Dear members and friends,
Columnists who write about writing the column they write – are usually running on empty – so I try not to go there; but I’m making an exception today because this is the 500th bulletin – every Friday for a decade – that’s a good innings. When asked why I write this stuff I just say that I enjoy having a personal soap box – but in truth it means more – weighing and saying what matters to me. Women in general seem attuned to this vibe – but in my experience the typical Scottish male is hostile to confessional musings – as a failure of masculinity – ‘Get a grip man`. One of my heroes, John le Carre, has long reflected publicly about his chaotic childhood – and how it provided the energy for his writing. He says ‘‘People who have had unhappy childhoods are pretty good at inventing themselves. If nobody invents you for yourself nothing is left but to invent yourself for others.’’ I recognise something of this.
One of the blessings of my life has been that I’ve always been able to find work I enjoy – it’s difficult to envisage future contentment without some kind of toil; the trick now is to know when to move from centre stage into the background – and then into the garden. I’ve long been a fan of Shirley Bassey – a great life force, belting it out. I was saddened by her recent TV concert; she’s had a good innings – she should chuck it now – real friends would tell her. Of course, that applies to us all – maybe 500 bulletins is enough.
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Scottish Govt. and COSLA have issued a new joint statement called ‘Equal communities in a fairer Scotland’, in which they re-affirm their commitment to the Community Empowerment Action Plan. Remember that? The Action Plan, launched in March, has disappeared without a ripple – what little money there was, having gone almost entirely to Govt. agencies and university offshoots. Govt. policy understands empowerment as the province of professionals and academics – dispensed to communities. In the real world – those of our communities which have achieved some autonomy – only did so through creating a locally owned organisation with assets and income. What is required is a serious programme of investment in these ‘Anchor’ organisations, including land and buildings. It is disappointing that the SNP has proven so lukewarm about the dispersal of power. Their manifesto promised more. https://senscot.net/?viewid=8828
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Dr Stephen Sinclair of Glasgow Caledonian Uni has taken a close look at the workings of one of our Community Planning Partnerships (CPP) to ascertain whither the Third Sector representatives were engaged in genuine partnership or merely symbolic participation. His findings are very interesting – more than symbolic, he suggests, but less than equal partners. https://senscot.net/?viewid=8827
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The Scottish Trades Union movement has launched a campaign called Rebuilding Collective Prosperity – recognising that the current crisis provides the opportunity to create a new financial architecture which is more equitable and just. We’re moving towards more shared responses by Scottish civil society towards global crises – economic, environmental, civil liberties. Third Sector, STUC, Scottish churches etc – all acting together. http://www.senscot.net/view_news.php?viewid=8829
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Is it really conceivable that we could lose our Royal Mail as a universal service? Muriel Gray on Sunday said ‘‘It is interesting how an incorruptible and unconditionally egalitarian postal service has been highlighted in fiction for decades as one of the cornerstones of civilisation… a genuinely humane service, as vital as any other that binds social cohesion.’’ She doesn’t spare her lash on either the CW Union or Baron Von Mandelson. https://senscot.net/?viewid=8832
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Visionary article my Mikhail Gorbachev, former leader of the Soviet Union, in Saturday’s Guardian. He says, ‘‘Today’s economic crisis was needed to reveal that not only bureaucratic socialism but also ultra liberal capitalism are in need of profound democratic reform – their own kind of perestroika.’’ This piece from a world statesman is well worth a look. https://senscot.net/?viewid=8830
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NOTICES: We can’t flag all notices here, but submit jobs and events and we’ll post them on our site. See http://www.senscot.net/jobsevents.php. This week:
JOBS: Dance Ihayami,The Three Eyes Project, Cruse Bereavement Care Scotland, The Scottish Government, The Big Issue in Scotland, Chest, Heart & Stroke Scotland, Community Enterprise, Bethany Christian Trust, Camphill Blair Drummond Trust, Greater Glasgow and Clyde NHS Trust, Comas
EVENTS: The Laughter Show with Patrick Monahan & Guests, 14 Nov; Understanding Social Enterprise, 18 Nov; Financial Inclusion – Can You Afford Not to?, 18 Nov; Prove, Improve, Account, 25 Nov; Community Market, 28 Nov; Placemaking Seminar – evaluation and observation, 9 Dec;
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NETWORKS NEWS: Colin writes: This week saw the announcement of the shortlist for Scotland’s first social enterprise awards. It’s particularly good to see a number of Network members represented on the list. Winners will be announced at the Scottish Parliament on 17th November ( £5k – 1st prize) and then go on to compete with counterparts from Wales, England and Northern Ireland in the grand UK final to be held in London in December. For more on this and other Networks News, see http://www.senscot.net/networks1st/showart.php?articleid=115
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Two bits of news from Scottish Govt. The Enterprise Fund will be closing for applications from Friday 13th November. To date, there have been 296 applications of which 87 have been successful. Doubtful if this fund will re-open – unless there’s new money. On a brighter note, the Resilience Fund opened last Friday (30th October). This fund has been set up to mitigate the impact of the recession on some third sector organisations. For more on both funds, see http://www.senscot.net/view_news.php?viewid=8825
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During the summer, Senscot and the Scottish Centre for Healthy Working Lives (HWL) commissioned some case studies to provide a snapshot of the involvement of social enterprises in the Govt’s HWL initiative. The initiative was set up in 2005 to help improve the health of Scotland’s working age population and focuses on improving the health and safety of staff and volunteers; re-enforcing health work with clients and customers; demonstrating standing as good employers; and earning income from supplying products and services to other organizations engaged in the HWL initiative. Here’s the full report,
http://www.senscot.net/view_res.php?viewid=8831
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Community Enterprise Ltd is looking to set up a new trading subsidiary in the area of marketing, advertising, and branding. They are looking for someone to research if a market exists and, if so, is it viable – the job is worth up to £10k. The service will focus on getting products and services developed by social enterprises to market. See more, http://www.senscot.net/view_job.php?viewid=8838
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This week’s bulletin profiles one of only a handful of companies in the travel business that operate on a not for profit basis. Travel2Give is a subsidiary of the Travel Division with a mission to provide a first class travel services and at the same time support local charities. To date, they have established partnerships with almost twenty Scottish charities that include Cash for Kids, Age Concern Scotland and Epilepsy Scotland. In May, they won the Travel Industries `Innovation of the Year 2009 ` award. For more, see
http://www.senscot.net/view_prof.php?viewid=8826
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Mikhail Gorbachev was leader of the Soviet Union 1985-1991, Noble peace prize laureate (1990) and is president of the World Political Forum. This quote is from an article by him in Saturday’s Guardian. ‘‘Another important consequence of the end of the cold war is the realisation of one of the central postulates of New Thinking: the interdependence of extremely important elements that go to the very heart of the existence and development of humankind. This involves not only processes and events occurring on different continents but also the organic linkage between changes in the economic, technological, social, demographic and cultural conditions that determine the daily existence of billions of people on our planet. In effect, humankind has started to transform itself into a single civilisation.’’ See full article https://senscot.net/?viewid=8830
That’s all for this week. Good luck with your adventures
Best wishes,
Laurence
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