Reflections on stress
Today was a long hard slog. But very productive.
Anne and Vanessa have worked very hard on Basis. I do tell them how appreciative and grateful I am. But I suspect they might be a bit tired of hearing me say it. So on the way in this morning, I stopped off to buy them some flowers and chocolates. Rather a superficial gesture. And a dangerous precedent. But at least it is an unequivocal public statement of appreciation; and I think that itself will be appreciated.
After delivering up my gifts (both thankfully took the gesture as it was intended) I caught up on four days of incoming e-mails. Or at least I answered a few e-mails and put little red flags on lots of others, which at least gave me a sense of having achieved something.
One remarkable e-mail was from a CEO in a local charity who had resigned because of work pressures. It is always a terrible shame when the charity sector leeches talent in this way. Perhaps I will consult with people over creating a Chief Officers group in Watford.
I also spent some time thinking through last week’s HIC meetings and decided to complete my allotted task sooner rather than later. My task was to create a representation of a possible future structure for HIC. Over the weekend I showed a draft to my wife and sons who were horrified at its complexity. Some rather disparaging remarks were made. So this morning I simplified and reworked the diagram. It’s so much easier to get these things out of the way while they are still fresh in your mind.
In the afternoon, I sorted out July’s salaries and met with Maria. Then it was back to our second stage Basis application / business plan. Currently the bane of my life. By the time I surfaced from this work, it was gone 7:00 pm.
Rather reluctantly (as I was making good progress on the business plan) I set Basis aside to prepare papers etc for Thursday’s trustees’ meeting. Personally, I like to receive papers a week in advance of a meeting, and this is perfectly reasonable. But I had at least written to trustees last week advising that I would e-mail the papers on Monday. Given current circumstances here that’s not too bad.
Preparing the papers took a few hours. Twice our network crashed making things take longer than they should. Then I had to use my web-mail account to mail to one trustee as AOL has started rejecting e-mails from watfordcvs.net. Then I printed off a set of papers to hand deliver to our one trustee with no e-mail. Then I mailed a few requests to Maria for the morning (I will be at a meeting in Stevenage).
I arrived home just after midnight. Jackie was sound asleep. She is so wonderful and I do love her so.
Work pressures are a difficult thing. A larger workload doesn’t necessarily equate to more stress. I like to relax, but nothing stresses me so much as enforced idleness. For me, the two other major sources of stress are feeling out of control (not being able to find things, filing to be done, computers crashing) and fear of failure (missed deadlines, not delivering on promises).
A final source of stress can be people: personal conflicts, power games, poor communication, etc. It is inevitable that sometimes we buffet up against one another. But this is not stressful if there is fundamental respect and goodwill. And these, I think, are what abound at Watford CVS. All staff and all trustees respect each other, support each other, and appreciate each other’s contributions. And this is worth any number of stratagems and policies on time management and stress management. Even after a sixteen hour working day.
But of course there may be rather less respect and goodwill if we don't get our Basis bid and our audit completed on time!
Sunday, 15 July 2007
I spent the day working on our second stage Basis bid. In the afternoon I travelled to the office to find Anne was also there working hard. She was still here when I left a few hours later. She and Vanessa had forwarded me a good final draft of the business plan. Now it just needs the financial figures and the implementation plan (including Gantt Chart).
Unfortunately, the SmartDraw software I downloaded from the internet really can't produce Gantt Charts. Or rather it can, but only in the most superficial way with nowhere near the sophistication of Microsoft Project.
Unfortunately, the SmartDraw software I downloaded from the internet really can't produce Gantt Charts. Or rather it can, but only in the most superficial way with nowhere near the sophistication of Microsoft Project.
Saturday, 14 July 2007
Foundling Hospital and British Library
In previous years, Jackie and I would have spent this weekend at the Welwyn Garden City Kaleidoscope festival or at the Hitchin Rhythms of the World festival. Instead, we went on a coach trip with the East Herts Archaeological Society to London for tours of the Foundling Hospital at Coram’s Fields and of the new British Library. Despite the humid weather, this was very enjoyable.
I was vaguely familiar with the Foundling Hospital but knew little of its history and nothing of its connections with Hogarth and Handel. The hospital trustees could accept only 40 “foundlings” a year, yet usually had more than 100 applications. Their solution was to operate a random lottery to decide on entry (possibly the true origin of the term “blackballed”). The Hertfordshire connection is that the "Hospital" relocated in the 1920s to Berkhamstead.
Even better was the British Library, surely one of the finest modern municipal buildings in Britain. Absolutely beautiful. And the contents were wonderful too: Treasures of the British Library and an exhibition entitled Sacred of the Bible, the Qur’an and the Torah. Perhaps a destination for a Watford One World Forum outing?
In previous years, Jackie and I would have spent this weekend at the Welwyn Garden City Kaleidoscope festival or at the Hitchin Rhythms of the World festival. Instead, we went on a coach trip with the East Herts Archaeological Society to London for tours of the Foundling Hospital at Coram’s Fields and of the new British Library. Despite the humid weather, this was very enjoyable.
I was vaguely familiar with the Foundling Hospital but knew little of its history and nothing of its connections with Hogarth and Handel. The hospital trustees could accept only 40 “foundlings” a year, yet usually had more than 100 applications. Their solution was to operate a random lottery to decide on entry (possibly the true origin of the term “blackballed”). The Hertfordshire connection is that the "Hospital" relocated in the 1920s to Berkhamstead.
Even better was the British Library, surely one of the finest modern municipal buildings in Britain. Absolutely beautiful. And the contents were wonderful too: Treasures of the British Library and an exhibition entitled Sacred of the Bible, the Qur’an and the Torah. Perhaps a destination for a Watford One World Forum outing?
Friday, 13 July 2007
A much more productive day at The Node. We looked at possible future structures for delivering support services, and possible future development projects. This provided a much more practical basis for discussions. I think at the end we all felt rather pleased with ourselves for making so much progress over the two days.
Over the two days, the key questions were:
· What is an “infrastructure organisation”?
· How do HIC and the Herts CVS relate to each other?
· How can HIC structure itself to operate effectively with a membership of 20+ organisations?
· How can HIC provide long-term added value to infrastructure services in Herts?
· How can infrastructure organisations demonstrate their value to all Front Line Organisations?
Back home around 7:00 I received a telephone call from Vanessa: she and Anne were still at the office working hard on Basis and they had one or two queries ...
Over the two days, the key questions were:
· What is an “infrastructure organisation”?
· How do HIC and the Herts CVS relate to each other?
· How can HIC structure itself to operate effectively with a membership of 20+ organisations?
· How can HIC provide long-term added value to infrastructure services in Herts?
· How can infrastructure organisations demonstrate their value to all Front Line Organisations?
Back home around 7:00 I received a telephone call from Vanessa: she and Anne were still at the office working hard on Basis and they had one or two queries ...
Thursday, 12 July 2007
HIC at The Node
The first day of a two-day meeting at The Node near Hitchin to discuss the future of the Hertfordshire Infrastructure Consortium. This was a steering group from HIC looking at how infrastructure services should develop in the County over the coming years to 2014 and beyond.
The first day of a two-day meeting at The Node near Hitchin to discuss the future of the Hertfordshire Infrastructure Consortium. This was a steering group from HIC looking at how infrastructure services should develop in the County over the coming years to 2014 and beyond.
Pictured above are (clockwise from bottom left): Kate Belinis (CDA for Herts), Julie Street (Stevenage Volunteer Centre), David Fitzpatrick (Herts Community Foundation), Steph Gallagher (HIC Development Worker), Ian Richardson (Broxbourne and East Herts CVS), Andrew Burt (HCC who joined us for the first morning's session), Jacquie Hime (North Herts CVS), and myself. Missing form the phto are Eliud Matindi (Herts BME Partnership - delayed by car trouble), and Chris Lee (of Dacorum's Raise the Ceiling Project who facilitated the two days - and took the photo).
