian disaster in Darfur. IN the UK, demonstrations were supported by Amnesty International and many others. Now this is what charities should be doing: acting as the world’s conscience and drawing attention to real need and injustice.
And in Turkey there was a million-strong demonstration against the intermingling of religion and politics. Imagine. Thomas Jefferson’s call for the separation of church and state has never been more relevant.
At home, Jackie and I spent the entire day in the garden. Excellent.
Saturday, 28 April 2007
Perfect day?
After a long slow morning, Jackie and I drove to the Cross Keys pub for lunch at Gustard’s Wood, and then went on to Woolmer Green for the AGM of the Hertfordshire Family History Society, then we dropped in at Lessiter’s chocolate factory before returning home. Everywhere, countryside and gardens looked magnificent: wisteria, apple and cherry blossom, magnolia, rhododendron, and such wonderful blue bells ….
At home, we sat in the garden and I finished reading Julian Barnes’s England, England. I tried to enjoy this, but it seemed that Mr Barnes wasn't quite willing to meet me half way on this. So not quite a perfect day, then.
After a long slow morning, Jackie and I drove to the Cross Keys pub for lunch at Gustard’s Wood, and then went on to Woolmer Green for the AGM of the Hertfordshire Family History Society, then we dropped in at Lessiter’s chocolate factory before returning home. Everywhere, countryside and gardens looked magnificent: wisteria, apple and cherry blossom, magnolia, rhododendron, and such wonderful blue bells ….
At home, we sat in the garden and I finished reading Julian Barnes’s England, England. I tried to enjoy this, but it seemed that Mr Barnes wasn't quite willing to meet me half way on this. So not quite a perfect day, then.
Friday, 27 April 2007
I wrote recently about young English girls adopting Jamaican and American accents. We’ve had a telephone call from one of our son’s friends. His natural accent is North London / Hertfordshire, but he too has decided to adopt this fashionable American Caribbean accent, but sadly, for him he has got it terribly wrong. While he has succeeded in disguising his Hertfordshire accent, his new accent sounds like it comes from nowhere on earth. Except possibly Johannesburg.
An aspect of globalisation is that the internet has eradicated distance (at least as far a communication and information are concerned). Perhaps young people also want to exist independently of “place” and to achieve this they need to be able to change “cultures” as easily as they change clothes. Or perhaps universal English has eradicated the need for Esperanto, and the need now is for an international standard dialect?
This morning proper began with a visit from Katie of the Guideposts Trust. She was delivering some wonderful works of art prepared by users of the Trust. We set about working out how best to display these at Watford CVS. We were joined by Maria and by Simon (one of the artists). Hopefully we will soon have a wonderful display and perhaps a proper open evening.
Pam Handley arrived at 10:00, prompt as ever for my monthly supervision meeting. We discussed the recruitment process for a Finance and Administration Officer. Very properly, Pam pointed out that our advert failed to carry both the Watford Borough Council logo and our own Charity Registration number. Schoolboy errors on my part. We also talked through the agenda for the forthcoming trustees’ meeting.
Having such an engaged (and sharp) Chair of trustees is very reassuring: it reduces my isolation and helps me keep one eye always on the horizon – and it keeps me on my toes which is no bad thing at all.
In the afternoon, I took off home to Welwyn Garden City to get the car tyres changed. I also had an appointment at the gym to see if I can maybe start taking exercise a bit more seriously. A lovely lady called Karol tried to introduce me to the various machines and it all looks very daunting. There is something just so unnatural about the whole gym thing: but I have promised to give it a go.
In the evening, there was a family gathering for Mum’s 76th birthday - her first for more than fifty years without Dad alongside her.
An aspect of globalisation is that the internet has eradicated distance (at least as far a communication and information are concerned). Perhaps young people also want to exist independently of “place” and to achieve this they need to be able to change “cultures” as easily as they change clothes. Or perhaps universal English has eradicated the need for Esperanto, and the need now is for an international standard dialect?
This morning proper began with a visit from Katie of the Guideposts Trust. She was delivering some wonderful works of art prepared by users of the Trust. We set about working out how best to display these at Watford CVS. We were joined by Maria and by Simon (one of the artists). Hopefully we will soon have a wonderful display and perhaps a proper open evening.
Pam Handley arrived at 10:00, prompt as ever for my monthly supervision meeting. We discussed the recruitment process for a Finance and Administration Officer. Very properly, Pam pointed out that our advert failed to carry both the Watford Borough Council logo and our own Charity Registration number. Schoolboy errors on my part. We also talked through the agenda for the forthcoming trustees’ meeting.
Having such an engaged (and sharp) Chair of trustees is very reassuring: it reduces my isolation and helps me keep one eye always on the horizon – and it keeps me on my toes which is no bad thing at all.
In the afternoon, I took off home to Welwyn Garden City to get the car tyres changed. I also had an appointment at the gym to see if I can maybe start taking exercise a bit more seriously. A lovely lady called Karol tried to introduce me to the various machines and it all looks very daunting. There is something just so unnatural about the whole gym thing: but I have promised to give it a go.
In the evening, there was a family gathering for Mum’s 76th birthday - her first for more than fifty years without Dad alongside her.
Thursday, 26 March 2007
I spent the best part of the morning meeting with Kim, our WBC grants officer, discussing the final details of our three year Service Level Agreement. While we are 98% agreed on what we will do and how much funding we will receive, there are some interesting sticking points over how things are measured and over reporting and monitoring. I am sure an appropriate agreement will be reached at some early stage.
More interestingly, Kim is also interested in knowing more about the county-wide and regional picture of VCS development and we discussed how CVS could deliver a briefing session for Council staff sometime over the summer.
Sunny prospects for the Sunflower Centres?
In the afternoon, I attended a discussion about the future of the Sunflower Centres. This meeting of key board members followed WCVS's efforts in helping to organise three public meetings on the future of the project.
We had a very interesting and productive discussion and the board chair (Alan Gough of WBC) outlined his proposals for change. All his proposals are consistent with much previous discussion and all were very sensible.
The fundamental change is that there will now be just one Management Board, which will be serviced by the Centre Manager and which will determine the annual programme of work. Responsibility for implementation will be delegated back to the Centre Manager. What could be simpler?
Of course all Board members will need to support the Centre Manager, and working groups might be set up to do this, but they will be clearly defined and have clear terms of reference.
More interestingly, Kim is also interested in knowing more about the county-wide and regional picture of VCS development and we discussed how CVS could deliver a briefing session for Council staff sometime over the summer.
Sunny prospects for the Sunflower Centres?
In the afternoon, I attended a discussion about the future of the Sunflower Centres. This meeting of key board members followed WCVS's efforts in helping to organise three public meetings on the future of the project.
We had a very interesting and productive discussion and the board chair (Alan Gough of WBC) outlined his proposals for change. All his proposals are consistent with much previous discussion and all were very sensible.
The fundamental change is that there will now be just one Management Board, which will be serviced by the Centre Manager and which will determine the annual programme of work. Responsibility for implementation will be delegated back to the Centre Manager. What could be simpler?
Of course all Board members will need to support the Centre Manager, and working groups might be set up to do this, but they will be clearly defined and have clear terms of reference.
What a contrast to the existing arrangements where there is a Strategic Board and an Executive Committee (and occasionally an Operational Group). None are services by the Centre Manager. And I don’t think anyone understands this structure.
Another major proposal for change is that membership of the new single board will be expanded to include representatives from all major statutory partners and also four new members from the local voluntary sector.
Maybe this creates too big a board for some purposes, and maybe we will need to evolve different structures in the future. But for the time being there is a simple structure and all major partners will sit at the same table.
Another major proposal for change is that membership of the new single board will be expanded to include representatives from all major statutory partners and also four new members from the local voluntary sector.
Maybe this creates too big a board for some purposes, and maybe we will need to evolve different structures in the future. But for the time being there is a simple structure and all major partners will sit at the same table.
Hurrah!
Wednesday, 25 March 2007
The Big News today, is that Maria (our occasional volunteer) has started working for us on a part-time temporary contract providing cover while we try and recruit a Finance and Administration Officer. Maria is not a Finance Officer, but she can take quite a bit of Administration off my hands so I can concentrate on Finance and other things.
While Maria got to grip with other things, I completed and issued the long-awaited guidance note on the final phase of the Value and Volumes research. Another major job struck off my to do list.
In the afternoon, I travelled up to Whitechapel for a trustees’ meeting at the Disability Law Service. Traffic was awful and it took me three hours to travel through the three Ws: from Watford to Welwyn and down to Whitechapel. I arrived half an hour late for the meeting, which was then concluded by 8:00. Linda, the CEO at DLS , is performing her usual miracles. We are all waiting anxiously decisions on future funding.
