Kevin has asked me to remind you that Greg Clark, the Conservative Shadow Minister for Charities, is a main speaker at Conference this year. One of the proposals in the Conservative Green Paper on Voluntary Action is that local groups should be empowered to purchase the services they want from the infrastructure organisation of their choice. Sounds very empowering but what are the snags? Be ready with your arguments on this to put to Greg Clark.

It will soon be NAVCA Conference time again. This year we’ve got Peter Wanless the new Chief Executive at the Big Lottery Fund coming. So, your chance to lobby him about the funding you think they should provide for the local sector – and for local infrastructure.

We’ve also got Greg Clark MP speaking. He’s the Conservative Shadow Minister for Charities, Social Enterprise & Volunteering. The Conservatives have just published their Green Paper on ‘The Future of Voluntary Action’ so again it’s a chance to respond to their ideas. One controversial Conservative idea is that infrastructure funding should be given to frontline groups so that they can choose where to buy their support from. I bet you’ve got a view on that!

At our popular drinks reception we’ll be launching ‘The Get Skilled Workbook’ – a brilliant NAVCA guide to creating a learning and development plan for your organisation. Free wine, a free handbook and great company.

And don’t forget that for the second year I’ll be organising the after dinner break dancing competition for the over 50s. See you on the dance floor…

Kevin