We spent most of today surveying the literature (we each had a 1 Gb memory stick of documents), finding our feet, performing a SWOT analysis, discussing key themes, and talking through Visions and Missions.
It was hard work and progress was rather slow. But where progress was made, it was good solid progress with unanimous support. I felt we were doing the right things.
The venue was fine apart from a noisy “fun day” organised by Jeans company Ted Baker for its young staff. At the buffet lunch I discovered that members of the public can no longer serve themselves hot food due to “health and safety”. I pointed out to the young waiter that at home I am perfectly able to serve myself hot food and have been doing so for years without a serious incident. I’m in my 40s, for heaven’s sake. But it wasn’t his fault of course. What sort of world are we creating?
Another cause for grumpiness was that there was only a very poor mobile phone signal and no working payphone. I managed a very scrambled conversation with Maria about A Midsummer Night’s Dream – just sufficient to discover that the event was being booked for 14 September.
HIC had a few relaxed “break out” sessions during the day and the evening was devoted to a meal together. I was the only delegate not staying overnight and left at 9:00 abandoning several very useful discussions.
Wednesday, 11 July 2007
Very busy
I spent the morning dealing with HIC papers for tomorrow’s meeting and then focused on our Basis bid.
At lunchtime I met with Jay Gaglani, Chair of the Watford One World Forum and discussed possible events / activities that Forum members can undertake together. We first targeted Watford Palace Theatre’s production of A Midsummer Night’s Dream which looks as if it might be really good. Unfortunately the production is only on for one week – this is the week in which Ramadan starts and Jay and I are both concerned to engage members of the Muslim community in the outing. Amy at the Theatre’s box office makes things even more enticing by offering us 50 tickets on “sale or return” for £9 each instead of the usual £15. We are very tempted but decide that Jay should first talk his Vice Chair Zamir Shah to gauge how the Muslim community might perceive this.
In the afternoon, I spent several hours reviewing our second stage Basis bid with Anne and Vanessa who have done some great work. But there is still lots to do. I also downloaded evaluation software from SmartDraw that claims to produce the Gantt Charts that we need for the Basis bid. And I wrote to WBC about utility charges at 149 The Parade. And I wrote a brief note on WBC’s plans to change the way they award discretionary rates relief. And I spoke with our auditors to reschedule our audit timetable. And I sent out a note to our trustees about next week’s trustees meeting.
I arrived home late and tired.
I spent the morning dealing with HIC papers for tomorrow’s meeting and then focused on our Basis bid.
At lunchtime I met with Jay Gaglani, Chair of the Watford One World Forum and discussed possible events / activities that Forum members can undertake together. We first targeted Watford Palace Theatre’s production of A Midsummer Night’s Dream which looks as if it might be really good. Unfortunately the production is only on for one week – this is the week in which Ramadan starts and Jay and I are both concerned to engage members of the Muslim community in the outing. Amy at the Theatre’s box office makes things even more enticing by offering us 50 tickets on “sale or return” for £9 each instead of the usual £15. We are very tempted but decide that Jay should first talk his Vice Chair Zamir Shah to gauge how the Muslim community might perceive this.
In the afternoon, I spent several hours reviewing our second stage Basis bid with Anne and Vanessa who have done some great work. But there is still lots to do. I also downloaded evaluation software from SmartDraw that claims to produce the Gantt Charts that we need for the Basis bid. And I wrote to WBC about utility charges at 149 The Parade. And I wrote a brief note on WBC’s plans to change the way they award discretionary rates relief. And I spoke with our auditors to reschedule our audit timetable. And I sent out a note to our trustees about next week’s trustees meeting.
I arrived home late and tired.
Tuesday, 10 July 2007
I started off the morning in Hemel Hempstead at a Herts CVS meeting. Most satisfyingly, there seems to be agreement on a county-wide trustees' event sometime in early 2008. But there were other good things too. I left at lunchtime to return to Watford. There has been no contact from our departing Finance Officer, so I can at least now take the necessary actions.
Fortunately, I had a meeting arranged anyway with Maria Waszkis to talk about her efforts to set up a Watford Polish Association. After a brief chat on this, I related to her the events of yesterday and offered her a six month fixed contract to come back adn help out. She delighted me by accepting and she will be back at work tomorrow. Lovely.
After this, I met with Roger Sands of Millennium Volunteers to talk about the problems that the voluntary sector might experience when HCC introduce the Common Assessment Framework to determine the needs of 13-18 year olds. We agreed to try and organise a meeting on this with HCC.
And then I spent the rest of the day on IT issues in the hope that some progress can be made on this while I concentrate on Basis for the next few weeks. Other than a few critical meetings I can't cancel - I spent the later part of the evening reading through papers for Thursday and Friday's meeting of the Hertfordshire Infrastructure Consortium.
Fortunately, I had a meeting arranged anyway with Maria Waszkis to talk about her efforts to set up a Watford Polish Association. After a brief chat on this, I related to her the events of yesterday and offered her a six month fixed contract to come back adn help out. She delighted me by accepting and she will be back at work tomorrow. Lovely.
After this, I met with Roger Sands of Millennium Volunteers to talk about the problems that the voluntary sector might experience when HCC introduce the Common Assessment Framework to determine the needs of 13-18 year olds. We agreed to try and organise a meeting on this with HCC.
And then I spent the rest of the day on IT issues in the hope that some progress can be made on this while I concentrate on Basis for the next few weeks. Other than a few critical meetings I can't cancel - I spent the later part of the evening reading through papers for Thursday and Friday's meeting of the Hertfordshire Infrastructure Consortium.
Monday, 9 July 2007
Not a good morning
I arrived at work about 8:30 to find our new Finance Officer already there. We wished each other “good morning” and I said I would see her shortly. About fifteen minutes later she came to see me and said she had spent the weekend thinking things through and had decided she did not want to accept the post at WCVS after all. She returned her keys and gave me an envelope with her resignation letter.
I asked what had made her take this decision and could we talk about it? She didn’t want to talk about it. And she wouldn’t reconsider. And she was sorry. And she was leaving. And she did.
To the back of her disappearing head, perhaps rather desperately, I said I'd leave things 24 hours in case she changed her mind.
This was not a good start to the week.
Back to Basis
Although nonplussed, I had to put this to the back of my mind and concentrated on the immediate need to complete my work on our Basis application. Much of my work over the weekend will be redundant if we lose our Finance Officer and will need to be re-written. As other people started arriving at the office I said nothing about the morning’s drama just in case our departing Finance Officer had second (or third?) thoughts.
From 10:00 I had a long series of telephone calls about Watford CVS’s IT needs and in the afternoon, I met with Anne and Vanessa to pass over the fruits of my weekend labours on our Basis application. I had to share with them the morning’s events - to alert them to the possible need to rewrite sections of the application. They were as surprised and disappointed as me.
Making plans
Later, I gave serious thought to our options. There were a few non-negotiable facts. First, I must give top priority to completing the Basis application. Nothing is more important and the deadline is only three weeks away.
I will then have to focus on completing the audit. At this point in time, it is not possible to get another accountant in place. So I will just have to sit down and work through each individual transaction and query myself. If I complete the Basis application by the end of July (which I must) then I will have two and a half weeks to focus on the audit. I can then go off on two weeks leave with a clear conscience and the accounts can be distributed well ahead of our 7 September AGM.
Another fact is that Maria Waszkis could take a lot of pressure off my shoulders if she is still free (she only left us a week ago) and of course the other staff will rally round too.
