This blog has moved

This blog is now located at http://presidentsblog.cih.org/.
You will be automatically redirected in 30 seconds or you may click here.

For feed subscribers, please update your feed subscriptions to
http://presidentsblog.cih.org/feeds/posts/default.

A Special Night In Northern Ireland

My life as President is pretty active at the moment and much of it involves, making a speech, food and drink, unsurprisingly I find myself two kilograms heavier than last year.

The other odd occurrence is that I seem to have become a talking point for the Housing Press, was Howard wearing a tie? - Come on guys there are enough serious issues about.

On Thursday 25th February, I flew to Belfast to speak at the first Northern Ireland's Awards Dinner. What a great evening, I was flanked by Ministers from both sides of the border, a great example how collaboration across jurisdiction is working well. David McCallum did a sterling job by kicking the evenings events off which was followed by the achievement awards. The whole thing was then topped off by music from one of the top local bands.

It was a privilege to be invited and to speak at a celebration of real achievement. I have been a visitor to Northern Ireland over the past 20 years and I have been impressed with the progress over the last few years. Housing has proved to be a focal point for community change and long may it last.

CIH is also changing to meet the developing agenda and is making significant progress in gaining members in the South.

A really great event that celebrated real professionalism and excellence in the sector.

Fun Fundraising

Well I am home safe and sound from Mumbai and what an experience it was. I met the Director of Housing for Mumbai and was able to better understand the issues facing the authorities. One of the bigger 'problems' to address is how to scale up the intervention work that is required of some if the rebuilding of the slum areas is to take place.

We discussed the concept of Housing Associations, how they worked and how they could have a role in delivering scale. this discussion naturally lead to the relationship between Housing Associations and Government and the nature of a regulatory framework.

One of the useful outcomes that I have been able to initiate since my return has been to make the connections between Homeless International and the TSA (in the form of Peter Marsh, who has always taken an active interest in this type of work).

At a personal level I gained a great deal of understanding about the issues facing pavement and slum dwellers. I have a powerful story to tell and can now explain how any support we can provide can really change the lives of some of the poorest people on the planet.

Nearer home I have been pretty busy with a series of speaking events and fundraising initiatives. In January, ConsultCIH and HouseMark organised a 'Battle of the Bands' in Solihull. Wates Living Space, helped sponsor the event which raised £4,200 for Homeless International. It was one of the best nights I have been to for a long time. We had a lot of fun. I have the photographs of some of my colleague Chief Executives dancing in the spaces between tables (they are getting a bit long in the tooth to dance on them any more). But I think I will save those photos in case I ever need them.

Then there was the Presidential Dinner in the Natural History Museum on the 10th February. What an amazing environment for a dinner, the Central hall of the Museum with 740 guests miniaturised by the fossilised remains of a Diplodocus Dinosaur. This is the big event dinner in the Presidential year and we tried to lighten the feel of the dinner this year to make it an enjoyable evening with a serious message. To highlight the work of Homeless International, the Apprentices from West Mercia Homes displayed the portable 'slum dwelling' that they had researched, designed and built to represent visually the type of dwelling that is home for millions of the worlds poorest people.

When you make changes you are never going to please everyone, but I have now had over 100 individuals 'feedback' comments and with a few exceptions these have been incredibly positive and we are already taking bookings for next year. Weeks after the event I am still receiving positive emails and at a separate awards event the other day I was approached by half a dozen individuals who sought me out to say how much they enjoyed themselves. This success was in no small part due to the good planning and extremely hard work put in by Richard Docker and Carole Garner at CIH - well done you guys - who were last seen (allegedly) heading off to bank the £4,200 we raised on the evening in aid of Homeless International.