Gimme Shelter

The morning is spent visiting the new community bridgebuilder premises in central st leonards and discussing the induction of the 3 new workers we have appointed. It is an exciting period to see the small project we started all those years ago expand into a team with its own manager and 3 year funding. Onwards to a less positive meeting with a group who are in financial difficulty to say the least the next three months cashflow is going to be absolutely crucial and I try and help where I can. We identify some possible ways forward. Then it is an employment issue with a group followed by a quick visit to the office to submit comments to the Borough Councils draft ec0nomic inclusion strategy. Home for a brief break and then to a meeting of local churches where I have been invited to discussing homelessness, poverty and the moral agenda. It is actually rather a well attended meeting with lots of people involved in work with rough sleepers and asylum seekers. I give an analysis of the homelessness picture since Cathy come home and the current deficiencies of our housing and support system. It is followed by a highly intelligent debate which is wide-ranging. I would find the Rolling Stones video for our song lyric but as I am a bit knackered you will have to take my word for it it is a great song.

One Hit Wonder

I am reminded by Jan - a loyal reader of the Blog - that I have been lax in keeping it up to date. It really has been a bit busy in the world of the CVS with much to report so here goes.

The saga of the Working Neighbourhoods Fund rolls on at todays Executive Delivery Group with some general recognition that the logistics are going to be difficult. Introducing a new funding regime with sufficient time to make it robust but in a way which can also make best use of the NRF projects which contribute significantly to the local agenda. It is a circle that simply cannot be squared in the time the Council have left and they are very much seeing it as "their show" reminding everyone that they are the controller of the cash rather than the partnership of previous. It is also all mired in a HUGE political row which is becoming more acrimonious with each passing week. The politicians have taken to copying the whole world into their e-mails as the accuse and counter accuse accross the internet. I advocate for transitional money to apply so that we can make some real sense of this out of the heat of the current situation and after the election issue - for we have local elections looming - is settled.

I have also been bid writing like crazy as Monday was a key deadline for 2 proposals one to support an enhanced county wide Hate crime reporting service and the other to continue our community cohesion work. It is an all day Saturday job with some early work being done to the budget in Eastbourne on Monday morning. This is then whisked up to London by hand to meet their 5pm deadline. We cross fingers and wait and see.

I have also been asking for money in two key respects. Firstly it is marathon time again and I am running for the Saxon Mt Youth project and secondly I am tapping all the rich people in Hastings to start a fund for small grants. Can't say too much yet but it is generating the kind of interest I had hoped and I am optomistic about this project. Anyway the title of todays blog entry is based on my playlist for this evenings run. I put together a list of one hit wonders - bands who had one hit only. My personal favourtite of all time (I know not why) is the 1978 "Uptown Top Ranking" reached number one in February, 1978, after much early championing by John Peel. Ironically I am just finishing his autobiography - which is more than he did as he died without completing nthe manuscript. It is finished by his wife who writes well and affectionately of him, the music and his radio work.

A piece of trivia Althea & Donna became the youngest female duo to reach the pinnacle of the UK chart. There you didn't know that but if it comes up in next years inter-agency quiz we are prepared. Peter - we can't bank on it being prefrab sprout every year. Over to you girls http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Mcz_YjR3LKQ

Just give us the f***king money...

Bob Geldofs immortal quote during Live Aid reminds me of the challange of getting money from those who have it into the hands of those who need it.

So it is off to Lewes for a preliminary meeting with officers of the Sussex Community Foundation - the Robin Hood charity we helped create which takes money from very wealthy companies and individuals and distributes it to very poor community groups. It's developing well and in addition to the £125,000 we have already given out we are on track to top a quarter of a million by the end of the financial year. At this stage we are taking money and giving it out but the long term aim is to establish a permanent endowment fund the interest of which gives grants forever. I have recently been turning my attention to how this approach could work in Hastings and be aligned with the uniqueness of its local economy. Clearly, our local business context is significantly different from many other parts of Sussex and has a lack of very large private sector employers like American Express in Brighton or very wealthy individual donors. Therefore, a different approach is needed. With this in mind I have been meeting with the Foundation and we have reached an “in principle” agreement to establish a specific Hastings Fund to increase local giving and providing a focal point for work in this part of the County. In time, the intention would be to develop an endowment large enough to enable a permanent source of grant-giving independent of Government programmes and supported by a local Hastings grants panel. The agreement enables me to go seriously after some founder donors and engage with local employers. Its a big challange but as they say - even the longest journey...

Take it away Bob http://uk.youtube.com/watch?v=l5tvQ_SrO8c

Soul Man

To Brighton for a much needed weekend where we catch up with friends we have not seen for virtually a year. We go to The Motown Story at the Theatre Royal (after the pub) which we booked for on the chance that it might be good. In fact it was great - a sensational 7 piece soul band and 4 really talented singers recreating thewhole sound of that era (Temptations, Four Tops, Stevie Wonder, Smokey Robinson, et al). We ended up moving from our seats to the light gantry for the second half of the show to have a boogie.