Shortly after 9:00 I was safely back home relaxing with Jackie.
While Maria got to grip with other things, I completed and issued the long-awaited guidance note on the final phase of the Value and Volumes research. Another major job struck off my to do list.
In the afternoon, I travelled up to Whitechapel for a trustees’ meeting at the Disability Law Service. Traffic was awful and it took me three hours to travel through the three Ws: from Watford to Welwyn and down to Whitechapel. I arrived half an hour late for the meeting, which was then concluded by 8:00. Linda, the CEO at DLS , is performing her usual miracles. We are all waiting anxiously decisions on future funding.
Shortly after 9:00 I was safely back home relaxing with Jackie.
Tuesday, 24 April 2007
More technical difficulties
I arrived at work to find that Sha-Lee had stayed late to overcome the last technical difficulties of the mailmerge.
I started the day by “hitting the print button”. My printer chugged and spluttered and lay silent for twenty minutes, then churned out twenty letters and then crashed. This tedious cycle repeated itself for several hours before things finally settled down and the letters began to appear. Shortly after lunch, it was a real pleasure to see that the printing had completed.
Piled up on Sha-Lee’s desk were 420 membership forms (two sheets of A4 printed on two sides and folded into an A5 booklet), 420 flyers advertising forthcoming events at WCVS, 420 merged covering letters, 420 pre-paid return envelopes, and 420 outgoing window envelopes. Sha-Lee (being part time) had completed her hours for the week and was back at college, but in the next few days I will surely find some kind soul to stuff 420 envelopes.
A community respose to Hate Crime
In the afternoon, we hosted a meeting for the Sunflower Centres on A community response to Hate Crime across West Herts (the three areas of Watford, Dacorum and Three Rivers). Something more than twenty people attended and all but three were from Watford; there is a major problem that people will simply not travel for meetings.
The Home Office has a clear definition of Hate Crime: Any incident constituting a criminal offence which is perceived by the victim or any other person as being motivated by prejudice or hate.
Hate crime can include physical assault, damage to property, offensive graffiti, arson, abusive or obscene telephone calls, malicious complaints, offensive leaflets and posters, and bullying at school or in the workplace. People might be victims not only because of their colour but also (for example) because of their religion, sexual orientation, or disability.
Thankfully, these are not common crimes. But they are extremely dangerous and the community response ought to reflect a deep abhorence for such hatred and intolerance.
Yasmin Batliwala chaired the meeting very well and WCVS was represented by Vanessa (our Development and Training Officer), two trustees (Althea McLean OBE and Sylvia Harvey), and occasionally myself. At the end, there was clear agreement on setting up a Hate Crimes forum reporting to the Police’s already existing Independent Advisory Group.
Community development
Unfortunately, I missed most of this meeting because I was meanwhile meeting with Sarah Pinnock and Kathryn Robson of WBC to consider the process of drawing up a Community Development Strategy for Watford.
In Watford, a lot is happening that ought to feed into a coherent strategy, but at present it is all a little too fragmented. Sarah, Kathryn and I had each done quite a bit of research, and much of it focused on the “beacon” local authority of Blyth Valley.
But there is a potentially vast area to address: we all had lots of questions, very few answers, and none of us knew where the parameters are. How do community development and citizens’ engagement and social cohesion fit together? Or are they all the same thing? What about the handover of council housing to the new Watford Community Housing Trust? What about the Community Gateway? Sport and health? Refugee Gateway status? Passing over council-run Community Centres to local voluntary control? Transfer of assets? A neighbourhoods strategy? Consultation processes? Disability Forum? Minority Ethnic Forum? Equalities Panel? Youth Council? Women’s Centre? Senior Citizen’s Forum? One Watford LSP? The Mayor? Local Councillors? Voluntary Sector development? WBC tendering and procurement? Compact?
Kathryn, Sarah and I agreed that the next step should be to engage other key people in a brainstorming session so we can identify what is already happening and how it all ought to fit together.
Trustees
In the evening, I worked to finalise papers for next week’s WCVS trustees’ meeting. Most difficult was producing financial reports without a bookkeeper or finance officer. The papers were finally e-mailed off at about 10:30 pm.
I left the office shortly after to find that during the evening, Watford had been surrounded by roadworks. No diversions were signposted, there were just lots of roads closed and lots of flashing lights. I drove around for half an hour before I managed to find a route that wasn’t blocked off.
Home at last
On arriving home at midnight, I found that Jackie had recorded for me BBC’s dramatisation of Diary of a Nobody. Crikey, rumbled!
I arrived at work to find that Sha-Lee had stayed late to overcome the last technical difficulties of the mailmerge.
I started the day by “hitting the print button”. My printer chugged and spluttered and lay silent for twenty minutes, then churned out twenty letters and then crashed. This tedious cycle repeated itself for several hours before things finally settled down and the letters began to appear. Shortly after lunch, it was a real pleasure to see that the printing had completed.
Piled up on Sha-Lee’s desk were 420 membership forms (two sheets of A4 printed on two sides and folded into an A5 booklet), 420 flyers advertising forthcoming events at WCVS, 420 merged covering letters, 420 pre-paid return envelopes, and 420 outgoing window envelopes. Sha-Lee (being part time) had completed her hours for the week and was back at college, but in the next few days I will surely find some kind soul to stuff 420 envelopes.
A community respose to Hate Crime
In the afternoon, we hosted a meeting for the Sunflower Centres on A community response to Hate Crime across West Herts (the three areas of Watford, Dacorum and Three Rivers). Something more than twenty people attended and all but three were from Watford; there is a major problem that people will simply not travel for meetings.
The Home Office has a clear definition of Hate Crime: Any incident constituting a criminal offence which is perceived by the victim or any other person as being motivated by prejudice or hate.
Hate crime can include physical assault, damage to property, offensive graffiti, arson, abusive or obscene telephone calls, malicious complaints, offensive leaflets and posters, and bullying at school or in the workplace. People might be victims not only because of their colour but also (for example) because of their religion, sexual orientation, or disability.
Thankfully, these are not common crimes. But they are extremely dangerous and the community response ought to reflect a deep abhorence for such hatred and intolerance.
Yasmin Batliwala chaired the meeting very well and WCVS was represented by Vanessa (our Development and Training Officer), two trustees (Althea McLean OBE and Sylvia Harvey), and occasionally myself. At the end, there was clear agreement on setting up a Hate Crimes forum reporting to the Police’s already existing Independent Advisory Group.
Community development
Unfortunately, I missed most of this meeting because I was meanwhile meeting with Sarah Pinnock and Kathryn Robson of WBC to consider the process of drawing up a Community Development Strategy for Watford.
In Watford, a lot is happening that ought to feed into a coherent strategy, but at present it is all a little too fragmented. Sarah, Kathryn and I had each done quite a bit of research, and much of it focused on the “beacon” local authority of Blyth Valley.
But there is a potentially vast area to address: we all had lots of questions, very few answers, and none of us knew where the parameters are. How do community development and citizens’ engagement and social cohesion fit together? Or are they all the same thing? What about the handover of council housing to the new Watford Community Housing Trust? What about the Community Gateway? Sport and health? Refugee Gateway status? Passing over council-run Community Centres to local voluntary control? Transfer of assets? A neighbourhoods strategy? Consultation processes? Disability Forum? Minority Ethnic Forum? Equalities Panel? Youth Council? Women’s Centre? Senior Citizen’s Forum? One Watford LSP? The Mayor? Local Councillors? Voluntary Sector development? WBC tendering and procurement? Compact?
Kathryn, Sarah and I agreed that the next step should be to engage other key people in a brainstorming session so we can identify what is already happening and how it all ought to fit together.
Trustees
In the evening, I worked to finalise papers for next week’s WCVS trustees’ meeting. Most difficult was producing financial reports without a bookkeeper or finance officer. The papers were finally e-mailed off at about 10:30 pm.
I left the office shortly after to find that during the evening, Watford had been surrounded by roadworks. No diversions were signposted, there were just lots of roads closed and lots of flashing lights. I drove around for half an hour before I managed to find a route that wasn’t blocked off.
Home at last
On arriving home at midnight, I found that Jackie had recorded for me BBC’s dramatisation of Diary of a Nobody. Crikey, rumbled!
Monday, 23 April 2007
In the morning, the mini drought-cum-heat-wave finally broke and we saw rain for the first time since March, and it was distinctly cooler too.