Actually I didn’t think things through quite this clearly all on my own. It took a calming telephone conversation with my Chair of trustees before I reached this more tranquil state. What will tomorrow bring?
I arrived at work about 8:30 to find our new Finance Officer already there. We wished each other “good morning” and I said I would see her shortly. About fifteen minutes later she came to see me and said she had spent the weekend thinking things through and had decided she did not want to accept the post at WCVS after all. She returned her keys and gave me an envelope with her resignation letter.
I asked what had made her take this decision and could we talk about it? She didn’t want to talk about it. And she wouldn’t reconsider. And she was sorry. And she was leaving. And she did.
To the back of her disappearing head, perhaps rather desperately, I said I'd leave things 24 hours in case she changed her mind.
This was not a good start to the week.
Back to Basis
Although nonplussed, I had to put this to the back of my mind and concentrated on the immediate need to complete my work on our Basis application. Much of my work over the weekend will be redundant if we lose our Finance Officer and will need to be re-written. As other people started arriving at the office I said nothing about the morning’s drama just in case our departing Finance Officer had second (or third?) thoughts.
From 10:00 I had a long series of telephone calls about Watford CVS’s IT needs and in the afternoon, I met with Anne and Vanessa to pass over the fruits of my weekend labours on our Basis application. I had to share with them the morning’s events - to alert them to the possible need to rewrite sections of the application. They were as surprised and disappointed as me.
Making plans
Later, I gave serious thought to our options. There were a few non-negotiable facts. First, I must give top priority to completing the Basis application. Nothing is more important and the deadline is only three weeks away.
I will then have to focus on completing the audit. At this point in time, it is not possible to get another accountant in place. So I will just have to sit down and work through each individual transaction and query myself. If I complete the Basis application by the end of July (which I must) then I will have two and a half weeks to focus on the audit. I can then go off on two weeks leave with a clear conscience and the accounts can be distributed well ahead of our 7 September AGM.
Another fact is that Maria Waszkis could take a lot of pressure off my shoulders if she is still free (she only left us a week ago) and of course the other staff will rally round too.
Actually I didn’t think things through quite this clearly all on my own. It took a calming telephone conversation with my Chair of trustees before I reached this more tranquil state. What will tomorrow bring?
Sunday, 8 July 2007
It was a beautiful morning. Seemingly for the first time in weeks, the sun was shining and the sky was clear. Naturally, Jackie and I spent the morning in the garden. Our Hydrangea is finally looking spectacular and light (our neighbour’s has been perfect for 6-8 weeks) and our Hebe hedge is a wonderful mixture of parchment white and powder blue. Less attractive was our ancient fir hedge that was giving the garden a rather depressing feel. It had to go.
After a brief rest to recover from these exertions, Jackie and I then did some planning for our forthcoming holiday. So many people this year opted to holiday in the UK, and so of course we’ve had the wettest summer for years.
The floods in the north and elsewhere seem awful. From the news reports, there doesn’t seem to be much “rallying around”. Communities don’t seem to organise themselves to help their weakest members. I don’t want to appear unkind to communities in distress, but most people interviewed in teh news don't seem to think beyond slating the Government and besieging the insurance companies. Perhaps there are plenty of good stories out there but the media just aren’t reporting them? I wonder what Watford’s response would be to a similar crisis?
In the afternoon, and evening, and into the wee small hours, I worked again on our BASIS application.
After a brief rest to recover from these exertions, Jackie and I then did some planning for our forthcoming holiday. So many people this year opted to holiday in the UK, and so of course we’ve had the wettest summer for years.
The floods in the north and elsewhere seem awful. From the news reports, there doesn’t seem to be much “rallying around”. Communities don’t seem to organise themselves to help their weakest members. I don’t want to appear unkind to communities in distress, but most people interviewed in teh news don't seem to think beyond slating the Government and besieging the insurance companies. Perhaps there are plenty of good stories out there but the media just aren’t reporting them? I wonder what Watford’s response would be to a similar crisis?
In the afternoon, and evening, and into the wee small hours, I worked again on our BASIS application.
Saturday, 7 June 2007
I devoted this morning to catching up on some sleep. So much needed and so refreshing.
And the afternoon (and evening) I spent working on our BASIS application. Slowly slowly it is starting to take shape.
Jackie encouraged me to sleep late and then supplied me with food and sustenance while I worked. Wonderful woman.
And the afternoon (and evening) I spent working on our BASIS application. Slowly slowly it is starting to take shape.
Jackie encouraged me to sleep late and then supplied me with food and sustenance while I worked. Wonderful woman.
Friday, 6 July 2007
For a month or more I have known that July will be a busy month. So it is proving. This has been an exhausting week and still I have not been able to devote sufficient time to our application for Basis funding. This does not auger well for a relaxing family weekend. Fortunately, Vanessa and Anne have done a brilliant job of reviewing my work to date and identifying errors and omissions; my work completing a first draft ought therefore to be correspondingly more easy. But nothing can actually make it a productive exercise (except of course in the very important sense of generating money).
There are many brain-numbing paper exercises involved in running a CVS. The most pleasant parts of the job relate to building contacts with people and working with networks. Today I had a call from a lady called Catherine who will soon be a Governor of the new Herts Partnership Trust for Mental Health. It was very useful to hear about emerging gaps in mental health provision, and opportunities for filling the gaps. Catherine suggested a meeting of local voluntary sector groups who might be interested and I was pleased to be able to say that we would try to help.
Elsewhere, our new Finance and Administration Officer seems to be getting to grips with things.
Recent reading (I know you're interested)
I finished The God Delusion. This was home ground for me. Generally speaking I think Richard Dawkins’s rudeness and aggression are exaggerated, although even his own mother would hesitate to call him “charming”. He does himself few favours, but he is quite capable of looking out for himself. And atheism will surely survive him. As will religion.
I then began reading the Centenary History of the St John’s Ambulance Brigade published sometime around 1980 (I forget exactly). This is a marvellous organisation, but an awful book. I gave up reading on p50 when I realised that the most plebeian character featured had been a Brigadier General. It had otherwise been a relentless tedium of Lords and Ladies and Princes, who simply willed things to happen and the ordinary little people somehow just knew what was expected of them.
Currently I am enjoying The Travels of Marco Polo.
There are many brain-numbing paper exercises involved in running a CVS. The most pleasant parts of the job relate to building contacts with people and working with networks. Today I had a call from a lady called Catherine who will soon be a Governor of the new Herts Partnership Trust for Mental Health. It was very useful to hear about emerging gaps in mental health provision, and opportunities for filling the gaps. Catherine suggested a meeting of local voluntary sector groups who might be interested and I was pleased to be able to say that we would try to help.
Elsewhere, our new Finance and Administration Officer seems to be getting to grips with things.
Recent reading (I know you're interested)
I finished The God Delusion. This was home ground for me. Generally speaking I think Richard Dawkins’s rudeness and aggression are exaggerated, although even his own mother would hesitate to call him “charming”. He does himself few favours, but he is quite capable of looking out for himself. And atheism will surely survive him. As will religion.
I then began reading the Centenary History of the St John’s Ambulance Brigade published sometime around 1980 (I forget exactly). This is a marvellous organisation, but an awful book. I gave up reading on p50 when I realised that the most plebeian character featured had been a Brigadier General. It had otherwise been a relentless tedium of Lords and Ladies and Princes, who simply willed things to happen and the ordinary little people somehow just knew what was expected of them.
Currently I am enjoying The Travels of Marco Polo.
Thursday, 5 July 2007
For the fourth time this week, Bobby came into work with me. I dropped him at the office and hurried off to the local Ramada Jarvis hotel for a Children’s Trust Partnership stakeholders event. I was only able to be there for the morning, but several things impressed me strongly.
