Thursday 20th November 2008, 03:18Oh how we laughed...........These are tough times. And I don’t believe the people who say it will all be ok, we can carry on as we always have done. Or the change affects those over there, not me. We are entering a period of significant change. And it will be bumpy. What can we learn from the past;
“But we have always done it this way” said the captain as his ship went down.
The paraffin lamp poked fun at the gas fitters digging up the road, making all that mess for nothing.
How we laughed at Walt when he talked of a whole new world of animation, we guessed he h..View Complete Post Monday 17th November 2008, 00:42The loss of a hero I spent last week in South Africa. You can’t help but feel the sense of expectation as this country, the hope of Africa, starts to make the transition to a new government next year. I have been so impressed by the people I have met, all sharing as single vision for the future. This great nation stands tall in Africa but the burden of expectation hangs heavy.
After all of my meetings had finished on Tuesday I decided to take a walk to clear my head. The weather was warm, ahead was a mighty thunder storm which would light up the skies all evening. I found myself catching a coff..View Complete Post Monday 17th November 2008, 00:40The Inspire Kamlangjai Project Last year I had an invitation to visit Bangkok. During my visit I took the chance to visit I heard about an amazing project that was taking place in the Thai prisons. The project is led by Princess Bajrakitiyabha who as a law student visited a Bangkok and was shocked by what she saw. She developed a very simple vision for what she wanted.
Kamlangjai is ….
A thought from afar
A shoulder to lean on
A helping hand
Knowing that everything’s not lost
At the heart of the project is a real commitment from the whole community to find a..View Complete Post Monday 3rd November 2008, 15:29How a telescope helped me see things the same. It was my birthday last month and my children watched excitedly as I opened my birthday present. It was a large box (so no chocolate) it did not smell (so not aftershave) and it was too big to be a pair of socks.
Finally when I was able to rip off all the wrappers my gift was revealed. A telescope. I had always thought it would be great to be able to gaze at the stars through a telescope. But as I grew older I figured I would never get round to space exploration. I had always admired Sir Patrick Moore when I watched him on “Sky at Night”. I rarely understood what he was..View Complete Post Wednesday 1st October 2008, 00:31Overcoming PovertyOvercoming Poverty
Don’t you just love it when somebody says something in a few simple words which you have been grappling with for years? For 20 years I have been trying to say to people I met that expecting unemployed people to get a job is not a penalty, it should not be a hardship. I tried to explain in long paragraphs with few full stops that when we are seeking to support somebody back into work we see it as an enrichment of social justice, not a punishment of that person. I gave speeches as people’s eyes glazed over as I wax.. View Complete Post Tuesday 30th September 2008, 00:40RomaRoma
Earlier this year I was invited to give a speech at the World Bank in Washington, USA. It was a great honour as I have a deep respect for the work of the World Bank and the impact they have in the most remote and desperate parts of the world. After the speech I had the chance to meet and discuss issues with many of the people who attended, they explained their areas of work, their perspectives on international best practice and their personal goals for the next few years.
There was one person who told me about the plight of the Roma people. A proud group who are ex..View Complete Post Thursday 25th September 2008, 02:27Celebrating Vishwakarma DivasCelebrating Vishwakarma Divas
Last week I had the honour of speaking at the Global Skills Conference in Delhi called “Celebrating Vishwakarma Divas
When I had the chance to look this up on Google I discovered that the 17th of September is the celebration of Lord Vishwakarma Diva who is the god of electricians, carpenters, plumbers, builders, metal workers etc. This day in India is recognised as National Labour Day. One this day the craftsman of India, clean their workshops, they decorate their vans and wear their smartest overalls to celebrate Lord Vishwakarma Div..View Complete Post Thursday 25th September 2008, 01:16Growth for AllGrowth for All
Today I was in Poland working with Kasia (congratulations on the wedding last month) to develop the new contracts we have won and looking for new ways to provide more opportunities to help those out of work in Poland. As we bounced ideas around we received an invitation to form a group as part of the British Polish Chamber of Commerce to drive new strategy around the human capital agenda.
Kasia asked me what should be the subject around which we form the group I launched into my soap box about;
• Wanting those furthest away from the labour mark..View Complete Post Thursday 25th September 2008, 01:15Eye to EyeEye to Eye
As we move through life we make decisions every day about the way we choose to interact with each other. I do it everyday, almost unknowingly communicating my interest, mood, attitude, excitement, stress level or tiredness.
When I am the one moving through life, it is my choice with whom I care to make eye contact, and who I choose to let pass by. I choose to pick up or throw away each person I pass.
However, as a consumer, as someone in need, as someone nervous, intimidated, disempowered, at the end of my tether, alone, disenfranchised it is me b..View Complete Post Sunday 20th July 2008, 23:09The Secret behind the Dinner SuitMany years ago I was invited to an awards ceremony in Kirby, Liverpool. At the event I was asked to make the presentations to the successful NVQ students who had achieved their qualification.
As I arrived at the council hall on a very run down estate on a cold wet and windy November evening I was greeted by a smiling man in his fifties wearing a full dinner jacket and bow tie. The man opened the door and showed me to the hall where the presentations would take place. I must admit I was a little taken aback as on my many visits to Kirby I had not been greeted by a man in a dinner su..View Complete Post Friday 18th July 2008, 22:21Feed BackI gets lots of feedback to the blogs, thank you to everyone who sends me some feedback or an idea, and I thought it would be good to share this email I had today from Michael Burger who is doing some amazing stuff in our Offender Management Team.