I had set aside today to compile our membership mailing to the 400 or so groups we’ve identified in Watford. Previously, we have had about 150 members, and have been aware of another 100 or so groups. But our “value and volume” research has identified 400 groups and we want them all to hold membership of WCVS.
To achieve this, my trustees have agreed to offer FREE membership for 2007-08 provided that groups sign a bank mandate for future years’ membership fees.
So the upshot is that we have a database of 400 members that Sha-Lee has been checking and rechecking. The original database had nearly 1,000 groups, but most of these were defunct or outside Watford or duplicates or nothing to do with the voluntary sector (being public or private sector bodies).
But today turned into a bit of a stretch as Sha-Lee and I were beset by technical and printing problems. I eventually left the office at about 8:00 leaving Sha-Lee to cope with the last few small jobs. Or so I thought. I later learnt that Sha-Lee had to stay in the office until gone midnight sorting things out.
My one respite from this exercise was to spend an hour or two discussing how we can get support from the Local Strategic Partnership (One Watford) to expand volunteering in Watford. Naturally I met with Helen (our Volunteer Centre manager) and we were joined by Emma (from One Watford) and Victor (from HCC). Helen had prepared some good papers and calendars and we soon came up with a plan.
Also through the day, I had lots of sorting out to do re: tomorrow's meeting on Hate Crime. More anon.
I had set aside today to compile our membership mailing to the 400 or so groups we’ve identified in Watford. Previously, we have had about 150 members, and have been aware of another 100 or so groups. But our “value and volume” research has identified 400 groups and we want them all to hold membership of WCVS.
To achieve this, my trustees have agreed to offer FREE membership for 2007-08 provided that groups sign a bank mandate for future years’ membership fees.
So the upshot is that we have a database of 400 members that Sha-Lee has been checking and rechecking. The original database had nearly 1,000 groups, but most of these were defunct or outside Watford or duplicates or nothing to do with the voluntary sector (being public or private sector bodies).
But today turned into a bit of a stretch as Sha-Lee and I were beset by technical and printing problems. I eventually left the office at about 8:00 leaving Sha-Lee to cope with the last few small jobs. Or so I thought. I later learnt that Sha-Lee had to stay in the office until gone midnight sorting things out.
My one respite from this exercise was to spend an hour or two discussing how we can get support from the Local Strategic Partnership (One Watford) to expand volunteering in Watford. Naturally I met with Helen (our Volunteer Centre manager) and we were joined by Emma (from One Watford) and Victor (from HCC). Helen had prepared some good papers and calendars and we soon came up with a plan.
Also through the day, I had lots of sorting out to do re: tomorrow's meeting on Hate Crime. More anon.
Sunday 22 April 2007
Jackie and I collected Beth (grand-daughter) from her mother Rhiannon, and headed off to Watford for the Boy Scouts’ centenary St George’s Day Parade. Beth was very excited, and was pleased as anything to get her picture taken with the Pipe Major.
In Watford, there are nearly twenty different groups of Beavers, Cubs and Scouts. Altogether, I would guess about 600 joined the march from the Harlequin Centre to Cassiobury Park. Jackie, Beth and I started by keeping pace with the band, but then fell back to enjoy an ill-deserved ice-cream before rejoining the throng at Cassiobury Park for the main celebration.
The event had the theme of Past, Present and Future and began with a rousing rendition of Jerusalem. I have always enjoyed this subversive hymn and it was thrilling to hear it sung with such vim by the Boy Scouts. The other most memorable moments were provided by Scouting veterans Normal Hicks and Gordon French who gave a glimpse of what things were like when they joined the Boy Scouts in 1937 and 1949 respectively. We also heard about a recent Scouting trip to Africa, and from Roger Sands on the future of Scouting.
It is fashionable to be cynical about the Boy Scouts. But the movement survives and endures, and has successfully re-invented itself to shed its more militaristic and nationalistic baggage. With all the usual concerns about the youth of today etc etc, what other organisation can gather together so many young people and engage so many adult volunteers? Maintaining links between generations is absolutely critical for sustaining a healthy functional community. Indeed, it is perhaps the Holy Grail of community cohesion.
During Renewing Our Promise, Beth distinguished herself by asking in a loud voice: “Can we go home yet”? We mollified her by whisking her off for a quick drink and a bit of cake at the lovely Cha Cha Cha Café.
Back with the Boy Scouts, I quote from the service paper:
We all say together
O God, you have made us all,
But we are all very different.
Each of us is unique and special,
And we all have different gifts and abilities.
Please help us to use all that we are
And all that we have
To fulfil our promise to each other,
to our community, and to you.
I was never a Scout myself and as a lifelong atheist I cannot embrace any form of prayer. But theology apart, this prayer reflects a commendable commitment to honest human endeavour and to equality and to community. Sooner or later, all of us will have to choose between this and the cynicism and selfish consumerism so prevalent around us.
In Watford, there are nearly twenty different groups of Beavers, Cubs and Scouts. Altogether, I would guess about 600 joined the march from the Harlequin Centre to Cassiobury Park. Jackie, Beth and I started by keeping pace with the band, but then fell back to enjoy an ill-deserved ice-cream before rejoining the throng at Cassiobury Park for the main celebration.
The event had the theme of Past, Present and Future and began with a rousing rendition of Jerusalem. I have always enjoyed this subversive hymn and it was thrilling to hear it sung with such vim by the Boy Scouts. The other most memorable moments were provided by Scouting veterans Normal Hicks and Gordon French who gave a glimpse of what things were like when they joined the Boy Scouts in 1937 and 1949 respectively. We also heard about a recent Scouting trip to Africa, and from Roger Sands on the future of Scouting.
It is fashionable to be cynical about the Boy Scouts. But the movement survives and endures, and has successfully re-invented itself to shed its more militaristic and nationalistic baggage. With all the usual concerns about the youth of today etc etc, what other organisation can gather together so many young people and engage so many adult volunteers? Maintaining links between generations is absolutely critical for sustaining a healthy functional community. Indeed, it is perhaps the Holy Grail of community cohesion.
During Renewing Our Promise, Beth distinguished herself by asking in a loud voice: “Can we go home yet”? We mollified her by whisking her off for a quick drink and a bit of cake at the lovely Cha Cha Cha Café.
Back with the Boy Scouts, I quote from the service paper:
We all say together
O God, you have made us all,
But we are all very different.
Each of us is unique and special,
And we all have different gifts and abilities.
Please help us to use all that we are
And all that we have
To fulfil our promise to each other,
to our community, and to you.
I was never a Scout myself and as a lifelong atheist I cannot embrace any form of prayer. But theology apart, this prayer reflects a commendable commitment to honest human endeavour and to equality and to community. Sooner or later, all of us will have to choose between this and the cynicism and selfish consumerism so prevalent around us.
Saturday, 21 April 2007
Jackie and I spent the morning in the garden and then my Mum dropped by for a cup of tea. In the afternoon, we went shopping and then spent the rest of the day preparing for our neighbours Linda and Allan who joined us in the evening for a meal. Excellent fare and excellent company.
Friday, 20 April 2007
The Big Event
The day of the big conference in Hatfield: Transforming Local Public Services Together. This event was put together (almost single-handedly) by Andrew Burt of Hertfordshire County Council. He watched over the conference with a paternal eye making sure that everything went smoothly.
There were about 300 people present, and I was surprised to realise how many of them I now knew, or at least recognised. There was a very strong turn-out from the voluntary sector, and quite a good showing from the statutory sector across the whole of the East of England region.
After the usual preliminaries, the day sprang to life with an excellent presentation from Mark Mitchell of Dacorum CVS. Mark was very impressive, and seemed effortlessly to identify the key issues. But he had not previously struck me as the sort of man who would use interface as a verb.
Anne Blackmore (Head of Policy at NCVO) also gave an excellent presentation, helpfully emphasising that local authorities should engage the voluntary sector not just in the delivery of services, but also in efforts to define needs, and to design solutions.
I chaired one of the morning workshops: Size Matters! …ways in which the value and volume of the voluntary sector can be measured. It was not an easy session to chair as there were one or two people present were determined to talk on every single issue, and then to provide a running commentary on everyone else's contributions. I just about managed to hold the workshop together, but the seams were beginning to go. Sarah Pinnock of Watford Borough Council attended the workshop; I hope her view of WCVS wont be coloured by this.
At lunchtime, I attended Paul Barasi’s meeting for Compact Voice.
The afternoon began with speeches from John Stoker (Compact Commissioner) and Debbie Edwards (Office of the Third Sector). Then I chaired a workshop on Local Compacts and two-tier working. This was a far better workshop: better presentations (from Paul Barasi and Laura Hack), more productive discussions, and much easier to chair.
