Roadrunner…progressing fast..Beep, Beep!

Intensely busy week and long hours, but good progress being made on all fronts.

Interviewing this afternoon to appoint a CommUniLAB project manager and have very able candidates which is excellent. 

We have compiled our Draft Budget for next year(2014/15) which will just about balance exactly on Income/Expenditure, so long as various assumptions are delivered upon. It will be fine.

Very important meeting with Surrey CC’s Youth Services commissioners on Tuesday to discuss various matters pertaining to the future of the current contracts – centre based youth work and prevention grants. I had drafted an 8 page paper  as input to the meeting and there was a considerable congruence between the views expressed by both parties – I think the Consortium and the SSCC commissioners see the future in the same way…..innovation being essential. Sorry – bit Delphic, but this was a private meeting. Also have a Consortium Board meeting this morning when I am presenting on business development including the possibility of a Erasmus + (EU) bid.

We had a great meeting on Monday with the Deputy Police and Crime Commissioner at our Surrey Youth Enterprise in Leatherhead. The enterprise is growing fast..we’re interviewing to recruit more apprentices shortly. The Commissioner was very impressed with our world class intelligent CCTV product, which we will now be pitching to Surrey/Sussex Police directly, thanks to his help.

There is every prospect now of us setting up a second social enterprise to undertake the property management of Woking Youth Arts Centre. I have had several discussions about this and I think we have the basis for making progress, but we will have to move fast to set up the social enterprise, find directors, appoint a building manager, get some maintenance works done..all by 1 April.  This will be a GO/NO GO decision by a sub – committee of the Board; I hope we proceed – slightly risky but you have to do so to move on…and stasis is not possible.

Went to a wonderful public lecture on Wednesday evening about Thomas Merton given by Prof Michael Higgins, his biographer and editor of 3,500 letters, BUT Higgins is also the official biographer of the equally wonderful spiritual writer Henri Nouwen, and editing his 19,000 letters…wonderful scholarship. I’m doing my first training walk of 2014 tomorrow..in the rain I think…2 hours out..2 hours back..12 miles on the Sussex Downs..Ok not roadrunning but walking..fast. Soon be 6 Nations (rugby) too!!

          Mike