From the presentations, the Watford Children’s Trust Partnership seems to be a model of inclusion, with a progressive outlook and a clear focus for its work. By contrast, the Three Rivers partnership seems to be struggling to get to grips with the agenda.
Watford Children’s Trust Partnership is headed up by Phil Willerton of YMCA (one of my trustees). I was generally impressed with the engagement of the voluntary sector, and particularly impressed to count four of my trustees amongst the participants.
The final strong impression is of a group of professionals almost unanimous in their belief that targets, assessments and league tables are destroying our education system.
Sadly, I did not find an answer to my one key question: how can WCVS meaningfully support the work of the eight Watford Children's Centres?
I left the event at lunchtime to collect Bobby and drive to Brighton to help him move out of his “digs”. Stopping for a break, the journey took less than two hours. We packed and sorted his stuff, and then left Brighton at 5:00 for the return journey. We arrived back at Watford at 9:00 pm and got home exhausted shortly after 10:00 pm.
From the presentations, the Watford Children’s Trust Partnership seems to be a model of inclusion, with a progressive outlook and a clear focus for its work. By contrast, the Three Rivers partnership seems to be struggling to get to grips with the agenda.
Watford Children’s Trust Partnership is headed up by Phil Willerton of YMCA (one of my trustees). I was generally impressed with the engagement of the voluntary sector, and particularly impressed to count four of my trustees amongst the participants.
The final strong impression is of a group of professionals almost unanimous in their belief that targets, assessments and league tables are destroying our education system.
Sadly, I did not find an answer to my one key question: how can WCVS meaningfully support the work of the eight Watford Children's Centres?
I left the event at lunchtime to collect Bobby and drive to Brighton to help him move out of his “digs”. Stopping for a break, the journey took less than two hours. We packed and sorted his stuff, and then left Brighton at 5:00 for the return journey. We arrived back at Watford at 9:00 pm and got home exhausted shortly after 10:00 pm.
Wednesday, 4 July 2007
Today’s Big Event was the evening’s meeting of Watford One World forum. I was concerned that attendance would be poor, mostly as neither Vanessa or I had an opportunity to telephone people and make personal contact. It turned out that my fears were well founded and we only had five people arrive for the meeting, alongside ten apologies. Quality not quantity: the reduced numbers allowed a much more detailed discussion of several thorny issues. Jay Gaglani makes an excellent chairperson and I am sure that the forum will soon be thriving.
After the meeting. Jay and I talked through the next steps before we finally left the office about 10:00.
Earlier in the day, I wrote a briefing note for my trustees updating them on our work here, and I also did some work sorting out our IiP programme.
Most helpfully, I met at length with our new Finance and Administration Officer to talk through some audit issues, and she again impressed me with how well she grasps things.
My son and step-son travelled in with me today and went off to do some spray painting at the skateboard park at the bottom of the High Street (where this sort of thing is allowed). I was very impressed by the results of their labours.
After the meeting. Jay and I talked through the next steps before we finally left the office about 10:00.
Earlier in the day, I wrote a briefing note for my trustees updating them on our work here, and I also did some work sorting out our IiP programme.
Most helpfully, I met at length with our new Finance and Administration Officer to talk through some audit issues, and she again impressed me with how well she grasps things.
My son and step-son travelled in with me today and went off to do some spray painting at the skateboard park at the bottom of the High Street (where this sort of thing is allowed). I was very impressed by the results of their labours.
Tuesday, 3 July 2007
Anne Boyd (our Funding Advisor) today ran a workshop at WBC to advise groups and individuals who are interested in applying to the Council’s one year grant programme. One of those attending was our own Maria Waszkis who is working to set up a much needed Watford association for Polish migrants. Another participant was my son, who is interested in doing some youth work based around graffiti art: all good experience for him.
I met Angela Runagall, who will be our IiP assessor. She seemed very pleasant, and we planned our assessment visit in a fortnight’s time.
At lunchtime, WCVS staff had an informal leaving lunch for Maria who has been wonderful as our temporary office administrator. Such events are always rather sad, but particularly so when the person departing is so popular and has so much to offer.
After this, I visited the YMCA to discuss procedures for checks with the Criminal Records Bureau. The YMCA are registered as an “umbrella body” with the CRB so it makes sense for us to do our checks (on staff and volunteers) via a local voluntary organisation rather than via the County Council in Hertford.
Angelo arrived at 3:00 and we sat down to talk about IT: there are so many needs, so many technologies, so many interdependencies, so many stakeholders and so many political considerations. Things are really very very complex. We talked with barely a break until about 7:00 when we agreed on the additional information that we need in order to take a decision.
Once home, I read through Farzana’s NVQ file: I am one of her "expert witnesses" and of course I am taking this responsibility very seriously.
I met Angela Runagall, who will be our IiP assessor. She seemed very pleasant, and we planned our assessment visit in a fortnight’s time.
At lunchtime, WCVS staff had an informal leaving lunch for Maria who has been wonderful as our temporary office administrator. Such events are always rather sad, but particularly so when the person departing is so popular and has so much to offer.
After this, I visited the YMCA to discuss procedures for checks with the Criminal Records Bureau. The YMCA are registered as an “umbrella body” with the CRB so it makes sense for us to do our checks (on staff and volunteers) via a local voluntary organisation rather than via the County Council in Hertford.
Angelo arrived at 3:00 and we sat down to talk about IT: there are so many needs, so many technologies, so many interdependencies, so many stakeholders and so many political considerations. Things are really very very complex. We talked with barely a break until about 7:00 when we agreed on the additional information that we need in order to take a decision.
Once home, I read through Farzana’s NVQ file: I am one of her "expert witnesses" and of course I am taking this responsibility very seriously.
Monday, 2 July 2007
Welcome
I started the morning greeting our new Finance and Administration Officer. She seems as friendly and dependable as she did at interview: she has already started getting to grips with the accounts, and will add wonderfully to the social mix of the office. We spent most of the afternoon together: I am confident that she is an excellent appointment and I greatly look forward to working with her.
Accommodation
In the morning, I met with representatives of Watford Borough Council about accommodation: WCVS will have to leave its current premises in the summer of 2008, 2009 or 2010. Everything was very cordial and we made some progress on defining WCVS’s needs. WBC are very supportive.
In part, this followed on from last week’s meeting on the needs of the local voluntary and community sector as a whole. Although the Borough is very supportive, their general approach seems to be that if a property isn’t being used by the Borough it should be sold off to the highest bidder. This “either / or" approach is at least simple and easy to understand. But it is not the most helpful. Nor does it follow current government guidance, and it also excludes many options that could bring great benefit to Watford (including greater economic benefit than simply selling to the highest bidder). It seems to me that a lot of discussions are needed on this.
Elsewhere
I had expected to spend the afternoon talking with Angelo to finalise some important IT decisions, but Angelo called to say he had car trouble. Instead, I wrote references for a few people, reviewed staff training to date, organised some meetings, caught up with some correspondence, made a few telephone calls …
WCVS had agreed to rent out one of our meeting rooms for the evening (7:00 to 9:00) and I had arranged for someone to work late to cover this. But they were unwell so Maria agreed to work late and I managed to get off home at the relatively civilized hour of 6:30. Maria called me later to say that no-one came anyway.
I started the morning greeting our new Finance and Administration Officer. She seems as friendly and dependable as she did at interview: she has already started getting to grips with the accounts, and will add wonderfully to the social mix of the office. We spent most of the afternoon together: I am confident that she is an excellent appointment and I greatly look forward to working with her.