At the end of the day, I expected to chair the final plenary sessions. But only when actually climbing on the platform did I realise that I was a member of the Q&A panel and that the session would be chaired by my colleague Anne Jansz (Stevenage CVS). After a long-ish day, this last-minute change left me feeling slightly discombobulated but I took my seat as calmly as possible.
Most questions were easily dealt with. But David Fitzpatrick (Hertfordshire Community Foundation) in his usual casual manner asked exactly the right question: if the voluntary sector becomes in part a delivery arm for public services, how can it convince local government of the value of its other work? When I expected to chair the session, this is the question I most wanted addressed. But I had not thought that I would face the question myself. I felt rather like the father in Hope and Glory whose young son bowls him an unexpected googly.
I did my best to do the question justice: made the right sort of noises, rambled for a sentence or two, mumbled incoherently, and then sat back as nonchalantly as possible. Other panel members John Stoker (Compact Commissioner), Keith Shephard (CEO of Herts CC) and Michele Rigby (Social Enterprise East of England) all seemed to give far more coherent answers. Did anyone make any sense of my answer? Did everyone notice my discomfiture? Some things it is best not to know.
Despite this, I thought the conference was a great success. Certainly, at the close of day, Andrew Burt bore the look of a man satisfied with a good day’s work.
I turned chauffer and drove Compact Commissioner John Stoker back to Hatfield railway station. He seemed very straightforward and likeable.
The day of the big conference in Hatfield: Transforming Local Public Services Together. This event was put together (almost single-handedly) by Andrew Burt of Hertfordshire County Council. He watched over the conference with a paternal eye making sure that everything went smoothly.
There were about 300 people present, and I was surprised to realise how many of them I now knew, or at least recognised. There was a very strong turn-out from the voluntary sector, and quite a good showing from the statutory sector across the whole of the East of England region.
After the usual preliminaries, the day sprang to life with an excellent presentation from Mark Mitchell of Dacorum CVS. Mark was very impressive, and seemed effortlessly to identify the key issues. But he had not previously struck me as the sort of man who would use interface as a verb.
Anne Blackmore (Head of Policy at NCVO) also gave an excellent presentation, helpfully emphasising that local authorities should engage the voluntary sector not just in the delivery of services, but also in efforts to define needs, and to design solutions.
I chaired one of the morning workshops: Size Matters! …ways in which the value and volume of the voluntary sector can be measured. It was not an easy session to chair as there were one or two people present were determined to talk on every single issue, and then to provide a running commentary on everyone else's contributions. I just about managed to hold the workshop together, but the seams were beginning to go. Sarah Pinnock of Watford Borough Council attended the workshop; I hope her view of WCVS wont be coloured by this.
At lunchtime, I attended Paul Barasi’s meeting for Compact Voice.
The afternoon began with speeches from John Stoker (Compact Commissioner) and Debbie Edwards (Office of the Third Sector). Then I chaired a workshop on Local Compacts and two-tier working. This was a far better workshop: better presentations (from Paul Barasi and Laura Hack), more productive discussions, and much easier to chair.
At the end of the day, I expected to chair the final plenary sessions. But only when actually climbing on the platform did I realise that I was a member of the Q&A panel and that the session would be chaired by my colleague Anne Jansz (Stevenage CVS). After a long-ish day, this last-minute change left me feeling slightly discombobulated but I took my seat as calmly as possible.
Most questions were easily dealt with. But David Fitzpatrick (Hertfordshire Community Foundation) in his usual casual manner asked exactly the right question: if the voluntary sector becomes in part a delivery arm for public services, how can it convince local government of the value of its other work? When I expected to chair the session, this is the question I most wanted addressed. But I had not thought that I would face the question myself. I felt rather like the father in Hope and Glory whose young son bowls him an unexpected googly.
I did my best to do the question justice: made the right sort of noises, rambled for a sentence or two, mumbled incoherently, and then sat back as nonchalantly as possible. Other panel members John Stoker (Compact Commissioner), Keith Shephard (CEO of Herts CC) and Michele Rigby (Social Enterprise East of England) all seemed to give far more coherent answers. Did anyone make any sense of my answer? Did everyone notice my discomfiture? Some things it is best not to know.
Despite this, I thought the conference was a great success. Certainly, at the close of day, Andrew Burt bore the look of a man satisfied with a good day’s work.
I turned chauffer and drove Compact Commissioner John Stoker back to Hatfield railway station. He seemed very straightforward and likeable.
Thursday, 19 April 2007
I enjoyed a short lie-in this morning. But Jackie (gorgeous wonderful Jackie who I love with all my heart) was not pleased that I worked so late yesterday. Amends must somehow be made.
A bleak outlook
I left home around 9:00 and went straight to Hertsmere CVS for a meeting on the future of voluntary sector training in Hertfordshire. Hertsmere CVS is managed by Robin, who is universally regarded as a lovable old curmudgeon. He has been described as challenging. I have never been certain whether this is meant in the sense of challenging sacred cows, University Challenge, or a challenging toddler.
This morning he helped enormously by bringing home what a bleak outlook there is for voluntary sector training in Hertfordshire. On the whole, the voluntary sector is simply not interested in long training programmes. Why sign up for a year’s training programme when your organisation lives hand-to-mouth and may close at three months’ notice? The voluntary sector also has a ferociously hostile attitude to being patronised or being swamped with bureaucracy and red tape. So voluntary sector training tends to be short-term, informal and unaccredited: functional rather than academic.
In recent times, this training has been funded by occasional grants, by Investing in Communities, by the professional development centre at North Herts College, and by discretionary funds from the Learning and Skills Council. With the exception of occasional ad hoc grants from disparate sources, all this is now ending. No more funding. Except possibly through a formal Training Consortium which must meet rigorous bureaucratic standards imposed by government through the Learning and Skills Council.
I can’t be the only one whose heart despaired at the thought of spending 2-3 years creating another resource-sucking bureaucracy on the off-chance that a quango may then give us some training money in the short window of opportunity before all the rules are changed again.
There must be easier ways of tackling this problem.
Back in Watford
I met with Anne (Funding Advisor) to help her finalise an analysis for Herts CVS of fundraising support in the county. It looks good.
Over lunch, I was visited by a lady from the African Nurses Association (a national group based in Watford) to discuss the possibility of becoming a registered charity.
Vanessa (Development and Training Officer) and I compared notes on the various meetings we’d each recently attended.
The remainder of the day was a blur of meetings and questions and telephone calls.
I only surfaced around 5:00 to start working on a finance report to my trustees.
And this doesn’t even begin to address the incompetence of some fools who came to my home to replace two storm-destroyed fence panels and ended up replacing two perfectly good panels and destroying some plants and trellis in the process. The stupidity of some people is just staggering.
A bleak outlook
I left home around 9:00 and went straight to Hertsmere CVS for a meeting on the future of voluntary sector training in Hertfordshire. Hertsmere CVS is managed by Robin, who is universally regarded as a lovable old curmudgeon. He has been described as challenging. I have never been certain whether this is meant in the sense of challenging sacred cows, University Challenge, or a challenging toddler.
This morning he helped enormously by bringing home what a bleak outlook there is for voluntary sector training in Hertfordshire. On the whole, the voluntary sector is simply not interested in long training programmes. Why sign up for a year’s training programme when your organisation lives hand-to-mouth and may close at three months’ notice? The voluntary sector also has a ferociously hostile attitude to being patronised or being swamped with bureaucracy and red tape. So voluntary sector training tends to be short-term, informal and unaccredited: functional rather than academic.
In recent times, this training has been funded by occasional grants, by Investing in Communities, by the professional development centre at North Herts College, and by discretionary funds from the Learning and Skills Council. With the exception of occasional ad hoc grants from disparate sources, all this is now ending. No more funding. Except possibly through a formal Training Consortium which must meet rigorous bureaucratic standards imposed by government through the Learning and Skills Council.
I can’t be the only one whose heart despaired at the thought of spending 2-3 years creating another resource-sucking bureaucracy on the off-chance that a quango may then give us some training money in the short window of opportunity before all the rules are changed again.
There must be easier ways of tackling this problem.
Back in Watford
I met with Anne (Funding Advisor) to help her finalise an analysis for Herts CVS of fundraising support in the county. It looks good.
Over lunch, I was visited by a lady from the African Nurses Association (a national group based in Watford) to discuss the possibility of becoming a registered charity.
Vanessa (Development and Training Officer) and I compared notes on the various meetings we’d each recently attended.
