Remember My Name

The lyric reference is from Eminem and is probably unrepeatable. It records the fact that a few posts ago I described a meeting and - fingers moving faster than brain - got someones name wrong. As I enter the Area Management Board this evening I am approached by Jan - who I blogged about for some strange reason as 'Karen' - to correct my abject error. It is one thing to forget someones name but the height of rudeness to call them something entirely different! The only thing I can say in my defence is that I have searched high and low for any lyric references to Jan - not too many available I am afraid. There was a surf duo from the 60's called Jan and Dean but this was the pre video era. The best I can do is Jan Hammer and the theme from Miami Vice (http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=47XaK4XJxFQ) it is just so 80's - and not a little camp - but you might enjoy it. Apologies Jan.

What else? On Saturday I am in Fairlight to attend the 10th anniversary of the Fairlight Youth Club. Years ago my wife Sue was a youthworker in the area and together we wrote the Lottery bid which provided the funds to open a club and provide a portacabin on the village green for young people of the village. Thinking back, it must have been one of the very first lottery grants after the launch of the National Lottery. Keith HVA's grants officer - and big fish in the world of Fairlight Amauteaur Dramatics - is also there so we all sit on hay bales watching the music.

A nice event to attend as there is live music. Two local bands both if which by chance we know provide the soundtrack. The first - four young women who are sisters Sue (my wife) took on an exchange trip to Germany. The second features Terry who plays with his son and provides a good and diverse set. He, along with the mis-named Jan is one of the Area Coordinators for Hastings. I asked them to play "the day we caught the Train" by Ocean Colour Scene - a favourite band of mine but they have to cut the set short to attend a stag do. Can't remember Elvis ever doing that but there you go. Shame, because people were dancing. Anyway just to remind Terry to play this song more often here are the boys themselves doing their trademark number http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Uf5gGwGVaTk enjoy.

An Update

The sheer scale of our task in delivering the Community Assets Transfer project becomes clear on Friday. We have the preliminary "scoping" meeting with the Development Trusts Association to begin to develop the fully costed proposal, design brief and planning permission. It is more about establishing a timetable to fit all the pieces of the jigsaw in place - and in time. We had originally conceived of a timetable which meant that we would be submitting towards the end of October (this was thought of as tight but achievable). However, clarification with the Big Lottery reveals that the effective date for submission is now at the end of September which really piles the pressure on. Lots to be done but I have a lot of confidence in project partners so we begin to look at the "whose working on what" elements of the process and feed in our work plans of what we will be doing. As ever, it is the formalities which are time consuming such as a written partnership agreement to describe our respective roles and responsibilities. It will rely on some legal work to be completed at speed which is not always the Borough Council's 'gear of choice' but we shall see.

On the recreational side it was a sheer delight to see Jools Holland in concert and jamming with an exceptional group of musicians. It was also a fine evening which permitted a picnic which was great.

On the good news/bad news front we will shortly be saying goodbye to Jan who has looked after our health work by supporting the Health and Social Care Forum. Sad that we lose a really effective worker - and member of the winning HVA quiz team. But nice to have played a role in the next stage of someones professional development.

Apart from that I co-design an Employment Law training course with Pat our group support worker and generally catch up on issues affecting a couple of the groups we are jointly supporting. We also welcomed Sue to work this morning wearing a medal and a rather proud grin on her face. She did the Race for Life yesterday (5miles in 50 minutes) raising over £300 in the process.

What else? I guess I should record the fact that another birthday has passed and I am now a whopping 47 years of age!! Nice card from the team though which was much appreciated. A sobering thought to remember that by the time he was my age Mozart had been dead 20 years!During his short life he composed over 600 hundred pieces of music spanning opera, chamber music, symphonies, diverdimenti, sonatos, concertos and a requiem. Here is my favourite Mozart moment from the impeccable Shawshank Redemption. A wonderful aria from the Marriage of Figaro http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=GAJ2skOJvdY proving - if proof was needed - that beauty can be found in the most unlikely of places.

When all the Clowns that you have commissioned

The lyric is from a pretty obscure Bob Dylan track. It took a bit of finding (from the Highway 61 Revisited Album) and is the only one I know of which refers to commissioning or being commissioned. It commemorates the visit to HVA by Jocelyn and Jan from the Borough Council where we talk about their forthcoming commisioning process. It is a good discussion and I sense there is a real wish to make the process as VCS friendly as it can be. Moving from ghrant funding to a more commissioned approach sounds simple but raises quite a few complex issues. Peter (HVA's Funding expert) and I raise a range of issues from VAT to TUPE and some of the unforeseen implications of moving in this direction. It is really useful that the Council are using us to test out their plans before they are decided as we can often - hopefully - offer some useful insights. The other good thing about the meeting is that Jan - without prompting - says how much she enjoys reading the blog. I reply by saying that she will now feature in it. So thanks Jan nice to know that there are real people reading this.

Here is Bob Dylan.

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=y8CXskzlr2E&feature=related

The Graduate(s)

Officially I am supposed to be on holiday but I come back for a single commitment. This is the “graduation” ceremony for the first cohort of students to achieve their qualifications as a result of participating in an HVA project called the Volunteering Passport. It was a simple idea I had when I was running the marathon actually which was to try and use what is good about the Town – its volunteering and community spirit – to tackle one of its problems (the number of adults with no formal qualifications). From this simple notion we have almost 100 people achieving or working towards a qualification. Anyway, I compare the event, the Mayor gives out the certificate. The vent goes really well and is rather moving as the learners themselves took to the stage to speak about their participation in the project. One person talks about over-coming a serious brain injury, another how volunteering helped to overcome the death of a family member. At the end of the event there is a big photo-call and I am standing next to one of the youthworkers who literally has tears in his eyes. I arrange through Mary at HVA for some "surprise" flowers for Sandra and Jan who have worked hard to support the candidates through this process which they are delighted with.

Sometimes in the work I do I sometimes wonder about whether it has an impact. This was a day in which – hand on heart – you could say that you had made a real difference. In the words of Colonel Hannibal SMith from the 1970's TV show The A Team "I love it when a plan comes together".

Lyric, what else - as if you couldn't guess but The Graduate http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=FL6HK1YP9pQ

Audit Time

An audit of one of our projects takes place. Being funded by numerous funding sources means that we are constantly being monitored and the subject of various compliance visits. This one is extensive but we are given a very clean bill of health. Actually it is a useful opportunity to talk about the fundraising project itself which has – thanks to Peter – been really successful. An investment of £40,000 has realised an inward investment to the Town of over a £1.3 pounds.

On the Road Again

I am blogging “out of sequence” as it were as quite a lot has been happening since my last update. My travels take me to Southend to be briefed by the Southend Community Foundation about a fund they have established to encourage local giving. This is helpful because I am seeking to develop something similar for Hastings. I drive over with Alan our volunteer who has an impressive CV as a senior communications expert with the post office as well as a history of editing local and regional newspapers. He brings both a good range of skills and a healthy objective which we will find useful. He also quotes REM songs which puts him a few notches up on the credibility scale as well. We are shown into a hugely impressive building which is the headquarters of one of the Foundations major Donors – part of the Olympus Group which make specialist medical equipment. A building custom designed for the needs of the people who work in it with lots of intelligent little features to make their lives easier and create little designed corners and areas for meetings or conversations to take place. A useful briefing takes place at which we hear about the do’s and don’ts of how they went about developing a local fund. I return to Hastings in time to dash to an AGM of one of our members which I had agreed to chair.