More things I had to do

I am gradually getting rid of those long-outstanding things from my list; birthdays to remember, parties to organise, wills to execute, committees to set up. So the focus is moving on.

We have made very good progress with

• the review of how Herons Wey operates although there is still much to do to increase the income - I need someone to look carefully at our pricing and see if we would ever break even or if we need to be more active users of grants; and
• a review of County. I am very pleased with the new Mission which should be published in Air and Share and Guiders will be hearing a lot about. it says:

Mission and Vision
Girlguiding Surrey West is committed to Girlguiding UK’s vision of enabling girls and young women to fulfil their potential and to take an active and responsible role in society. We support this by;
§ Attracting people of all ages to help the girls who join us participate in our distinctive, stimulating and enjoyable programme of activities;
§ Training adults and Young Leaders in the skills they will use in Guiding;
§ Inspiring them to continue giving us support;
§ Facilitating delivery of Girlguiding UK’s programme through the provision of and access to essential resources;
§ Providing a flexible and supportive environment; and
§ Combining respect for the individual with having fun.

This might be aspirational at the moment but it is what we are going to try to get right in future. As it is quite wide-ranging much will fit under it but, possibly more importantly, we need to drive out those sins of both omission and commission that stop us keeping to this commitment. Work has already started particularly around adult support with a review of our induction processes; we have set up a retention working group to consider how to retain skills; we are looking for Guide and Brownie Adviser teams to make sure good practice is shared and an exciting range of activities are available; we are encouraging jobshares and other flexible practices and publicising them. The last bullet is one we think underpins everything we do - and we don't need to do more than state it. I hope you agree.