The remainder of the day was a blur of meetings and questions and telephone calls.
I only surfaced around 5:00 to start working on a finance report to my trustees.
And this doesn’t even begin to address the incompetence of some fools who came to my home to replace two storm-destroyed fence panels and ended up replacing two perfectly good panels and destroying some plants and trellis in the process. The stupidity of some people is just staggering.
Wednesday, 18 April 2007
A long day again. It began fairly gently “catching up on correspondence” (wading through e-mails) and finalising arrangements for Friday’s conference in Hatfield.
The I met for an hour or so with Sha-Lee to produce final drafts of our 2007-08 membership pack.
Watford Borough Council
At lunchtime I went to Cassio Lodge to meet the Audit Commission inspectors who are carrying out a Comprehensive Performance Assessment on Watford Borough Council. Today was a short workshop of the Borough’s voluntary sector partners at which we were encouraged to be honest and frank with our views about our local Council. Despite every opportunity (and some incitement?) to sling mud, the participants were unanimous in their view that on balance we thought pretty highly of Watford Borough Council.
The negatives were that the Council spent too much money on professional consultants, failed to understand the true complexity of the voluntary sector, could be weak on communication between its own departments, and sometimes took a simplistic view of complicated issues.
The positives were that Watford was a good place to live, that members and officers were open and approachable and were genuinely committed to doing their best for Watford, that they followed transparent processes, that they listened and would change policies, and that they took the voluntary sector seriously.
On balance that’s pretty good going.
At the meeting I saw plenty of good people form the voluntary sector, and was specially pleased to see Althea (one of my trustees). After the meeting I shared some views and news with Sylvia and Phil (two more of my trustees).
Afternoon
In the afternoon, I met with WBC’s Senior Grants Officer Sarah Pinnock to begin catching up with our vast areas of mutual interest.
While all this was going on, Vanessa was supporting a meeting of the Disability Forum and Helen was in Hatfield for a meeting of the county-wide Volunteering Target Delivery Group.
Evening
At around 5:00, I still had a mountain of work to struggle through. I pulled together papers for my 2 May trustees' meeting, writing my usual report, and papers on the constitution, our risk assessment, and staff remuneration. After this I drafted “Terms of Reference” for the 16 May launch of the Watford One World Forum.
I didn’t complete the finance report or the 2007-08 budget amendments. But it was late and I was tired. In fact, it was midnight and I was tired.
Work life balance? I have my thoughts on this. Perhaps when there's more time ....
The I met for an hour or so with Sha-Lee to produce final drafts of our 2007-08 membership pack.
Watford Borough Council
At lunchtime I went to Cassio Lodge to meet the Audit Commission inspectors who are carrying out a Comprehensive Performance Assessment on Watford Borough Council. Today was a short workshop of the Borough’s voluntary sector partners at which we were encouraged to be honest and frank with our views about our local Council. Despite every opportunity (and some incitement?) to sling mud, the participants were unanimous in their view that on balance we thought pretty highly of Watford Borough Council.
The negatives were that the Council spent too much money on professional consultants, failed to understand the true complexity of the voluntary sector, could be weak on communication between its own departments, and sometimes took a simplistic view of complicated issues.
The positives were that Watford was a good place to live, that members and officers were open and approachable and were genuinely committed to doing their best for Watford, that they followed transparent processes, that they listened and would change policies, and that they took the voluntary sector seriously.
On balance that’s pretty good going.
At the meeting I saw plenty of good people form the voluntary sector, and was specially pleased to see Althea (one of my trustees). After the meeting I shared some views and news with Sylvia and Phil (two more of my trustees).
Afternoon
In the afternoon, I met with WBC’s Senior Grants Officer Sarah Pinnock to begin catching up with our vast areas of mutual interest.
While all this was going on, Vanessa was supporting a meeting of the Disability Forum and Helen was in Hatfield for a meeting of the county-wide Volunteering Target Delivery Group.
Evening
At around 5:00, I still had a mountain of work to struggle through. I pulled together papers for my 2 May trustees' meeting, writing my usual report, and papers on the constitution, our risk assessment, and staff remuneration. After this I drafted “Terms of Reference” for the 16 May launch of the Watford One World Forum.
I didn’t complete the finance report or the 2007-08 budget amendments. But it was late and I was tired. In fact, it was midnight and I was tired.
Work life balance? I have my thoughts on this. Perhaps when there's more time ....
Tuesday, 17 April 2007
The Sunflower meeting on Domestic Violence took place this morning. We were represented by Vanessa (our experienced and adept Development Worker) who returned at lunchtime with details of the meeting. I was worried to learn that discussions already focus on negotiating a new composition for the Sunflower Centre’s management board. I think this misses the point entirely.
Or perhaps all the recent discussions (about partnership, service delivery, operational practices, and improved communications) are in fact the irrelevance, and the debates and problems have all been about status and power. O dear; have I been naive?
While Vanessa was in Dacorum, I spent a very productive two hours with Anne (our Funding Advisor). Anne is an extremely capable woman with a tenacious grasp of detail; I therefore rely on Anne a great deal and hold her in very high esteem.
On this occasion, we talked through many areas of her work, including some workshops she is planning to support Watford groups applying to the Local Network Fund or Awards for All. This usefully spilled over into options for revamping the Voluntary Sector Alliance and the Networking Lunches.
At lunchtime, I popped over to the Youth Offending Team to be interviewed as part of their inspection process. After, I went to Hatfield to meet with Moreen Pascal and discuss options for the constitution and structure of the new Watford World Forum.
In the evening, I finished reading One Good Turn by Kate Atkinson. Jackie convinced me I would enjoy reading Kate Atkinson, and I did. But I got the distinct impression that Kate Atkinson would have written a far better book with less pressure from her publishers.
I then started reading Bernard Levin’s account of his journey across the Alps retracing Hannibal’s Footsteps. Hannibal’s soothsayer bore the name Bogus.
Or perhaps all the recent discussions (about partnership, service delivery, operational practices, and improved communications) are in fact the irrelevance, and the debates and problems have all been about status and power. O dear; have I been naive?
While Vanessa was in Dacorum, I spent a very productive two hours with Anne (our Funding Advisor). Anne is an extremely capable woman with a tenacious grasp of detail; I therefore rely on Anne a great deal and hold her in very high esteem.
On this occasion, we talked through many areas of her work, including some workshops she is planning to support Watford groups applying to the Local Network Fund or Awards for All. This usefully spilled over into options for revamping the Voluntary Sector Alliance and the Networking Lunches.
At lunchtime, I popped over to the Youth Offending Team to be interviewed as part of their inspection process. After, I went to Hatfield to meet with Moreen Pascal and discuss options for the constitution and structure of the new Watford World Forum.
In the evening, I finished reading One Good Turn by Kate Atkinson. Jackie convinced me I would enjoy reading Kate Atkinson, and I did. But I got the distinct impression that Kate Atkinson would have written a far better book with less pressure from her publishers.
I then started reading Bernard Levin’s account of his journey across the Alps retracing Hannibal’s Footsteps. Hannibal’s soothsayer bore the name Bogus.
Monday, 16 April 2007
I spent part of the day trying to secure good attendances at forthcoming Watford CVS meetings. In the next few weeks we are hosting meetings on volunteering (twice), hate crime, fundraising, and an inaugural meeting for the Watford World Forum. In addition to this, other staff at WCVS are also organising meetings on disability, domestic violence, and (again) volunteering.
Each of the planned meetings has clear origins and a clear purpose – I just need to convince potential participants of this, and then convince them that active participation is a good use of their time given all the other demands they face. Local voluntary groups are on meetings overload and we need continually to make sure that the opportunities for collaboration don’t outstrip people’s capacity to participate. It’s a hard balancing act. The question I always start with is: why on earth would anyone willingly give up time to attend a meeting?
A large part of the afternoon I spent with Mary Green from neighbouring Three Rivers CVS. As ever, we compared notes and looked for ways of working together to our mutual advantage. Items on the agenda included the Sunflower project (Mary is interviewing for the new Manager), our BASIS applications (we are both working on business plans), governance (we both need to recruit more trustees for ourselves and our members), and the Herts CVS group (there is a meeting next week).
I arrived home about 7:00 and after tea I spent an hour or two redrafting bits of WCVS’s Memorandum and Articles of Association so that amendments can be presented to our September AGM.
Each of the planned meetings has clear origins and a clear purpose – I just need to convince potential participants of this, and then convince them that active participation is a good use of their time given all the other demands they face. Local voluntary groups are on meetings overload and we need continually to make sure that the opportunities for collaboration don’t outstrip people’s capacity to participate. It’s a hard balancing act. The question I always start with is: why on earth would anyone willingly give up time to attend a meeting?
