Thursday 29 April 2010

The Board! Better Banking!

My ACEVO board meeting today: where my Trustees hold me and my team to account. A packed agenda and interesting discussion on the recent Big Ask tour. This was a major exercise in member consultation ahead of the election and the looming spending cuts. We also consulted members on what they want from ACEVO.

A key concern was the need for "democratising commissioning" and we are now giving this demand a top priority in our work here. We are discussing campaigning on this with our colleagues in the Community Alliance as we need to ensure a common front on issues like the need for scale and for the involvement of communities and community enterprise.

There was also a clear view on the need to feed back to members the results and to do this exercise again - so our Events Team are on to it even as I blog...

The Better Banking Campaign has written to the three Party Leaders ahead of tonight's economy debate calling for reform of our banking system. Signed by 472 organisations and individuals its an impressive coalition; ranging from Bishops to academics, Think Tanks and leading charities.

Click here for the link:

So I'm looking forward to the debate tonight. And feeling rather sorry for Gordon. He ain't having much luck!

Great lunch yesterday with Nick Seddon, Deputy Director at Reform, the Think Tank and who also chairs the Directory of Social Change. We met at a most agreeable new restaurant in Westminster, Osteria Dell'Angolo, which has become a favoured haunt of journos and Westminster hacks. So good networking (I chatted to a well known MP and a spad on my way in!) Nick is a most agreeable and charming chap (with the occasional regressive views which I then correct!) and we talked about potential work and debate around public spending cuts! Tough times ahead! Tonight's debate will be but a foretaste of the pain to come!

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