Assurances

Hi everyone,

welcome to Blog No.7/10 for 15 October

This week’s GREAT news for Surrey Youth Focus is that, subject to the approval of the Charities Evaluation Service, we have been assessed by an external assessor as being fully compliant with all 12 aspects of the Pqasso quality assurance marquee at Level 1.Pqasso stands for Practical Quality Assurance for Small Organisations and is a UK wide quality assurance system. It has taken us two years to get to this point, and so my thanks to the Trustees for supporting this, but most especially to my fellow team members for sticking with it. I would recommend it as a discipline to any charity, large or small. Thanks Jan!

Big Theme: Surrey CC “Fit for the Future “ project.  We had a useful Keeping in Touch meeting with Garath Symonds (Assistant Director for Young People) who has just returned from paternity leave. We discussed 3 topics: the universal/specialist / targeted continuum and how the sector could contribute at each point; the future use/ management  of youth centres, and localism – the devolution of a base budget to local committees (all this subject to Cabinet approval).

Met with Hallah Shams of Guilford Diocese to project plan the use of a £6,000 Faiths in Action grant to foster inter-faith relations amongst young people. Excellent meeting, and fun too.

Sent out the papers for the Trustee meeting next week, including the Annual Report and Accounts and the arrangements for our incorporating as a company.  

Great to see a former colleague Janet Crowe today returning to Surrey as CEO of Surrey Age Concern!

Personally: Great week-end in London last week-end, and dinner at Magdalen, and was given a very on- trend CD by “Mumford and Sons” a new folk- rock band who are superb – slightly in the mold of REM, out of Kat Stevens/ Fairport Convention. A quiet week- end now- I can’t stand too much gallivanting around!  

Trivial pursuit:

a)       Last week’s answer: grass stops growing at temperatures below 5 C, and so we probably can’t put lawn mowers away until early/mid November.

b)       This week: On the folk -rock theme – which famous (female) singer of undoubtedly the greatest folk- rock group fell down stairs to her untimely death?

Have fun!

Mike