A large part of the afternoon I spent with Mary Green from neighbouring Three Rivers CVS. As ever, we compared notes and looked for ways of working together to our mutual advantage. Items on the agenda included the Sunflower project (Mary is interviewing for the new Manager), our BASIS applications (we are both working on business plans), governance (we both need to recruit more trustees for ourselves and our members), and the Herts CVS group (there is a meeting next week).
I arrived home about 7:00 and after tea I spent an hour or two redrafting bits of WCVS’s Memorandum and Articles of Association so that amendments can be presented to our September AGM.
Sunday, 15 April 2007
The morning’s weather lured us straight back out into the garden. Somehow during the day we managed to transplant three small trees. I know it’s not the right time of year to go moving trees about, but they are robust little things and seem to enjoy an occasional change of scenery.
Saturday, 14 April 2007
After Friday, I was determined to have a relaxing weekend so spent most of the day in the garden. Never let it be said that I don't know how to have a good time. I pruned our elderly apple tree with some trepidation as I know they should be pruned in the winter. But this is an act of desperation: all other apple trees are already in bloom, but our is barely coming to life.
I was ably assisted by my nearly-three-year-old grand-daughter Bethany. She dragged the amputated branches from the tree to the recycling bin, where I chopped them up. She was a delight to work with and I was so proud of her.
Jackie and Bethany’s mum Rhiannon returned in the afternoon to help clear the rockery, and then Stuart arrived to cook us all a barbecue.
In the evening I finished reading Marking Time, Duncan Steel’s history of calendars. For my tastes, this was a near perfect book: he is an absolute master of his subject, his enthusiasm is apparent, he is quirky and eccentric, he respects his readers, he respects no sacred cows, he is humorous, and he speculates quite widely (and sometimes wildly) but always draws a clear line between fact and speculation. What a joy to read. And what a lovely end to a lovely day.
I was ably assisted by my nearly-three-year-old grand-daughter Bethany. She dragged the amputated branches from the tree to the recycling bin, where I chopped them up. She was a delight to work with and I was so proud of her.
Jackie and Bethany’s mum Rhiannon returned in the afternoon to help clear the rockery, and then Stuart arrived to cook us all a barbecue.
In the evening I finished reading Marking Time, Duncan Steel’s history of calendars. For my tastes, this was a near perfect book: he is an absolute master of his subject, his enthusiasm is apparent, he is quirky and eccentric, he respects his readers, he respects no sacred cows, he is humorous, and he speculates quite widely (and sometimes wildly) but always draws a clear line between fact and speculation. What a joy to read. And what a lovely end to a lovely day.
Friday, 13 April 2007
I began today meeting with a small local group that is considering its options for the future having failed to attract sufficient funding.
After, I did a little work on the Herts CVS strategic plan but I spent the bulk of the day planning out the next few weeks leading to the May bank holiday. Things don’t look good: there are too many meetings, too many deadlines, and altogether too many balls in the air.
In the afternoon I had a worrying call to say that Jacquie (Director of North Herts CVS) would be off work for a while. This is a grievous loss. Jacquie is pivotal to so much that Herts CVS does, and she is our main link into regional structures. This news is a sharp reminder to me that I need to look after myself a bit better: “restore home-work balance” was the phrase used in my annual appraisal. As I left the office at 7:00 pm, having worked about 25 hours in two days, I reflected that this is the biggest challenge I face right now.
After, I did a little work on the Herts CVS strategic plan but I spent the bulk of the day planning out the next few weeks leading to the May bank holiday. Things don’t look good: there are too many meetings, too many deadlines, and altogether too many balls in the air.
In the afternoon I had a worrying call to say that Jacquie (Director of North Herts CVS) would be off work for a while. This is a grievous loss. Jacquie is pivotal to so much that Herts CVS does, and she is our main link into regional structures. This news is a sharp reminder to me that I need to look after myself a bit better: “restore home-work balance” was the phrase used in my annual appraisal. As I left the office at 7:00 pm, having worked about 25 hours in two days, I reflected that this is the biggest challenge I face right now.
Thursday, 12 April 2007
This morning, I emerged from the house to find that I had a flat tyre so first had to get this fixed.
I still managed to be in Stevenage before 9:30 for a HCC event “Toward a Safer Stronger Hertfordshire” where I met several other voluntary sector people and also Emma from WBC’s LSP. The event had three streamed workshops on community cohesion, crime and volunteering. All the voluntary sector people were assigned to the volunteering workshop, which betrays a rather narrow and dismissive attitude to the sector. Anyway, I rebelled and went to the community cohesion discussion.
At lunchtime, I headed off to Watford where everyone seems to have coped effortlessly with my week-long absence. Ouch. I spent the best part of the afternoon catching up on a week’s correspondence, but there were no major problems or imminent deadlines. All in all, rather easier than I feared.
The end of an era
In the 1970s, Racial Equality Councils were almost as common as (say) Citizens’ Advice Bureaux. But funding and fashions change and today they are few and far between: Watford Racial Equality Council is the last remaining for a considerable distance around Hertfordshire.
But this evening, WCVS hosted WREC’s dissolution meeting. WREC has been a feature of Watford’s voluntary sector for several decades so there was a natural melancholy and a reluctance to let go. Participants in the meeting had a thorough discussion of options and at length took the decision (inevitable under the circumstances) to dissolve WREC.
Whatever the current fashions, there is certainly a need for a prominent local champion of equality and diversity. WCVS is working to ensure that there wont be a void for long.
After the WREC meeting, I spent some time configuring a new laptop for Saud and I finally left the office about 10:30.
Rather a tough re-entry to the world of work. But the blow was softened by listening to much of the Bonzo Dog Doo-Dah Band. One of my all-time favourite lines: "She spat at him, playfully".
I still managed to be in Stevenage before 9:30 for a HCC event “Toward a Safer Stronger Hertfordshire” where I met several other voluntary sector people and also Emma from WBC’s LSP. The event had three streamed workshops on community cohesion, crime and volunteering. All the voluntary sector people were assigned to the volunteering workshop, which betrays a rather narrow and dismissive attitude to the sector. Anyway, I rebelled and went to the community cohesion discussion.
At lunchtime, I headed off to Watford where everyone seems to have coped effortlessly with my week-long absence. Ouch. I spent the best part of the afternoon catching up on a week’s correspondence, but there were no major problems or imminent deadlines. All in all, rather easier than I feared.
The end of an era
In the 1970s, Racial Equality Councils were almost as common as (say) Citizens’ Advice Bureaux. But funding and fashions change and today they are few and far between: Watford Racial Equality Council is the last remaining for a considerable distance around Hertfordshire.
But this evening, WCVS hosted WREC’s dissolution meeting. WREC has been a feature of Watford’s voluntary sector for several decades so there was a natural melancholy and a reluctance to let go. Participants in the meeting had a thorough discussion of options and at length took the decision (inevitable under the circumstances) to dissolve WREC.
Whatever the current fashions, there is certainly a need for a prominent local champion of equality and diversity. WCVS is working to ensure that there wont be a void for long.
After the WREC meeting, I spent some time configuring a new laptop for Saud and I finally left the office about 10:30.
Rather a tough re-entry to the world of work. But the blow was softened by listening to much of the Bonzo Dog Doo-Dah Band. One of my all-time favourite lines: "She spat at him, playfully".
Wednesday, 11 April 2007
Jackie returned to work, leaving me alone in bed with a cup of tea.
When I finally roused myself an hour or so later, I realised it was the first time since we were married that I had spent more than an hour apart from Jackie. It wasn’t nice but I suppose I must get used to it.
I spent the remainder of the day ironing (no, seriously) and sorting through papers preparing for the inevitable shock of my return to work tomorrow.
When I finally roused myself an hour or so later, I realised it was the first time since we were married that I had spent more than an hour apart from Jackie. It wasn’t nice but I suppose I must get used to it.
I spent the remainder of the day ironing (no, seriously) and sorting through papers preparing for the inevitable shock of my return to work tomorrow.
Tuesday, 10 April 2007
We rose fairly early, and spent a few hours getting the house sorted. After lunch, I was too tired and lay (rather pathetically) on the sofa. Jackie worried that I was "coming down with something" and she pampered me and worked on regardless; what a woman.
Monday, 9 April 2007
We said fond farewells to Marjorie, her children and her dogs and took the scenic route from Petersfield through Harting to Chichester where we visited the cathedral and enjoyed a wonderfully relaxing lunch.
