What a busy week I have had, but not all of it has been Institute related!
Last Friday I met David Magor and his PA Rachel to discuss diary dates and set up a few important things to allow the presidential year to work smoothly (setting up an account with the car hire firm for example!). For those of you who think that the Institute always eats in the most salubrious of places let me advise you that we did go for lunch in a very sweet little Italian on Gray’s Inn Road (just round the corner from the Institute), the speciality of the day was penne al arrabiata with sausages! Plain, simple but yummy!
I had to rush back from the meeting to make sure that I was home well before 7pm as I was treading the boards at our local village hall, where the “Pewmongers” were putting on a music and sketch review called “artistic licence”. It was great fun, and although occasional lines were dropped or props were left behind (we discovered 2 minutes in to opening night that the bell used to summon the “artists wife” was still sitting on the piano backstage), but a great time was had by all and yours truly was singing in the chorus and doing a little acting and poetry recital. It was a bit of a different stage to the one at Manchester central two weeks ago, but it was none the less nerve wracking.
Monday saw my first official engagement as president - I left work at lunchtime and drove for four and a half hours (minor panic at the Severn Bridge when just for a moment I thought that I had no change and the toll bridge only takes cash!). I drove to beautiful Llandrindod Wells for a Seminar that was taking place on Tuesday. The Seminar was attended by almost all of the authorities in Wales and there were over 40 delegates present. We talked about the funds awarded to the Welsh Authorities by the Welsh Assembly Government for benefit take up campaigns. I made the point that the rest of the UK is very envious that a further £3m will be distributed to the Councils over the next three years for them to take forward take up initiatives. There were some excellent examples of innovation and proactive partnership working, which now needs to be picked up by all Councils to ensure that we are promoting income maximisation in our communities, especially in light of the current economic situation. I left Wales with many ideas scribbled on my note pad that I intend to look in to further, sadly however I don’t have the funding to implement many of the ideas, but will see what we can do within our existing budgets!
For those of you that want to see the full report on the work carried out so far the Welsh Assembly Government has compiled a report which is available on their website http://www.assemblywales.org . I can’t commend it highly enough, as any assistance in helping people to claim the benefits that they are entitled to has to be a great idea.
The diary is starting to fill up, so I will be back soon with a next instalment - until then may your glass always be half full.
Last Friday I met David Magor and his PA Rachel to discuss diary dates and set up a few important things to allow the presidential year to work smoothly (setting up an account with the car hire firm for example!). For those of you who think that the Institute always eats in the most salubrious of places let me advise you that we did go for lunch in a very sweet little Italian on Gray’s Inn Road (just round the corner from the Institute), the speciality of the day was penne al arrabiata with sausages! Plain, simple but yummy!
I had to rush back from the meeting to make sure that I was home well before 7pm as I was treading the boards at our local village hall, where the “Pewmongers” were putting on a music and sketch review called “artistic licence”. It was great fun, and although occasional lines were dropped or props were left behind (we discovered 2 minutes in to opening night that the bell used to summon the “artists wife” was still sitting on the piano backstage), but a great time was had by all and yours truly was singing in the chorus and doing a little acting and poetry recital. It was a bit of a different stage to the one at Manchester central two weeks ago, but it was none the less nerve wracking.
Monday saw my first official engagement as president - I left work at lunchtime and drove for four and a half hours (minor panic at the Severn Bridge when just for a moment I thought that I had no change and the toll bridge only takes cash!). I drove to beautiful Llandrindod Wells for a Seminar that was taking place on Tuesday. The Seminar was attended by almost all of the authorities in Wales and there were over 40 delegates present. We talked about the funds awarded to the Welsh Authorities by the Welsh Assembly Government for benefit take up campaigns. I made the point that the rest of the UK is very envious that a further £3m will be distributed to the Councils over the next three years for them to take forward take up initiatives. There were some excellent examples of innovation and proactive partnership working, which now needs to be picked up by all Councils to ensure that we are promoting income maximisation in our communities, especially in light of the current economic situation. I left Wales with many ideas scribbled on my note pad that I intend to look in to further, sadly however I don’t have the funding to implement many of the ideas, but will see what we can do within our existing budgets!
For those of you that want to see the full report on the work carried out so far the Welsh Assembly Government has compiled a report which is available on their website http://www.assemblywales.org . I can’t commend it highly enough, as any assistance in helping people to claim the benefits that they are entitled to has to be a great idea.
The diary is starting to fill up, so I will be back soon with a next instalment - until then may your glass always be half full.
