Training to fit in with real people

Conservative MPs have been sent on a course to learn how to engage with,  black people and northerners. As the Tories begin looking to the 2015 election, the Mail on Sunday’s  James Forsyth reports that worried election organisers are dispatching out-of-touch MPs to training on dealing with the hoi polloi:“MPs were sent to a series of workshops on how to appeal to black and ethnic-minority voters, public-sector workers and northerners.”You can look at this in one of two ways - good that they have acknowledged the need or sad that they are so removed they have be trained to communicate with 

Wales - How much do we really know

I love history -and sometime feel a deep regret that I know more about foreign history than I do about my own countries amazing past.
Over at IWA blog there is a discussion on Huw Edwards new programme which explores elements of Welsh history and for me tempts more research and insight.
We have so much to learn about where we came from.The international trade we were part of hundreds of years back, The entrepreneurial culture we had , the exports we took part in. The innovations that happened here.The artifacts we don't know about, the historical sites that are so hidden and not given prominence.
I agree with Derek Jones who write at Click on Wales, we should and could have a programme on each element that Huw Edwards is  highlighting and many more that are mentioned in the blog.
The copper mine at the Great Orme, the Viking trade centre on Anglesey, the . the artificial island (crannog) in Llangorse Lake, only found and excavated in the 1990s. Constructed in 890 CE and burnt down by the Anglo-Saxons around 916, this royal palace of the then kingdom of Brycheiniog
Why doesn't the BBC do this ?
Why isn't  there an indepth   collection of all of these fascinating insights into the various aspects of our history - much more relevant and worth while that the 100 years war or such like.Is there a project there we could get funds for and to get it moving.
 Surely we can make room in between all the crap American junk we are fed for a series to explore our history more
The viewing figures are there.

Highest Tax in Europe

So over 60% of what we pay on petrol and diesel  goes to the government . It affects everyone.
Higher transport costs,haulage costs -they get passed on one way or the other .Small business gets hit ,just think of mobile hairdressers,trainers  plumbers etc.  petrol bills have almost doubled.
This is one way the government could actually ease the pain for a whole lot of people
Will they I doubt it ,taking the VAT down would be a start
There are ways that the hit we are all taking can be shared far more equitably, lets hope that the government can rethink the road its taking
We are all very aware that changes need to be made, that we cannot keep spending the way we are, that our debt has to be sorted.But you know there are many roads to take us to the point we need to be.
We may end up out of debt but at what human cost and you know Messrs Cameron and Osborne your prime concern is people may be you need to think more about that and open up that thinking .

news !

So they may bring back the WDA that would be surreal but a damn good idea

Charities -are they in needed of a rethink?

The charity sector has successfully negotiated many upheavals however there seems to be a fundamental shift at the moment  the sector really has to decided or is being forced to decide how commercial they want to be.

Many charities have government or council grants which they have used to deliver desperately needed services locally. Are those really grants or are they service level agreements 

But those "grants" are being cut and the recessions has  hit donations. 

Charities  can shift the fund raising up a gear,  This may  work short term  but do Charities need to have a fundamental review of their purpose and the way they operate to fulfil that purpose. 

 To  continue to deliver services, charities will need to find their own sources of income in a similar way to any other company to supplement donations.

 Many charities have plans to expand their retail shops to generate income, but donations are fading as people either keep stuff longer or look to get paid for it.

Others are looking at retailing goods bought in wholesale. This is main stream trading .Others are looking to expand catering facilities in cafes they run.

There is the UK  government's payment-by-results initiative, with a number of trial contracts in child welfare, substance abuse and re-offending which, if successful, will provide income streams

Scope has launched a £20m medium-term note programme to finance growth of their retail operation and acquisition of new donors.

As Nick Hurd, minister for civil society, has recently made clear in relation to the welfare-to-work programme, the government will not help charities that are struggling with the terms of contracts they have signed up to.

So do  charities need to attract  commercial talent, so that they are able to undertake robust commercial due diligence on such contracts, and other commercial activities, to mitigate risks. 

Do  existing management teams have the commercial experience and skill set to achieve this? 

After AWEMA and a few others slowly coming to light I would doubt that.  may be the larger national charities are there on this but most I know would more than struggle.

Trustee Boards also need to be more commercially aware and should have members that can offer that skill.

If you told a charity it had to make a profit or surplus it would probably do a lot of tutting and mumbling , but they have to do that now only they use different language. It may be time to revisit the whole concept of a Charity ,what it is and what it does. I often see the Voluntary sector as major earners or users of money - usually taxpayers or philanthropist cash. 

What the return is on all this money often defeats me. Some do amazing work on little money , others seem to act as if really does grow on trees. 

Charities don't pay tax are exempt from all sorts of tax, may be small smes and social enterprises could join this elite band - after all they deliver vital services to people who are often in the same band as the Charities.
Recession is often a time to do deep thinking and maybe it shouldnt just be the Statutory and private sectors having to do this.