We agreed it had been a truly memorable honeymoon. Of course we might have spent three weeks on a beach in the Caribbean or the Seychelles, but where’s the fun in that? We had enjoyed a great visit to somewhere nearby that we can return to again and again.
And it still wasn’t over: later we stopped at Denmans Gardens to buy a Wisteria to plant outside our front door.
And then we stopped off at Arundel, a town dominated by its castle and its Catholic cathedral. The massive castle was sadly closing for the day.
The Catholic cathedral was designed in the French gothic style and stood over the town like a sinister UFO or perhaps a Harpie. The church was designed by Joseph Hansom (more famous for designing the Hansom Cab) but was interesting not so much for its architecture as for its sociology (being built in the immediate aftermath of the 1829 Catholic Emancipation Act).
We also visited the older and more comely Anglican church of St Nicholas and saw traces of the medieval wall paintings that once adorned the pre-reformation church.
Our best find in Arundel was Sweet Memories - a traditional sweet shop where we treated ourselves to buttered brazil nuts, sweet peanuts, toasted tea cakes, pineapple chunks, and rhubarb and custard. Sweet memories indeed.
We arrived in Brighton and saw Bobby briefly before leaving returning to WGC with Bryan and leaving Bobby to sort out his broken window.
We agreed it had been a truly memorable honeymoon. Of course we might have spent three weeks on a beach in the Caribbean or the Seychelles, but where’s the fun in that? We had enjoyed a great visit to somewhere nearby that we can return to again and again.
And it still wasn’t over: later we stopped at Denmans Gardens to buy a Wisteria to plant outside our front door.
And then we stopped off at Arundel, a town dominated by its castle and its Catholic cathedral. The massive castle was sadly closing for the day.
The Catholic cathedral was designed in the French gothic style and stood over the town like a sinister UFO or perhaps a Harpie. The church was designed by Joseph Hansom (more famous for designing the Hansom Cab) but was interesting not so much for its architecture as for its sociology (being built in the immediate aftermath of the 1829 Catholic Emancipation Act).
We also visited the older and more comely Anglican church of St Nicholas and saw traces of the medieval wall paintings that once adorned the pre-reformation church.
Our best find in Arundel was Sweet Memories - a traditional sweet shop where we treated ourselves to buttered brazil nuts, sweet peanuts, toasted tea cakes, pineapple chunks, and rhubarb and custard. Sweet memories indeed.
We arrived in Brighton and saw Bobby briefly before leaving returning to WGC with Bryan and leaving Bobby to sort out his broken window.
Sunday, 8 April 2007
The world's prettiest church?
In the morning, we visited the church at Prior’s Dean. From the outside, this is quite simply one of the most beautiful churches imaginable, and today it was near-perfect nestling deep in the folds of the English countryside and shaded from the sunshine by a 2,500-year-old yew tree.
We contrived to arrive just as the church warden was locking up after the Easter Service and we persuaded her to let us have a look inside where things were very plain and simple – just as they should be.
In the graveyard, covered with wild garlic, we photographed some family gravestones found on a previous visit, and then discovered one or two other graves of interest.
From Prior’s Dean, we hurried to St Peter’s church at High Cross and found some more records and graves of interest.
From High Cross, we went to West Meon for lunch at The Thomas Lord gastronomic pub displaying much cricketing memorabilia (Thomas "Lord's Cricket Ground" Lord). We enjoyed an excellent meal of local fare adn then paid a quick visit to the ruins of St Nicholas's chapel along the Meon valley.
The North Face of a South Down
Then we went for a walk through the staggeringly beautiful countryside. We started beneath the South Downs at Hen Wood and began walking up toward the ridge. The sun was blazing and the path was far steeper than it looked. And then the path disappeared, although we could still see the ridge above us. Jackie decided to rest with a book while I tackled the summit alone. It was exhausting and at one stage I just lay down panting, wondering if I would ever make it. But I fought off the worst effects of altitude sickness, successfully by-passed the glacier, traversed the crevasse and scrambled to the top.
I’d hoped to be rewarded with a magnificent view along the Downs and south toward the cost. But no. To the west and south were just higher ridges, and to the east the view was entirely obscured by trees. This bought home to me the utter pointlessness of mountaineering. When Sir Edmund Hilary said, “Because it was there”, he should have added, “and I couldn’t think of anything to do that was more interesting or useful”.
Anyway, the view northwards at least was good and I was restored to Jackie.
We paid a short visit to All Saint’s church in East Meon before enjoying a Cream Tea at Oxbourne.
In the morning, we visited the church at Prior’s Dean. From the outside, this is quite simply one of the most beautiful churches imaginable, and today it was near-perfect nestling deep in the folds of the English countryside and shaded from the sunshine by a 2,500-year-old yew tree.
We contrived to arrive just as the church warden was locking up after the Easter Service and we persuaded her to let us have a look inside where things were very plain and simple – just as they should be.
In the graveyard, covered with wild garlic, we photographed some family gravestones found on a previous visit, and then discovered one or two other graves of interest.
From Prior’s Dean, we hurried to St Peter’s church at High Cross and found some more records and graves of interest.
From High Cross, we went to West Meon for lunch at The Thomas Lord gastronomic pub displaying much cricketing memorabilia (Thomas "Lord's Cricket Ground" Lord). We enjoyed an excellent meal of local fare adn then paid a quick visit to the ruins of St Nicholas's chapel along the Meon valley.
The North Face of a South Down
Then we went for a walk through the staggeringly beautiful countryside. We started beneath the South Downs at Hen Wood and began walking up toward the ridge. The sun was blazing and the path was far steeper than it looked. And then the path disappeared, although we could still see the ridge above us. Jackie decided to rest with a book while I tackled the summit alone. It was exhausting and at one stage I just lay down panting, wondering if I would ever make it. But I fought off the worst effects of altitude sickness, successfully by-passed the glacier, traversed the crevasse and scrambled to the top.
I’d hoped to be rewarded with a magnificent view along the Downs and south toward the cost. But no. To the west and south were just higher ridges, and to the east the view was entirely obscured by trees. This bought home to me the utter pointlessness of mountaineering. When Sir Edmund Hilary said, “Because it was there”, he should have added, “and I couldn’t think of anything to do that was more interesting or useful”.
Anyway, the view northwards at least was good and I was restored to Jackie.
We paid a short visit to All Saint’s church in East Meon before enjoying a Cream Tea at Oxbourne.
Saturday, 7 April 2007
We went to Petersfield to buy a pane of glass to repair Bobby’s window. No luck. But we did find a very good (and very large) second-hand bookshop, which set our other plans back an hour or two ...
Eventually, we moved on to Petersfield’s cemetery. The sun was very hot and we spent some hours studying gravestones looking for Powells, Underwoods, and Knights. No luck.
Then we drove to Sheet to photograph some houses where Jackie’s father had lived as a child. Then back to Marjorie’s for tea in the garden before moving on for a truly memorable meal at the Tai Tong.
Eventually, we moved on to Petersfield’s cemetery. The sun was very hot and we spent some hours studying gravestones looking for Powells, Underwoods, and Knights. No luck.
Then we drove to Sheet to photograph some houses where Jackie’s father had lived as a child. Then back to Marjorie’s for tea in the garden before moving on for a truly memorable meal at the Tai Tong.
Friday, 6 April 2007
We woke early to the debris of the previous day. A few willing hands had helped the night before, but the house was still in a state of considerable dishevelment. It took an hour or two to get things in a reasonable state, and then we got in the car for the drive southward.
The plan was that we would drop Bobby and Bryan off in Brighton, and then Jackie and I would drive off to the South Downs for a few days. We arrived in Brighton to discover that Bobby had lost his door key and none of his flatmates had stayed in Brighton over Easter; so my honeymoon began with a spot of breaking and entering.
But, by mid-afternoon Jackie and I had arrived in East Meon and met our host Marjorie, a wonderfully warm woman who made us feel very welcome. We enjoyed a walk around Petersfield visiting the church and enjoying a meal and later a drink at Ye Old George in East Meon, before returning home to watch a great film about Mexican artist Frida Kahlo.
The plan was that we would drop Bobby and Bryan off in Brighton, and then Jackie and I would drive off to the South Downs for a few days. We arrived in Brighton to discover that Bobby had lost his door key and none of his flatmates had stayed in Brighton over Easter; so my honeymoon began with a spot of breaking and entering.
But, by mid-afternoon Jackie and I had arrived in East Meon and met our host Marjorie, a wonderfully warm woman who made us feel very welcome. We enjoyed a walk around Petersfield visiting the church and enjoying a meal and later a drink at Ye Old George in East Meon, before returning home to watch a great film about Mexican artist Frida Kahlo.