Accommodation
In the morning, I met with representatives of Watford Borough Council about accommodation: WCVS will have to leave its current premises in the summer of 2008, 2009 or 2010. Everything was very cordial and we made some progress on defining WCVS’s needs. WBC are very supportive.
In part, this followed on from last week’s meeting on the needs of the local voluntary and community sector as a whole. Although the Borough is very supportive, their general approach seems to be that if a property isn’t being used by the Borough it should be sold off to the highest bidder. This “either / or" approach is at least simple and easy to understand. But it is not the most helpful. Nor does it follow current government guidance, and it also excludes many options that could bring great benefit to Watford (including greater economic benefit than simply selling to the highest bidder). It seems to me that a lot of discussions are needed on this.
Elsewhere
I had expected to spend the afternoon talking with Angelo to finalise some important IT decisions, but Angelo called to say he had car trouble. Instead, I wrote references for a few people, reviewed staff training to date, organised some meetings, caught up with some correspondence, made a few telephone calls …
WCVS had agreed to rent out one of our meeting rooms for the evening (7:00 to 9:00) and I had arranged for someone to work late to cover this. But they were unwell so Maria agreed to work late and I managed to get off home at the relatively civilized hour of 6:30. Maria called me later to say that no-one came anyway.
Saturday, 30 June 2007
Jackie and I took our granddaughter Bethany to see my sister Caroline. We visited Bedford and discovered that “old-style” county towns are very unwelcoming to wheelchairs - especially if you forget to take your “blue badge”. We were also served one of the worst meals I have ever encountered. Is Bedford always this hostile to strangers?
Friday, 29 June 2007
I began the day early and at 10:00 had a supervision meeting with my Chair Pam Handley. I got some good steers on ICT, fundraising, SORP and accounting, trusteeship, BASIS, employment law, and accommodation. At previous meetings, I’ve not really taken full advantage of Pam’s knowledge and experience; I think I am getting better.
In the afternoon, I met with Anne (Funding Advisor) and Vanessa (Development and Training Officer) to co-ordinate our work on BASIS. We reviewed progress to date and set out a schedule of future meetings that will hopefully keep us on track to submit before the end July deadline. I do hope none of us falls ill!
In the evening, I took Jackie to Letchworth so she could buy my Mum's old car. Mum now has a lovely sleek Smart car and Jackie has a beautiful Suzuki Wagon. I still have a Skoda.
In the afternoon, I met with Anne (Funding Advisor) and Vanessa (Development and Training Officer) to co-ordinate our work on BASIS. We reviewed progress to date and set out a schedule of future meetings that will hopefully keep us on track to submit before the end July deadline. I do hope none of us falls ill!
In the evening, I took Jackie to Letchworth so she could buy my Mum's old car. Mum now has a lovely sleek Smart car and Jackie has a beautiful Suzuki Wagon. I still have a Skoda.
Thursday, 28 June 2007
Today I stayed at home catching up on paperwork while my car had a second chance to pass its MOT. Actually I spent most of the morning on the telephone. And I devoted the entire evening to reading up on Community Development guidance and theory. Interesting stuff.
Wednesday, 27 June 2007
By the time I arrived at the office, Maria had already completed a draft minute of yesterday afternoon’s meeting. Quick work!
The Big News stories today were Tony Blair’s retirement and floods across the north of England. I do wonder about posterity’s judgement on Tony Blair, but I don’t think the two stories are directly connected.
Two months ago, I was asked if I would give a briefing to Watford Borough Council’s grants officers on the county-wide and regional structure of the voluntary sector. Of course I agreed, and we were also joined by Leslie Billy (of the Guideposts Trust) and Raj Pandya (of the Hindu Association) who are both newly elected officers of the Watford One World forum. We were also joined by Maria and Anne of WCVS. I think it went well adn there were some good discussions. At least no-one fell asleep and no-one threw anything.
More on data
I did much further research on databases, including several long discussions and some web research. I will talk things over with Pam on Friday. A good Chairperson is so important to any charity, and I feel absolutely blessed to have a smart chairperson I can talk things over with. When Sir Alan Sugar coined the phrase “drop dead shrewd”, he must have had Pam Handley in mind.
The Big News stories today were Tony Blair’s retirement and floods across the north of England. I do wonder about posterity’s judgement on Tony Blair, but I don’t think the two stories are directly connected.
Two months ago, I was asked if I would give a briefing to Watford Borough Council’s grants officers on the county-wide and regional structure of the voluntary sector. Of course I agreed, and we were also joined by Leslie Billy (of the Guideposts Trust) and Raj Pandya (of the Hindu Association) who are both newly elected officers of the Watford One World forum. We were also joined by Maria and Anne of WCVS. I think it went well adn there were some good discussions. At least no-one fell asleep and no-one threw anything.
More on data
I did much further research on databases, including several long discussions and some web research. I will talk things over with Pam on Friday. A good Chairperson is so important to any charity, and I feel absolutely blessed to have a smart chairperson I can talk things over with. When Sir Alan Sugar coined the phrase “drop dead shrewd”, he must have had Pam Handley in mind.
Tuesday, 26 June 2007
Having (temporarily at least) passed on primary responsibility for our BASIS business plan, I enjoyed a peaceful night’s sleep for the first time in a week.
At WCVS, the big event of the day was the afternoon meeting to discuss the accommodation needs of Watford’s voluntary sector. There is at least £83m of public money available over the next few years to help voluntary groups acquire property and bring it back into public use. And the Quirk Report puts pressure on local authorities to think more strategically about property management, and to engage with the voluntary sector.
And of course the onus is always on the vountary sector to take the initiative, so I was delighted that so many groups seem prepared to do so: Guideposts Trust, Watford Asian Community Care, Newton Price Centre, Mencap, the Muslim Community Project, NYSA / WRAP, YMCA, the Le Marie Centre, West Watford Community Association, Watford Credit Union, Signposts, Watford Women Centre, Watford Rape Crisis and Watford CAB.
There was one particularly interesting discussion about the exact meaning of the term “community purpose” which features in many planning consents. Several people felt that this phase was interpreted too broadly to include religious purposes, when clearly it ought to pertain to facilities and activities open to the whole community.
At the end of the meeting, after much useful discussion, it was agreed to convene a small working group to lead on the development of a proper strategy on the accommodation needs of the local voluntary sector. Today’s meeting was exactly what the CVS ought to be doing, and if the focus and enthusiasm are maintained, there is so much that the voluntary sector can achieve.
At WCVS, the big event of the day was the afternoon meeting to discuss the accommodation needs of Watford’s voluntary sector. There is at least £83m of public money available over the next few years to help voluntary groups acquire property and bring it back into public use. And the Quirk Report puts pressure on local authorities to think more strategically about property management, and to engage with the voluntary sector.
And of course the onus is always on the vountary sector to take the initiative, so I was delighted that so many groups seem prepared to do so: Guideposts Trust, Watford Asian Community Care, Newton Price Centre, Mencap, the Muslim Community Project, NYSA / WRAP, YMCA, the Le Marie Centre, West Watford Community Association, Watford Credit Union, Signposts, Watford Women Centre, Watford Rape Crisis and Watford CAB.
There was one particularly interesting discussion about the exact meaning of the term “community purpose” which features in many planning consents. Several people felt that this phase was interpreted too broadly to include religious purposes, when clearly it ought to pertain to facilities and activities open to the whole community.
At the end of the meeting, after much useful discussion, it was agreed to convene a small working group to lead on the development of a proper strategy on the accommodation needs of the local voluntary sector. Today’s meeting was exactly what the CVS ought to be doing, and if the focus and enthusiasm are maintained, there is so much that the voluntary sector can achieve.