Anyway back to work with a bump on Monday with lots going on. Deadlines looming I am afraid so I am being a bit of a boring person by working at home. Who'd have thought that years of studying the most beautiful literature in the English language would find me filing out forms talking about projects, outcomes and outputs and matcherd funding. There you go.

On the upside I am asked to facilitate 4 workshops on young people and the law at a big Youth conference. This is something I have done over the last few years. When I was lawyering I was amazed how little training youth workers get in the law. This is despite young people often coming up against it and often go through the criminal justice system as either victims or suspects. Anyway I developed a training module which has proved surprisingly popular and I have taught it at universities and to different staff teams and at ocassionally at conferences and seminars. I am asked to deliver this on Saturday and- as it is outside the day job - I am asked what I would charge as a fee. This is tricky but I say the first thing that comes into my head "I'll do it for a 30gb Ipod Nano". They agree so I am being paid with a little box containing a brand new Ipod for my music. How appropriate.

Lyric reference to commemorate my little dance on the lighting gantry hit it Sam and Dave http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=7j2mzeyGZ8Y

A Big Day

An big day as our lottery project gets the once over from their appraisal team and we are scrutinised fairly intensively to see how we shape up. We take a tour of the proposed new building (3rd this week) and go through every bit of the business plan. Our organisations too are underscrutiny but thankfully we are able to demonstrate that we aren't going to put the money on a horse running in the 3.15 at Haydock Park. Glyn (Hastings Borough Council), Mel (Hastings Trust) and I do quite a good job in responding to the questions and it seems positive. Only time will tell but it was nice to get it over as today has been a bit of a key date. Another piece of good news is that we have won the employment tribunal at which I represented one of our members. Or at least the other side have capitulated and withdrawn their claims. It was a rare outing into a court-room for yours truly bursing off my metaphirical wig and gown as it were but pleasing to get a positive result. Tomorrow I go to Brighton to teach a group of MA students about change management from a voluntary sector perspective. There is lots to get accross and the process forces me to review some theory in light of what we do as a charity and the day to day realities of the VCS.

The people have spoken and declared that Frddie Mercury is the best live act so over to you Mr Mercury. Here he is doing a brilliant live version of Under Pressure which, as I shall tell the students tommorow is exactly what it is like in the Voluntary Sector. http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=faUuwRDRrqA

Here Comes the Rain Again

A real Noah/arc-building kind of a weather day which never seemed to let up. Soaked on the way into work which sort of set the tone for the whole day as I am behind schedule and can't seem to find the groove as it were. I begin to sketch out our consultation repsonse to the Borough Council's restructuring proposals. I can't see the consultation making much of a difference and - despite the best of intentions - can't avoid being cynical about the direction they are taking. I write a bid trying to secure funding for one of our posts which may or not be funded through whatever succeeds Neighbourhood Renewal. The local authority have simply got this one badly wrong and are in a state of atrophy when there should be real leadership. There is talk of a stakeholder conference but it all seems a bit late, a bit stale and a bit, well half-hearted. The highlight of the day are some real gems in my CD Purchasing. I don't often bang on about the music which moves me - each to his or her own I say - but if you ever get a chance to listen to an album by Lucinda Williams called "Car Wheels on a Gravel Road" (Oxfam £1) do so - you won't regret it believe me. I call in at the barbers to see Steve have a chat and a hair cut. We become philosophical and rather strangely discuss the music we might like played at our respective funerals. He (an ex lead singer in a band) went for The Who (Won't Get Fooled Again) I go for the only song which pops into my head (an obscure Noel Coward number from the 1930's called "the party's over now").

Anyway the rainy weather precluded any running activity but I was unable to settle to anything at home and as Sue was working decided to pick the only 40 rain-free minutes of the whole day and go for a brisk run along the seafront. Apart from almost being blown over it was actually rather an exhilirating experience the sea was really kicking up and it kind of matched my mood!! A favourite Primal Scream album on the ipod a desolate pier and deserted prom - I think I was the only soul abroad as Shakespeare would say.

After a day in which it has rained, according to the weather website, more in 24 hours than in the last month combined, there can only be one lyric reference to use...Annie, Over to you http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=PscogedAWTI

Bah...bah...bah...bah...Build

Work this week is dominated by buildings. How to transfer them how to refurbish them, how to plan a complex project. This is the Community Assets Fund programme and we are being assessed by the Lottery on Thursday. Having got the collective bit between our teeth I am beginning to believe that we have the makings of a strong project on our hands. The building we are looking at is in much better condition than I thought it would be in and this should make the money go much further. We are beginning to think in terms of a larger footprint encompassing a bsement and a massive garage area. This could create a new home for HVA after 2009 as well as incubator units for emerging groups. Apart from that I am in the middle of a funding bit to continue the Cohesion activity we undertake. Lyric reference today is the oft forgotton Housemartins who were a quality outfit during the 1990's and gave rise to the founder members of The Beautiful South and Fatboy Slim here they are http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=MJ7cXaGNdw8