Thursday, 5 April 2007
Got married: weather wonderful, ceremony splendid, reception magnificent, guests brilliant, family fabulous; everything really rather groovy.
Wednesday, 4 April 2007
Jackie and I spent the entire day preparing for tomorrow’s wedding. Now I understand why Jackie has been anxious for the past week or two: there is so much to do!
Fortunately, help was at hand. Bobby and Bryan prepared the garden - putting up the gazebo, washing the garden furniture and laying out an Easter Egg Hunt for the children. In the kitchen, we were joined by Rhiannon who worked with enthusiasm and élan. I too made myself useful in the kitchen and ran backwards and forwards to the shops and to various florists.
Our neighbours were wonderful too – Allan bringing round much needed extra food and Linda preparing posies and buttonholes.
We got through all the work eventually, and enjoyed a few hilarious moments along the way. By about 10:00 we were tired out, and everyone relaxed with a few bottles of wine.
Fortunately, help was at hand. Bobby and Bryan prepared the garden - putting up the gazebo, washing the garden furniture and laying out an Easter Egg Hunt for the children. In the kitchen, we were joined by Rhiannon who worked with enthusiasm and élan. I too made myself useful in the kitchen and ran backwards and forwards to the shops and to various florists.
Our neighbours were wonderful too – Allan bringing round much needed extra food and Linda preparing posies and buttonholes.
We got through all the work eventually, and enjoyed a few hilarious moments along the way. By about 10:00 we were tired out, and everyone relaxed with a few bottles of wine.
Tuesday, 3 April 2007
Much the same as yesterday (it's all become a bit of a blur) but ending with a relaxing celebration drink with some of my colleagues next door at Bodega.
Monday, 2 April 2007
I spent the day putting things in train to they can progress while I am off later this week and most of next week.
I arranged to place the advert for a new Finance and Administration Officer so that the recruitment process can begin, finalised the application pack, I asked Helen and Vanessa to read through the NAVCA quality mark file, I circulated the final interim report on Value and Volumes, and I finalised arrangements and sent out invites for the coming Sunflower meetings on Domestic Violence and Hate Crime, and for the inaugural meeting of the Watford World Forum (or whatever it turns out being called), and for the LSP working group on volunteering.
I arranged to place the advert for a new Finance and Administration Officer so that the recruitment process can begin, finalised the application pack, I asked Helen and Vanessa to read through the NAVCA quality mark file, I circulated the final interim report on Value and Volumes, and I finalised arrangements and sent out invites for the coming Sunflower meetings on Domestic Violence and Hate Crime, and for the inaugural meeting of the Watford World Forum (or whatever it turns out being called), and for the LSP working group on volunteering.
Sunday, 1 April 2007
In the morning, we were visited by Jackie’s parents, attended Frankie’s first birthday party, and I drove to Barnet to collect Bobby. No April Fool tricks. We spent the afternoon, until nightfall, busily preparing the garden for the wedding.
The Omen
While taking a short tea break, Jackie and I saw a large kestrel land on our lawn carrying in its claws a struggling mammal (Jackie thought it was a squirrel, I thought it was a rat). The kestrel looked around and then took off again (with its prey) before landing in a neighbour’s garden. Within a second, the screeching stopped and a minute or so later I saw the kestrel fly off again with its claws empty.
What sort of omen was this to see just a few days before getting married?
Thankfully, neither Jackie or I are greatly troubled by superstition. But we inevitably reflected on how it might have been interpreted in more superstitious times: several politicians and some of our former partners came rather badly out of this idle speculation.
The Omen
While taking a short tea break, Jackie and I saw a large kestrel land on our lawn carrying in its claws a struggling mammal (Jackie thought it was a squirrel, I thought it was a rat). The kestrel looked around and then took off again (with its prey) before landing in a neighbour’s garden. Within a second, the screeching stopped and a minute or so later I saw the kestrel fly off again with its claws empty.
What sort of omen was this to see just a few days before getting married?
Thankfully, neither Jackie or I are greatly troubled by superstition. But we inevitably reflected on how it might have been interpreted in more superstitious times: several politicians and some of our former partners came rather badly out of this idle speculation.
Saturday, 31 March 2007
Jackie and I had a busy day preparing for Thursday’s wedding: both suddenly worried that there is so much to do (to be honest, I think Jackie's been worried for a few weeks and I've only just caught on).
Friday, 30 March 2007
The reliable and delightful Sue Tilbury has now moved on and I must simply get used to it.
Today was quiet as several people were using up their final leave days of the year. But Vanessa came in anyway, taking pity on me I believe.
Bad news form the Big Lottery
In the morning's post we received news that our bid to the Big Lottery’s Reaching Communities programme had fallen at the last hurdle. It is always difficult to get bids accepted and it’s always hard to understand exactly why any particular bid fails or succeeds.
In this instance, the letter simply read difficult decision … other bids more fully met our requirements … but this of course tells us nothing. Our bid linked together all major local providers of adult education, it had clearly defined and measurable outcomes, it had clear community benefits, and it linked very well to the local strategic plan.
Vanessa and I talked and agreed, at least to our satisfaction, why our bid had failed: because it was too complicated. We decided that if assessors and decision-makers need too long to understand an application they will resent the extra effort involved and look for an easier alternative (especially if the funder has previous bad experiences of complex bids unravelling). To this extend, grant-makers are like flowing water: looking for the easiest route downhill. I expect there is a Law somewhere that states something similar.
Supervision
After dealing with a few of the more urgent e-mails, at 10:00 am I had a supervision meeting with my Chair of Trustees Pam Handley. We enjoyed a wide-ranging discussion about WCVS's plans, budgets and staffing, reaching some helpful decisions along the way. In particular, Pam agreed the 2007-08 budget on behalf of the trustees - and now I must re-jig the budget to reflect the morning's bad news from the Big Lottery.
After Pam left, I wrote up the minutes of last night’s meeting: the sooner this sort of thing is done, the better. Again, I am sure there is a Law somewhere that states this.
Workload
Throughout the afternoon, I battled to clear through my in tray. On Monday, I should be out of the office all day at meetings, I then have Tuesday in the office before having time off to get married. The calculation was easy: will I be able to clear sufficient work on Tuesday so that I can relax while getting married on Thursday?
The answer was also easy: No.
So I canceled my attendance at Monday's East of England regional meeting on the Capacitybuilders programme. Jacquie Hime from North Herts will ably represent Hertfordshire's interests alone: thank you Jacquie.
Today was quiet as several people were using up their final leave days of the year. But Vanessa came in anyway, taking pity on me I believe.
Bad news form the Big Lottery
In the morning's post we received news that our bid to the Big Lottery’s Reaching Communities programme had fallen at the last hurdle. It is always difficult to get bids accepted and it’s always hard to understand exactly why any particular bid fails or succeeds.
In this instance, the letter simply read difficult decision … other bids more fully met our requirements … but this of course tells us nothing. Our bid linked together all major local providers of adult education, it had clearly defined and measurable outcomes, it had clear community benefits, and it linked very well to the local strategic plan.
Vanessa and I talked and agreed, at least to our satisfaction, why our bid had failed: because it was too complicated. We decided that if assessors and decision-makers need too long to understand an application they will resent the extra effort involved and look for an easier alternative (especially if the funder has previous bad experiences of complex bids unravelling). To this extend, grant-makers are like flowing water: looking for the easiest route downhill. I expect there is a Law somewhere that states something similar.
Supervision
After dealing with a few of the more urgent e-mails, at 10:00 am I had a supervision meeting with my Chair of Trustees Pam Handley. We enjoyed a wide-ranging discussion about WCVS's plans, budgets and staffing, reaching some helpful decisions along the way. In particular, Pam agreed the 2007-08 budget on behalf of the trustees - and now I must re-jig the budget to reflect the morning's bad news from the Big Lottery.
After Pam left, I wrote up the minutes of last night’s meeting: the sooner this sort of thing is done, the better. Again, I am sure there is a Law somewhere that states this.
Workload
Throughout the afternoon, I battled to clear through my in tray. On Monday, I should be out of the office all day at meetings, I then have Tuesday in the office before having time off to get married. The calculation was easy: will I be able to clear sufficient work on Tuesday so that I can relax while getting married on Thursday?
The answer was also easy: No.
So I canceled my attendance at Monday's East of England regional meeting on the Capacitybuilders programme. Jacquie Hime from North Herts will ably represent Hertfordshire's interests alone: thank you Jacquie.
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