Happy New Year

Well , it has turned into quite a day of celebrations ! My mother's 81st birthday and the New Years Honours List! Most of the family waited up till after midnight to see the list ; I had not mentioned what was to be in it! My brother had guessed an OBE ! So they was much rejoicing to see the actual entry. You could hardly miss it in there at number 3 ; and wedged between , as brother commented, an odd industrialist and my old Politics tutor at Oxford.

But you can rely on your relations to keep you down to size : I phoned my Aunt Joan with the news and she said , " well, I shan't be calling you Sir , you are still that naughty boy I used to look after " ! And my great Aunt Marjorie, at the splendid age of 98 , said she always thought that the lovely boy in his grey flannelette suit made by his mother would go far!

We celebrated as a family , together with the Hound ( now to be known as Lady Sparkles ) at the Port Light up on the cliffs overloking a gloomy looking Atlantic. Fish and chips and champagne. Nothing too grand. Untypically I turned down a request to do a Sky interview on my Honour.

But work goes on. We have been working with the Times on a story that will make the news tomorrow . So it means phone on tonight and not too much Joliet or I won't be compos to talk to press. That would never do. The sector faces an uncertain future 2011 may be a great challenge. Major cuts. VAT rising on Tuesady. Gift aid transitional relief going. We face potentially thousands of organisations failing or merging. And the key point is that demand for what we do is as important as ever. Demand will increase. The cuts will harm many of our beneficiaries.

Paul Woodward, the CEO of Sue Ryder has pointed out that the rise in VAT will cost him £1m. With £1m he could fund a 16 bed hospice for
6 months or provide 50,000 hours of patient care.

It is time the Governmnet acted. We are to make a proposal to the Chancellor for a specific measure to support the sector now. It's essential. If we get that support then our sector can rise to the challenge that more service delivery will provide. The long term future f our sector remians bright. But 2011 will be fierce.

Happy New Year to you all.