Monday, 25 June 2007
Education, Education, Education
We long ago moved away from Education for its own sake. Briefly, we had Education to provide a skilled workforce - which at least had the benefit of a brutal economic logic. Now we have Education whose sole purpose is to help the government meet its targets. Students too are treated as mere exam fodder. It might be funny if it weren’t so expensive, pointless and really quite sinister.
This morning, I met with Louise Thurston of West Herts College to discuss ways in which the College and CVS might work together. We were joined by Vanessa Levy (our Development and Training Officer) and by Mary Green of Three Rivers CVS.
Although we are all interested in the subject of training, it is hard to find secure grounds for co-operation between us. CVSs want to secure appropriate affordable training for our member organisations. The training needs of voluntary organisations are very precise, and of course few charities have budgets to cover training costs. The government sees no reason why it should pay to train the paid workforce at MegaCorp Capitalist Inc - or the volunteer workforce at a neighbourhood trust. To the government, there is no real distinction between the two.
The College’s agenda is determined by its funding arrangements with the LSC, who take their lead from the governmant, whose focus is those “without a level two qualification”. In my personal experience, many of those without a level two qualification are perfectly happy and just want to be left alone. Few want to be conscripted onto courses to meet some political target.
For Louise Thurston, genuinely committed to the local community, it must be very hard to make any progress through this policy madness. Whichever way we turned, there was another barrier in our way. But we have at least begun a dialogue and with goodwill and good fortune we will find a way.
After Louise left, I talked through our autumn training programme with Vanessa: she is consulting local groups on their training needs and will soon convene a meeting of the Voluntary Sector Training Network to examine the results of this consultation. All very good. But where will the funding come from?
Back to BASIS
In the afternoon, I met again with Vanessa and with Anne (our Funding Advisor) to talk through our second stage application for BASIS funding. It was a good discussion and I have now left Anne and Vanessa to review and edit my work prior to a further meeting at the end of the week.
Databases
I also spent time with Sha-Lee (our data worker) who has now prepared a file to import our contact data into Volbase. Sha-Lee and I talked through the exercise and our options. In the evening, I stayed late at the office re-running this conversation and ruminating on our database needs.
All other CVSs in Hertfordshire are now using Volbase, and Volbase is perfectly ok. But it lacks the intuitive elegance that software ought to possess: it doesn’t excite me. And I worry about the training needs that it will create for WCVS. Moreover, WCVS already uses Outlook and V-base, and I still can't understand what Volbase adds to this mix. And are our fellow CVSs clear why they are using Volbase and where it might lead? No. Is there a thought-through strategy in place? No.
For six months,. WCVS has been on the verge of implementing Volbase. We have been delayed by staff changes and staff absences and occasionally by mere prevarication. But we are now clearly standing at the crossroads and we must take a decision. I know what my decision would be if it were entirely down to the needs of WCVS. But there are also other things to think through.
We long ago moved away from Education for its own sake. Briefly, we had Education to provide a skilled workforce - which at least had the benefit of a brutal economic logic. Now we have Education whose sole purpose is to help the government meet its targets. Students too are treated as mere exam fodder. It might be funny if it weren’t so expensive, pointless and really quite sinister.
This morning, I met with Louise Thurston of West Herts College to discuss ways in which the College and CVS might work together. We were joined by Vanessa Levy (our Development and Training Officer) and by Mary Green of Three Rivers CVS.
Although we are all interested in the subject of training, it is hard to find secure grounds for co-operation between us. CVSs want to secure appropriate affordable training for our member organisations. The training needs of voluntary organisations are very precise, and of course few charities have budgets to cover training costs. The government sees no reason why it should pay to train the paid workforce at MegaCorp Capitalist Inc - or the volunteer workforce at a neighbourhood trust. To the government, there is no real distinction between the two.
The College’s agenda is determined by its funding arrangements with the LSC, who take their lead from the governmant, whose focus is those “without a level two qualification”. In my personal experience, many of those without a level two qualification are perfectly happy and just want to be left alone. Few want to be conscripted onto courses to meet some political target.
For Louise Thurston, genuinely committed to the local community, it must be very hard to make any progress through this policy madness. Whichever way we turned, there was another barrier in our way. But we have at least begun a dialogue and with goodwill and good fortune we will find a way.
After Louise left, I talked through our autumn training programme with Vanessa: she is consulting local groups on their training needs and will soon convene a meeting of the Voluntary Sector Training Network to examine the results of this consultation. All very good. But where will the funding come from?
Back to BASIS
In the afternoon, I met again with Vanessa and with Anne (our Funding Advisor) to talk through our second stage application for BASIS funding. It was a good discussion and I have now left Anne and Vanessa to review and edit my work prior to a further meeting at the end of the week.
Databases
I also spent time with Sha-Lee (our data worker) who has now prepared a file to import our contact data into Volbase. Sha-Lee and I talked through the exercise and our options. In the evening, I stayed late at the office re-running this conversation and ruminating on our database needs.
All other CVSs in Hertfordshire are now using Volbase, and Volbase is perfectly ok. But it lacks the intuitive elegance that software ought to possess: it doesn’t excite me. And I worry about the training needs that it will create for WCVS. Moreover, WCVS already uses Outlook and V-base, and I still can't understand what Volbase adds to this mix. And are our fellow CVSs clear why they are using Volbase and where it might lead? No. Is there a thought-through strategy in place? No.
For six months,. WCVS has been on the verge of implementing Volbase. We have been delayed by staff changes and staff absences and occasionally by mere prevarication. But we are now clearly standing at the crossroads and we must take a decision. I know what my decision would be if it were entirely down to the needs of WCVS. But there are also other things to think through.
Sunday, 24 June 2007
After enjoying a long lazy morning, I turned again in the afternoon to our business plan for BASIS. I worked steadily from 3:00 pm through to about 11:00 pm and finally felt I had broken the back of this hideous tedious exercise. There is still a vast amount of work to be done, but at least I have managed to produce a rough first draft of the main body of the text. I hope.
Meanwhile, Gordon Brown was being crowned as leader of the Labour Party and Harriet Harman was squeaking home as Deputy Leader. Despite this excitement, sleep should have been easy; but my “frozen shoulder” was playing up again badly so I sat downstairs with Aged Ken and started reading Richard Dawkins’s The God Delusion.
Meanwhile, Gordon Brown was being crowned as leader of the Labour Party and Harriet Harman was squeaking home as Deputy Leader. Despite this excitement, sleep should have been easy; but my “frozen shoulder” was playing up again badly so I sat downstairs with Aged Ken and started reading Richard Dawkins’s The God Delusion.
Saturday, 23 June 2007
Today we were to host a small garden party for friends and family. But there has been heavy rain for several days. Members of the extended Jones family in Wales and the north of England called earlier in the week to offer their apologies. This morning it was still raining heavily if intermittently, so despite the hope offered by occasional bursts of sunshine, Jackie and I decided to cancel the garden party. Regardless of this, my Mum came to visit and the boys did manage to cook an edible BBQ sheltering under the umbrella from cloudbursts. We sat in the new pergola also under umbrellas and enjoyed each others company and conversation.
Latest reading
I finished Church and Parish by the West Country historian J H Bettey – a wonderfully detailed and readable introduction to 1,000 years of history including so much I simply didn’t know - or had previously misunderstood. This book is a great introduction to its subject and so much better than the frankly dull Observer Book of Church Architecture.
I have also skimmed through The Guardian publications Notes and Queries. This was really quite dull too: there is nothing so unedifying as Guardian readers among their own kind in full rant.
Unless of course it is the sight of Europe's political leaders smugly celebrating a new treaty purposefully designed to by-pass the democratic voice of the European people. Why are Europe's instincts so brazenly and arrogantly anti-democratic?
