We had a great event today focussing on the shifting sands of London's political landscape. It was delivered by Robert Gordon Clark, ceo at the London Communications Agency, and was thrilling. I was supposed to follow him and when it was my turn I was disappointed as I could have listened to his pearls all day. If you weren't there we captured the presentation on a web cam and you will be able to catch it on our website in the next few days. Our hosts were London Early Years Foundation on Marsham Street in Westminster, thank you to them. Its a great venue with a roof terrace looking out over the seat of democracy. Still a little early for me, 8am kick off after a late night with my Mum at the Coliseum watching the stuning Indomeneo. London is not only the capital of social enterprise it is also the undisputed home of world class theatre and opera, such a stunning production the English National Opera at its best.
After my bit this morning I was ticked off by one leading light of our movement for being too optimistic and by another for being too pessimistic. A point I made in the piece was that it is very diffcult to steer a course at the moment between the stunning potential for social enterprise and the reality of what is happening on the ground, which is sometimes grim. Judging by the conflicted feedback I got, I might be on to something.
I've had some really uplifting emails today on where the opportunities are and how we as a movement can make the most of them, and yet I''ve just taken 2 calls from members in Hammersmith who are distraught. It seems that to meet their defecit reduction targets, Hammersmith and Fulham Council have put a few of their buildings up for sale, some of which are home to social enterprises. I am putting out feelers to see what is exactly going on and will report back. However in the mean time it seems that if you are in Hammersmith and Fulham and you are running a social enterprise you might indeed feel that you are standing on shifting sands.
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