Many thanks Michael for doing what you do everyday and for taking the time to share your thoughts and insights. Any more budding bloggers out there?
Thanks Roy
Dear Roy
Following your most recent Blog entry, I just thought I’d tell you about an event I attended the other evening.
I was invited by Lo.. View Complete Post Thursday 17th July 2008, 14:18Its in Our HandsLast week my family and I (Sam, Olivia and Tom) had a most amazing experience. We were very lucky to get tickets to attend the 90th Birthday Party for Nelson Mandela in Hyde Park London. Dashing home from school we packed ourselves into our car and attacked the M6 traffic with determination. Following a few comfort breaks we managed to arrive in Hyde Park as the concert was starting. Shuffling to the front we staked our claim to a patch of grass 18 inches by 10 inches. Each act came and went with increasing momentum, the sound system pushing every bass note through your chest walls and out thr..View Complete Post Thursday 19th June 2008, 22:27Feeling Worth LessLast week I had the chance to visit Johannesburg and work with some amazing people who are seeking solutions to some very difficult community issues facing South Africa. I met up with Lesley Ann from Khulisa who manages to inspire me each time I meet her. We worked on developing new partnerships to tackle exclusion in Australia.
I also met Patrick a taxi driver who took me to visit his people in the Alexandra Township, where there has been an outbreak of xenophobic violence during the last month. He took me to the place where people live with one toilet between 15 houses, no privac..View Complete Post Wednesday 30th April 2008, 21:56Three Women Improving Peoples LivesThree Women Improving Peoples Lives
A few weeks ago I had the honour of being able to travel to Rajgarh which is in the Rajasthan region of India. Sidharth Misra and I had been invited to visit the Mittal Community Centre and meet the team who have set up this centre to deliver services to the community of Rajgarh. Our host was Mr. Vishwanath the Secretary of the , Gita Mittal Foundation..
The Mittal Community Centre is committed to making an impact on the Millennium Development Goals. In particular I was shown a project that is reducing infant mortality rates and reduc..View Complete Post Monday 17th March 2008, 13:11Ann Woods an unlikely pioneer ................
I was first contacted by Ann Woods almost two years ago. Ann had watched a late night viewing of a TV programme about Emma Harrison and A4e. Ann was inspired by the vision of Improving Peoples Lives and was moved to find our web site and contact me through the Blog pages. Ann enquired if A4e was operating in Australia and if not, why not and what were our plans for setting up ASAP.
I agreed to meet Ann in Sydney early last year to give her a greater insight into A4e and also to gain an insight into the need she had identified for A4e in Australia.
Ann is best desc..View Complete Post Friday 7th March 2008, 09:53Paul Potts
I was thinking of Paul Potts And his rise to fame and I was thinking about what an ordinary humble man he was and totally unassuming. I watched his You Tube first audition and watched in wonder at the faces of the judges as he took his place on the stage in front of an audience and panel of experts who had already judged him if not a loser then certainly not a winner.
And there he stood, anxious, lacking in confidence and self esteem. Bare to the judgements of strangers.
And then he sang.
And boy could he sing. The judges moved to tears, the audience s..View Complete Post Friday 7th March 2008, 09:47Trust
In all our work trust is a critical component. When we are commissioned to deliver a service on behalf of one of the governments with which we work, they have indicated a level of trust in our ability to honour the contractual and spirit of the contract signed by both parties.
When entering into a community for the first time we seek to earn a level of trust so that members of this community have the confidence to entrust us with their future aspirations. In many of these communities trust is something that has broken with many of the agencies charged with delivering services..View Complete Post Thursday 28th February 2008, 21:20OutsidersOutsiders
In so many of the communities in which we work our mission takes us into the world of those in our society who see themselves as outsiders. Whether it be in England with the excluded groups of people in poverty, people with disabilities, prisoners or those who feel they live on the wrong side of the tracks, or Germany with the Turkish communities, France with the North African communities, Australia with the Aborigine and Torres Straits communities, India with those who live in the remote rural areas or today in Malmo with the immigrant Iraqi communities they all share th..View Complete Post Sunday 20th January 2008, 02:05Emma's DadAs you will have seen from Emma’s blog her Dad passed away last week after a long illness. Emma says we should not be sad as he had a wonderful life and achieved so much in his lifetime. Reading Emma’s blog it is clear to see his actions and values have moulded Emma’s life and given her the energy, passion, leadership and resilience she demonstrates each day in A4e.
My own memory is from 2005 when Emma, Jim and I travelled to Israel to see the new A4e centre delivering services to all parts of the community in Jerusalem. When I met up in the evening Emma told me s..View Complete Post Sunday 20th January 2008, 01:09The Foundation for Social ImprovementAt the last Group Board meeting we had a presentation and update from Pauline Broomhead the CEO of the Foundation for Social Improvement (FSI). Many of us first met Pauline when she was the working for the NSPCC as their National Fundraiser and together in partnership with Emma raised more than £57 million towards the Full Stop Campaign.
At the start of 2007 Pauline agreed to continue her partnership with Emma by heading up the Charity the FSI. This was quite a coup as Pauline is ranked within the top 10 fundraisers nationally in the UK. The vision for the FSI is to capacity ..View Complete Post |
Roy Newey's Archive
|