Latest reading
I finished Church and Parish by the West Country historian J H Bettey – a wonderfully detailed and readable introduction to 1,000 years of history including so much I simply didn’t know - or had previously misunderstood. This book is a great introduction to its subject and so much better than the frankly dull Observer Book of Church Architecture.
I have also skimmed through The Guardian publications Notes and Queries. This was really quite dull too: there is nothing so unedifying as Guardian readers among their own kind in full rant.
Unless of course it is the sight of Europe's political leaders smugly celebrating a new treaty purposefully designed to by-pass the democratic voice of the European people. Why are Europe's instincts so brazenly and arrogantly anti-democratic?
Friday, 22 June 2007
I wrestled through the morning with our BASIS business plan and I am just beginning to dare to hope that the end might soon be in sight. In the afternoon, I took my car for its MOT and while waiting I read the Quirk Report on community ownership of local authority assets. Such fun.
Then I drove into Watford with Jackie for the opening of Watford Museum’s exhibition commemorating the bicentenary of the Abolition of the Slave Trade.
After the exhibition, Jackie and I wondered along Watford High Street looking for somewhere to eat. It was about 7:30 PM. We wondered the entire length of the High Street and back and found nothing that might attract us. Everywhere was brash, usually with “bouncers” on the door and nearly always with young people gathering outside in loud groups. I am sure all the young people were really just friendly big pussy cats. But they were noisome. I wanted somewhere quiet and there simply wasn't anywhere so after forty fruitless minutes we headed off and soon found a quite acceptable Chinese restaurant in north Watford.
In this restaurant, I ordered Green Tea and the waitress heard Cream Tea - which actually would have been very welcome.
Then I drove into Watford with Jackie for the opening of Watford Museum’s exhibition commemorating the bicentenary of the Abolition of the Slave Trade.
After the exhibition, Jackie and I wondered along Watford High Street looking for somewhere to eat. It was about 7:30 PM. We wondered the entire length of the High Street and back and found nothing that might attract us. Everywhere was brash, usually with “bouncers” on the door and nearly always with young people gathering outside in loud groups. I am sure all the young people were really just friendly big pussy cats. But they were noisome. I wanted somewhere quiet and there simply wasn't anywhere so after forty fruitless minutes we headed off and soon found a quite acceptable Chinese restaurant in north Watford.
In this restaurant, I ordered Green Tea and the waitress heard Cream Tea - which actually would have been very welcome.
Thursday, 21 June 2007
I spent the morning at the office catching up on correspondence and replying to twenty or so of the more pressing e-mails. Most importantly, I decided that I cannot afford to devote much time next week to our audit, so this will largely have to wait until the week after when Stella (our new Finance and Administration Officer) ought to have started! I also had another very interesting talk with Maria (our temporary Office Administrator) about the need for a Polish Association in Watford.
In the afternoon, I travelled to Stevenage to meet with Paul Ruskin who has been commissioned to help draft the IT strategy for the Hertfordshire Infrastructure Consortium. Paul says he knows what he does best (“talking to people and pulling stuff together”) and he really does seem to do it very well. This exercise is critical as so much of Watford CVS’s own work will need to dovetail in with this HIC initiative.
In the afternoon, I travelled to Stevenage to meet with Paul Ruskin who has been commissioned to help draft the IT strategy for the Hertfordshire Infrastructure Consortium. Paul says he knows what he does best (“talking to people and pulling stuff together”) and he really does seem to do it very well. This exercise is critical as so much of Watford CVS’s own work will need to dovetail in with this HIC initiative.
Wednesday, 20 June 2007
I spent another long day Home Alone writing our business plan for our funding application to BASIS. It is still infuriatingly hard: is this just a very badly thought-out exercise or am I just "a bit thick"? I am beginning to wonder!
Tuesday, 19 June 2007
I set aside today to work form home on our second stage application for BASIS funding. But I spend the first 2-3 hours on the telephone chasing up a number of different projects. Only at lunchtime did I really manage to focus on the draft business plan BASIS. This has to be in an exact format. I think I’ve completed one section, only to find that my text actually applies better to a different section, and every single change requires numerous other consequential changes throughout the document.
It is very difficult: wading through treacle? chasing rainbows? knitting with cobwebs? Metaphors fail me.
It is very difficult: wading through treacle? chasing rainbows? knitting with cobwebs? Metaphors fail me.
Monday, 18 June 2007
I began the day meeting with a Watford Borough Council officer about a proposed change in the way the Council will assess discretionary rates relief for charities. In the past, this has been done entirely separately from decisions on grant-giving. They now propose to improve the exchange of information between different departments and want to know if they need to consult on this under Compact arrangements. I receive assurances that the criteria for relief I wont change and the method of calculation wont change, and so advice that I can’t see that any consultation is necessary. We agree that I will flag up the proposal at next week’s meeting on accommodation issues.
Otherwise, Vanessa and I talked about the training needs assessment, I worked with Maria on finalising some press releases, reviewed minutes of recent HIC and Compact meetings, and tried to clear the decks as I will spend the best part of the rest of the week working form home on our second stage BASIS application.
Otherwise, Vanessa and I talked about the training needs assessment, I worked with Maria on finalising some press releases, reviewed minutes of recent HIC and Compact meetings, and tried to clear the decks as I will spend the best part of the rest of the week working form home on our second stage BASIS application.
Sunday, 17 June 2007
The rain had passed over and I spent a long day in the garden building a pergola. I hadn’t bought a kit (just lots of wood and screws) and I was pretty much making up the design as I went along. After tightening the fortieth screw above my head, I felt a sharp twinge in my right elbow and I feared I’d never play the piano again, but the pain subsided and I was soon back at work. I must buy an electric screwdriver! Fortunately, Jackie took pity on me and helped out so by about 7:00 pm we had a nice new pergola.
It was a very melancholy Fathers' Day. My own dear old Dad died earlier this year. And my son was busy being a teenager in Brighton. And my daughter was with her Mum. Jackie's son Bryan bought me a large Toblerone - just what I bought for my Dad every year for about 30 years. Did he know?
It was a very melancholy Fathers' Day. My own dear old Dad died earlier this year. And my son was busy being a teenager in Brighton. And my daughter was with her Mum. Jackie's son Bryan bought me a large Toblerone - just what I bought for my Dad every year for about 30 years. Did he know?
Saturday, 16 June 2007
I had intended to spend today erecting a pergola in the garden, but the heavens opened and the rain poured down. Instead, I spent the day writing WCVS’s BASIS application (or at least part of it) while Jackie sat beside me quilting: a picture of domestic bliss. I finally think I am starting to get on top of this BASIS application!
In the evening, Jackie and I ate out and then enjoyed the Tiswas 25th reunion on television; sometimes I can be very childish.
In the evening, Jackie and I ate out and then enjoyed the Tiswas 25th reunion on television; sometimes I can be very childish.
Friday, 15 June 2007
I arrived at work about 9:30 after first supervising the installation of some new fence panels at home. In the mornign I had a long discussion with Maria (our temp administrative officer) about the needs of the new Polish community in Watford. Maria also set up a new on-line photo album for Watford CVS.
In the afternoon, I had a review meeting with our Connexions PAs and with Louise Jones of Connexions: everything seems to be going pretty well, although the schools aren’t always able to support our PAs as I would like.
I left work early to get home and continue working on the BASIS bid.
In the afternoon, I had a review meeting with our Connexions PAs and with Louise Jones of Connexions: everything seems to be going pretty well, although the schools aren’t always able to support our PAs as I would like.
I left work early to get home and continue working on the BASIS bid.
