|  Uncategorized   |  A new dawn fades….

A new dawn fades….

Or a new moon rises – been enjoying some quite stunning moon / venus and saturn combinations as dusk sets each evening.

Not much else has changed since the January blog then – apart from the unrelenting screech of the US Uber Rich Men of the People taking back control from the woke classes. Or something like that anyway. Who would have thought that diversity and inclusion caused wildfires in LA or plane crashes in Washington. It would obviously be quite funny if the consequences weren’t so serious in the long term and far reaching. And anything but funny for those getting made redundant or having their very existence questioned. This too will pass I guess. But in the meantime its incumbent on all of us to keep checking in with our friends and colleagues and to try our best to be a decent ally.

The constant erosion of trust in democratic structures and systems (woke blobs, anti-growth alliances etc etc) and fawning over the likes of Musk, Trump etc is more than words. Farridge and co are constantly feted by the media here – even though the one thing they have trumpeted for years (EU withdrawal) by their own admission has been a dogs breakfast, increasing costs of trade, adding red tape and reducing our GDP. Yet there they are – on Question Time, on TV, on the radio – offering unfettered assessments of what’s wrong with no offer of solution. But its always the fault of immigrants – never of the rich.

As Malcolm X says much more eloquently than me: If you’re not careful, the newspapers will have you hating the people who are being oppressed, and loving the people who are doing the oppressing.

At least the Labour government seem to recognise the importance of being able to demonstrate that social democratic policies make a difference to people’s lives and that this delivery is probably the most important weapon in the fight against the new wave of populism. But blimey – they need to get control of their messaging and start telling the story, outlining their vision etc. Employers national insurance on charities providing health services whilst exempting NHS providers makes literally no sense and the impacts are real. The additional costs on the charity I chair are in excess of £30k – like most small and medium sized organisations this could be the difference between breaking even, making a loss or reducing impact. Out finance sub-committee last week was wrestling with this whilst also trying to work out ways to give our workforce a payrise. Conversations I am sure that are replicated across hundreds and thousands of other charities on weekly basis.

The extension / protection of funding into things like the drug treatment system, homelessness services and the like is welcome – the short term nature of it just causes further uncertainty. It wouldn’t be beyond the whit of anyone to re-state a long term commitment to the funding of these services – even if future tweaks are required.

The final evaluation of the Skill Mill social outcomes contract – whose board I used to chair was published last week. Recommended reading for anyone interested in employment services for young people caught up in the justice system, environmental projects or if you are interested in ‘social finance’ as an income stream. Spoiler alert – it shows a really positive impact on the young people worked with but holds no punches when it comes to the complexities of social finance or this kind of of project being ‘commerically viable’ for investors. Check out the Linked in posts by Skill Mill, Davie Parks and Russell Webster.

Found myself unseasonably busy – as we enter the final stages of three projects that have been ticking over for a while whilst enjoying the energetic excitement of the new puppy. He’s just turned 8 months is turning into a bit of a star – apart from eating half the xmas cake my mum had made us. Cost us more to have his stomach emptied than we paid the rescue centre for him. And I never got to eat a slice.

Also found myself being unnecessarily old this week. Went to the gym (where I am trying to manage a long term squash related knee injury) and bumped into 2 old team mates – one returning after a knee transplant. The other having had both knees replaced. So we had 2 good knees between the 3 of us….. and we were the future once. So in dismay I entered a ‘seniors’ golf competition and bought a load of gig tickets to bring back some semblance of balance. Squid, The Selecter, MJ Lenderman, Nadia Reid and the Gurriers if you’re interested.

And if you want an uplifting read – I’m just about to finish ‘Upbeat – the story of the National Youth Orchestra of Iraq’.

And that’s all for now – we’re into February and I’ve not even mentioned Spurs…..

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