social enterprise

I knew the 30 day challenge would have one challenging day and yesterday was that day and I only managed to survive the challenge through luck rather than design. I was a keynote speaker at the North Yorkshire Forum for Voluntary Organisations Conference and at the Social Enterprise Networking event that followed in York. My only option to go to York was to drive and I knew this would be problematic as the centre of York is devoid of free parking options and there were limited spaces at the venue.

I had to stop at the office before going to York and was subsequently late setting off and when i arrived in York I had trouble locating the venue in the car, being a Medieval City it is not really setup for motor vehicles, and I ended up having to park in the Castle Car Park. Being suitably annoyed at both being unable to locate the venue by car and having to potentially purchase my parking from the City of York Council, who cannot be classified as a Social Enterprise even in its widest definition. I approached the parking meter disheartened and on reaching the parking meter realised that the only way I could pay for the parking was using a pay by phone system and I then spent 15 minutes and about 60 key presses thinking I had paid for the parking. Anyway after getting some helpful directions from a denizen of York, I arrived at the Priory St Centre   for a very interesting day hearing from senior players in regional, local goverment and the VCS sector as well as a well-attended social enterprise network meeting. Anyway when I got back to the car I found a parking ticket, so in fact I didn’t pay for the parking and did not fail the challenge as:

1. A parking ticket isn’t a purchase it’s a fine and
2. Even if it was I won’t be paying it until the 1st December

That evening I was going to a fundraising dinner with Goodwin Development Trust  in Hull, where the after-dinner speaker  was Lord Mandelson of Hartlepool and Foy, Secretary of State for Business, Innovation and Skills who sadly didn’t mention Social Enterprise although spoke about the interesting concept of Industrial Activism.  Anyway my fuel gauge was depleting and I had to refer to my handy print-out of Co-op Petrol Stations in Yorkshire and after the formalities were complete I drove 8 miles to Hedon, which is actually in the East Riding, with my fuel gauge blinking all the way and a slight concern I might not make it and what effect this might have on my 30 day challenge!

So after 26 days of the challenge I reached a couple of points where failure seemed a real possibility, but I got through it, showing the resilience of the sector and of those of us who work in it.

On a more positive note my Camden Calling CD arrived, but I am still waiting for that eco-kettle so we are still boiling water in a saucepan.