New Year finds me clear headed in Cornwall. Last night we were invited by my friend Emily Scott to her fabulous restaurant, The Harbour, in Port Isaac. Emily is a stunning chef and last night she really treated us. We had red onion jam and goats cheese tartlets, locally caught crab in a light salad, monkfish in pancetta with lemon mash and pannacotta and raspberries followd by chocolate truffles, yum! The village gathered outside the restaurant which is at the head of the slipway for some super fireworks and a male (nude) swimmming race across the harbour which the health and safety police have not been able to put a stop to, yet. This morning I have awoken to views of the surrounding countryside, including an unbelievably large cow.
Scanning Twitter I see many are posting their predictions for 2011, whilst I'm tempted to join in, I think it will be a bugger of a year with much rear guard action and can only advise we keep our spirits and left hook up, and not pull our punches as my dear old Dad used to say.
I was over the moon yesterday when the announcement came that my friend Stephen Bubb, ceo of acevo, was to be made Sir Stephen. As Vice Chair of acevo I have had the chance to work closely with Stephen who is a very rare bird indeed. Whilst he cultivates a persona based on hedonism he is, in fact, like a swan, frantically paddling under the water to promote and these days, preserve all that is best in the third sector. I have always admired his approach which, if you are a fan or irony, which I am, is self deprecating. In any event, Stephen is bloody effective and a good laugh, so well done to you dear and the team at acevo who, like my SEL lovelies, work like stink for the sector!
Other honours included OBE's for SEL board member Gordon D'Silva, founder and leading light behind the ground breaking Training for Life, and Steve Wyler, Director at our old friends the Development Trust Association. It will be organisations like Training for Life, the DTA and Community Links, featured in a shattering article by Patrick Butler in last weeks Guardian, that will be picking up the pieces of the cuts. I could not believe my eyes when I read the piece, much of it in the words of David Robinson, one of the most respected leaders of community work anywhere in the world. He told us that this beacon of good practice, much needed in such trying times, was itself facing closure. That can only mean one thing, no institution, group or icon is above the waterline.
So, when the going gets tough the tough get going? Well yes, but many of us don't work for the tough, we represent society's least heard, least valued and most vulnerable, so that isn't terribly helpful. We shall all need this break, like boxers we have gone to our corners for some refreshment, and when the bell sounds we will have to come out fighting!
Showing posts with label Training for Life. Show all posts
Showing posts with label Training for Life. Show all posts
Saturday, 1 January 2011
Tuesday, 16 November 2010
Having a bad speech day
I went to the Guardian Social Enterprise Conference today which was really good, except I was speaking and was not so good. Classic school girl error, I wanted to convey a complex argument for the ways in which social enterprises need to be flexible in order to shape up to public service delivery, I used fun (?!) slides that in themselves required a little context, and I had a rigorous 5 minutes to do it and so inevitably ran out of time. Muppet. I am particularly disappointed because as the only woman speaking in any of the plenaries or key notes I wanted to give the boys a run for their money. Sorry girls next time I promise to do better. At least the podcast I did with Rodney Schwartz of Clearly So and Gordon d'Silva of Training for Life, with a contribution from Dia Powell at HCT, all SEL members, went well. We had a good rapport and I think got on to some chewy issues quite quickly which between us we were able to deal with. The difference of opinion gave issues a degree of balance.
Someone who had more to say was Secretary of State, Andrew Lansley who announced a new wave of Right to Request in the department of health, I cheered for those spinning out and those who want to and in particular our friends at Local Partnerships helping them to do so. He also threw in there was to be a new £4.5 million in the DoH's fund to enable social enterprise, investment that is as rare as hen's teeth these days. He told of a potential £1 billion of contracts open to social enterprises and to me seemed very well briefed and committed to the idea of social enterprise delivering health services.
The dishy Nick Hurd also spoke and gave a sensitive speech about there being very little anyone could disagree with in the concept of social enterprise and to see growth he recognised the need for increased investment and engagement with intermediaries. In fact he talked of the Big Society Bank only dealing with intermediaries which was clever I thought. I look forward to seeing how that pans out. I asked him a question I wanted to ask when I saw him at the excellent Good Deals conference the day before, which was wether he saw the social investment market being able to invest in public sector spin offs. I was thinking of the local authorities we are working with and wondering if they would be looking to social investment bankers or the high street? He thought they would be able to invest but perhaps it would be mixed. I agree but the people we are working with will need their money very soon and I'm not sure what and indeed how much will be available to them from social business, nor sadly how social enterprise friendly our friends for the high street will be feeling. We shall see.
SEL's lovely Michelle Richmond was brilliant in one of the breakouts on social impact, I was very proud; Ali Wilson of the School of Social Entrepreneurs was wonderfully phlegmatic when he asked us to spare a thought for the poor old entrepreneur who would need support and company on their difficult journey from grant or zero income to sustainability. In fact come to think of it there was a general dissing of grants which I think is sad. So many very good social enterprises start that way, like SEL member Colin Crooks at Greenworks who started with a grant only to become a profitable multi million pound business, recycling office furniture, providing employment to ex-offenders and getting nothing from from the state to do it. A process that took time.
One of things we struggle with in our world is celebrating one form of entrepreneurialism without criticising others.
There were lots of other great contributions too, and at both conferences it was good to talk to members and colleagues about what they're up to. All in all, and despite getting no signal to tweet and fluffing my speech, it was a good day.
Someone who had more to say was Secretary of State, Andrew Lansley who announced a new wave of Right to Request in the department of health, I cheered for those spinning out and those who want to and in particular our friends at Local Partnerships helping them to do so. He also threw in there was to be a new £4.5 million in the DoH's fund to enable social enterprise, investment that is as rare as hen's teeth these days. He told of a potential £1 billion of contracts open to social enterprises and to me seemed very well briefed and committed to the idea of social enterprise delivering health services.
The dishy Nick Hurd also spoke and gave a sensitive speech about there being very little anyone could disagree with in the concept of social enterprise and to see growth he recognised the need for increased investment and engagement with intermediaries. In fact he talked of the Big Society Bank only dealing with intermediaries which was clever I thought. I look forward to seeing how that pans out. I asked him a question I wanted to ask when I saw him at the excellent Good Deals conference the day before, which was wether he saw the social investment market being able to invest in public sector spin offs. I was thinking of the local authorities we are working with and wondering if they would be looking to social investment bankers or the high street? He thought they would be able to invest but perhaps it would be mixed. I agree but the people we are working with will need their money very soon and I'm not sure what and indeed how much will be available to them from social business, nor sadly how social enterprise friendly our friends for the high street will be feeling. We shall see.
SEL's lovely Michelle Richmond was brilliant in one of the breakouts on social impact, I was very proud; Ali Wilson of the School of Social Entrepreneurs was wonderfully phlegmatic when he asked us to spare a thought for the poor old entrepreneur who would need support and company on their difficult journey from grant or zero income to sustainability. In fact come to think of it there was a general dissing of grants which I think is sad. So many very good social enterprises start that way, like SEL member Colin Crooks at Greenworks who started with a grant only to become a profitable multi million pound business, recycling office furniture, providing employment to ex-offenders and getting nothing from from the state to do it. A process that took time.
One of things we struggle with in our world is celebrating one form of entrepreneurialism without criticising others.
There were lots of other great contributions too, and at both conferences it was good to talk to members and colleagues about what they're up to. All in all, and despite getting no signal to tweet and fluffing my speech, it was a good day.
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