Thursday, 14 June 2007
In the morning I wrote to HCC about yesterday’s Compact meeting; hopefully a way forward will be agreed soon. I also discussed Compact issues with several colleagues, talked to Vanessa about WCVS representation on a WBC steering group, made more progress on a WCVS services brochure, and responded to a Herts PCT request that I chair a public meeting on the future of hospital and clinical services in Hertfordshire.
Mostly, I worked on our BASIS application. There is still a lot of work to do and time is getting short.
I finally left the office about 7:00 pm and visited my Vice Chair Althea MacLean OBE to get some cheques countersigned. From Althea’s I dropped by for a meeting with our auditor. Our audit papers were originally collected on Tuesday, 5 June. Then yesterday I got the message that the accounts backup file was corrupt and so work hasn’t begun yet. I sent another backup (which was fine) and this evening met Gary Howard and talked through the audit timetable. Gary is away all next week so realistically work proper wont now start until 25 June. Rather than respond to queries myself and collate any additional information required, I intend to save up any queries and pass these to Stella when she starts work on 2 July. This will make things very tight for our trustees meeting on 19 July but it still ought to be possible to present draft accounts. Far more importantly, it will allow me to concentrate far better on the BASIS application!
Mostly, I worked on our BASIS application. There is still a lot of work to do and time is getting short.
I finally left the office about 7:00 pm and visited my Vice Chair Althea MacLean OBE to get some cheques countersigned. From Althea’s I dropped by for a meeting with our auditor. Our audit papers were originally collected on Tuesday, 5 June. Then yesterday I got the message that the accounts backup file was corrupt and so work hasn’t begun yet. I sent another backup (which was fine) and this evening met Gary Howard and talked through the audit timetable. Gary is away all next week so realistically work proper wont now start until 25 June. Rather than respond to queries myself and collate any additional information required, I intend to save up any queries and pass these to Stella when she starts work on 2 July. This will make things very tight for our trustees meeting on 19 July but it still ought to be possible to present draft accounts. Far more importantly, it will allow me to concentrate far better on the BASIS application!
Wednesday, 13 June 2007
This morning, I met briefly with Stella who will soon be our new Finance and Administration Officer. Otherwise, I spent the best part of the morning and early evening working on WCVS’s accounts. So tedious!
Hertfordshire Compact Group
Today’s Herts Compact Group meeting considered very carefully how it can best promote - and secure the future of - the Compact in Hertfordshire. At present, there is a Hertfordshire-wide Compact and then eight of the ten District Councils also have local Compacts. Each individual Compact then includes up to six separate Codes of Practice, so Hertfordshire could potentially have 66 different Compact Codes of Practice.
There were several component parts of the discussion.
First, for months there have been concerns about HCC’s decisions on funding for Home-Start projects in Hertfordshire: were the decisions “Compact compliant”? HCC claims they were, while others take a different view. It’s not a healthy situation and the Herts Compact Group simply have to encourage the two sides to talk. But at a higher level the Group must ask what it can do so in future it is not possible for such opposing views to be taken of the same Compact working practices?
Secondly, our representative from the Learning and Skills Council reported that county-LSC offices had been instructed that they should not sign any more local Codes of Practice as LSC is already committed to the national Codes of Practice. This does not seem an unreasonable position. Previously, Hertfordshire’s Primary Care Trusts each worked on local Compact groups. These PCTs have now been effectively merged and will in future doubtless expect to sign up only to the County-wide Codes of Practice. The Police and Fire Service will also not want to negotiate and sign-up for 66 Codes of Practice when five or six will do. So what future for local Compacts?
Thirdly, in some areas of Hertfordshire there is no Compact at all. This is a major problem. Surely the efforts of the Herts Compact Group should be directed toward addressing this problem? But instead, we could so easily get diverted by the need to update and renegotiate the thirty or more Codes of Practice that are already in existence in different parts of Hertfordshire. How much work will this take? And what value will it add?
No-one had any quick answers; but I do think we were getting to the heart of a very difficult area.
Back home
In the evening, I spoke with my long-standing friend Jane and we discussed the progress we are each making on the BASIS applications we are making for our respective organisations. I got some useful pointers. I doubt that Jane found my comments as helpful.
Hertfordshire Compact Group
Today’s Herts Compact Group meeting considered very carefully how it can best promote - and secure the future of - the Compact in Hertfordshire. At present, there is a Hertfordshire-wide Compact and then eight of the ten District Councils also have local Compacts. Each individual Compact then includes up to six separate Codes of Practice, so Hertfordshire could potentially have 66 different Compact Codes of Practice.
There were several component parts of the discussion.
First, for months there have been concerns about HCC’s decisions on funding for Home-Start projects in Hertfordshire: were the decisions “Compact compliant”? HCC claims they were, while others take a different view. It’s not a healthy situation and the Herts Compact Group simply have to encourage the two sides to talk. But at a higher level the Group must ask what it can do so in future it is not possible for such opposing views to be taken of the same Compact working practices?
Secondly, our representative from the Learning and Skills Council reported that county-LSC offices had been instructed that they should not sign any more local Codes of Practice as LSC is already committed to the national Codes of Practice. This does not seem an unreasonable position. Previously, Hertfordshire’s Primary Care Trusts each worked on local Compact groups. These PCTs have now been effectively merged and will in future doubtless expect to sign up only to the County-wide Codes of Practice. The Police and Fire Service will also not want to negotiate and sign-up for 66 Codes of Practice when five or six will do. So what future for local Compacts?
Thirdly, in some areas of Hertfordshire there is no Compact at all. This is a major problem. Surely the efforts of the Herts Compact Group should be directed toward addressing this problem? But instead, we could so easily get diverted by the need to update and renegotiate the thirty or more Codes of Practice that are already in existence in different parts of Hertfordshire. How much work will this take? And what value will it add?
No-one had any quick answers; but I do think we were getting to the heart of a very difficult area.
Back home
In the evening, I spoke with my long-standing friend Jane and we discussed the progress we are each making on the BASIS applications we are making for our respective organisations. I got some useful pointers. I doubt that Jane found my comments as helpful.
Tuesday, 12 June 2007
As I’ve anticipated for some time, my workload is beginning to pile up and I am having to shift up a gear.
Today I went to the Valley School in Stevenage for the Hertfordshire Infrastructure Consortium. First, there was the meeting itself and confirmation that the bulk of the coming development work will be undertaken by a small “steering group”. Then we had a presentation from Paul Ruskin of Cambridgeshire Circuit Riders on this IT project and its possible application to Hertfordshire. Then after lunch, Paul stayed to help us begin discussing a proper IT strategy for infrastructure groups in Hertfordshire. All very useful.
At the end, I found the carpark jammed with cars and mini-buses arriving to collect children from school. Realising I was otherwise stuck for 20-30 minutes, I decided to leave quickly between two “No Exit” signs. I arrived home around 4:00 pm and spent the best part of the evening getting to grips with WCVS’s second stage application for BASIS funding.
Today I went to the Valley School in Stevenage for the Hertfordshire Infrastructure Consortium. First, there was the meeting itself and confirmation that the bulk of the coming development work will be undertaken by a small “steering group”. Then we had a presentation from Paul Ruskin of Cambridgeshire Circuit Riders on this IT project and its possible application to Hertfordshire. Then after lunch, Paul stayed to help us begin discussing a proper IT strategy for infrastructure groups in Hertfordshire. All very useful.
At the end, I found the carpark jammed with cars and mini-buses arriving to collect children from school. Realising I was otherwise stuck for 20-30 minutes, I decided to leave quickly between two “No Exit” signs. I arrived home around 4:00 pm and spent the best part of the evening getting to grips with WCVS’s second stage application for BASIS funding.
Monday, 11 June 2007
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.
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.
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