Wednesday 24th January 2007, 17:04Inspirational public servicesI often get inspired when I meet people who use our services and see the way they tackle difficulties in their lives - for example, battling addiction, coming out of jail and getting into work, securing employment after many years out of work. In the same way, the work we do with business and voluntary organisations also inspires me as I see entrepreneurs use business support services to grow their companies and we assist voluntary and community groups build their capacity and self sufficiency as well as utilise grant support to provide amazing work. And of course, I am inspired daily .. Mark LovellView Complete Post Tuesday 23rd January 2007, 09:55Want to work with me?I need an intern. They must be smart, literate, organised and a confident driver and traveller. They must be prepared to be based where I am. (Sheffield and around the UK and the world!) I want to offer the chance for someone within A4e to spend a year working with me. Helping me do what I do - and in return they will get the chance to see all that I do, go to all the meetings and events and travel around the business in all the countries we work in or aspire to work in.
After the year is up the person is guaranteed that their old job (or equivalent) will still be there f.. eharrisonView Complete Post Tuesday 23rd January 2007, 09:44Meeting people who inspire meLast week I was invited to attend a gathering of 120 A4e UK managers. They had come together to share their ideas. best practice and work through how they could make sure the service they were offering their clients was as good as they could make it. I was very impressed - smart, thoughtful, determined and open about all the issues. I saw decisons being made and decisive action. Confidence to make decisions and 'get on with it' - makes all the difference. No 'committees' in evidence! Thanks.eharrisonView Complete Post Thursday 18th January 2007, 17:06The most unpopular Blog on the web!I wanted to say a quick 'thank you' for people who have taken the time to e-mail. Apologies for the delay in responding but a technical hitch meant I only got them all at the beginning of this week - and here I was convinced I had the most unpopular Blog in the history of the internet with no responses whatsoever! An interesting balance of responses including ideas, questions, business proposals, requests for information, networking, complaints and observations.Mark LovellView Complete Post Tuesday 16th January 2007, 00:36I Stand Accused......I have had lots of feedback to the blogs. Thanks for taking the time to let me know what you think and what thoughts they have sparked off in your own mind.
However, as you would expect not all the feedback has been positive. I received feedback from one person who has accused me of being “obsessed with the idea that everyone should work”. I have been accused of wanting to enslave everybody into a capitalist slave model – where the “have nots” loose everything, including their minds, in a ceaseless world of work.
Actually, I found the feedb..Roy NeweyView Complete Post Thursday 11th January 2007, 17:51What's the news from your country? A4e works around the world - improving people's lives - it is what we were set up to do - it is our purpose - and frankly we love it.
What we also love is when people invite us into their country, to tell us of their problems - problems of social exclusion, financial exclusion, business support needs, economic development needs. This allows us to talk of how we would help to turn things around and fulfill our mission to 'improve people's lives.'
In recent years we have extended our work significantly - now we would like to do more. So get in touch - tel.. eharrisonView Complete Post Wednesday 10th January 2007, 16:51Update on C4 Secret MillionaireMy time as a secret millionaire in Dagenham was screened on C4 on the 2nd Jan 2007.
Hope you managed to watch the programme - I have had a bag load of feedback - thanks. People loved the programme - found it very emotional and best of all - total strangers have written to me about how they are now committing to things to help their local communities and become people that give.
The programme was all about giving - and the realisation that giving has many forms and is a wonderful human thing to do.
I am in touch with all the people i helped - and my best .. eharrisonView Complete Post Wednesday 10th January 2007, 16:24Some New Year thoughts - just get on and doSitting back at my desk again - having had two weeks holiday - I realise that the 'down' time has given me the chance to think and reflect. Think about how I want to feel by the end of 2007 and reflect on the busy and engaging year that was 2006.
At the end of 2006 i spent a lot of my time in the business - meeting people, listening to their stories, looking for the problems and then helping people to directly fix things and take the direct actions to make things better. I learnt loads and therefore really enjoyed the process. I will be doing a lot more of this in 2007 - with m.. eharrisonView Complete Post Tuesday 2nd January 2007, 20:04A Healthy New YearA bit of nice news before Xmas - after one of the longest application processes I have been involved in, I received confirmation that I have been accepted as a Non Executive Director of a Primary Care Trust (PCT). Ever since I started at A4e, I have retained a keen interest in the development of the health service ad it has been a long term ambition to work in this area. It is great to be able to combine this with my work at A4e.
My passion for trying to add value in the development of health services in the UK started when I met an NHS CEO 12 years ago. I was fascinated.. Mark LovellView Complete Post Monday 1st January 2007, 15:51What’s next for Improving Peoples Lives? What’s next for Improving Peoples Lives?
Christmas and New Year are always a time for reflection and this year I have been thinking of our vision “Improving Peoples Lives” and how we can develop new services to meet the needs of the world in which we live. Also how can we enter new markets in which we can deliver these services?
I have been asked why we want to grow the business, why do we want to win more contracts, why don't we just settle down to running A4e the way it is, surely we are big enough already?
A4e exists in the body of staff..Roy NeweyView Complete Post |
Archives
|