6.22 — weeknotes — bumper summer edition — Distinction!

Ok so these are really month notes rather than week notes but have managed to have a bit of annual leave over the last month, so week notes took a backseat. The last week notes was 19 July… So this is the Summer bumper edition, reminding me of the Summer edition of the Beano when I was a kid.

I know I’m getting old when I start saying I can’t believe it’s almost September already and where has August gone…. but we started our Christmas rota planning this week!

I took the campervan out a couple of times at the end of July. Have bought a new awning so got that tested out, was amazing, so much better than the previous one. Even managed to withstand the monsoon that happened with an hour of heavy rain in the Sussex countryside! Upgraded to a blow up sofa as well in the awning — game changer!

Went to the Sunday for Brighton pride, for the Pride Village Party which is just on the seafront, not something I’d done before. But what a great day. Very chilled. Watched the Actually Gay Man Choir in the afternoon then a bit of lunch and perhaps a lemonade or two. Great day with friends and even bumped into a colleague!

Another mini break I was lucky to have, was to Benidorm. Second time I’ve been, love the series and it really is as classy as it appears. It’s actually a destination of two halves, the old town is lovely, very gay friendly and very chilled. The new town is….. ummmmm…. different to that, and an experience, but a lot of fun. Spent 4 days relaxing by the pool in the day and enjoying the local culture in the evening. Was a well needed break.

But in between taking the van out, we continue to move things along and achieve a huge amount. It used to me the case that August and December were quieter months — that has long passed and I think for the last few years certainly they continue to be full on months! In fact this week was a four day week which felt like 10 days had been crammed in!

We have had some challenges with the new planning system over the past couple of months. Slowly starting to see the light at the end of the tunnel. Everyone has been amazing and really focused on getting things sorted. But there has been an impact into the community and that has been really challenging to try and pick up and sort as quickly as we can. Getting there!

During this month we have the unrest across the UK. I’m not going to comment on the causes or what happened really. Needless to say the images we all saw across the country were shocking. Hounslow was mentioned as one of the locations for potential far right protests. This was the first time that we had formally stood up our emergency planning processes whilst I’ve been responsible for the resilience team.

Have to say throughout the whole week running up to the evening the team were brilliant. Informal arrangements had been stood up and bringing the right people across the organisation and borough. We stood up formal Gold arrangements the day before and we spent a lot of time planning and reassuring.

Thankfully everything was fine and as we saw across the UK, the counter protests were the main body of people and all safe. The Chief Exec did a Q&A the week after and made it very clear that racism or any nature is not welcome in the Borough or in the Organisation. Really bringing the values of the Council to life.

Last week I had the final assessment for my Level 7 Management qualification. Been doing this for around 18 months now, lots of learning and regular assignments culminating in submitting a portfolio of evidence and a strategic business proposal. Then 2 hours of presentation and grilling over it! Was horrible — but a lovely way to end the week — not only did I pass but with a DISTINCTION! So pleased / proud and relieved!

Ou Transforming the Community Experience is gathering momentum as well, loads of activities and work on this — new teams being created — new tech being designed…

Too much really to mention — normal weeknote services are now resumed…

Tune of the week: twocolors x Safri Duo x Chris de Sarandy — Cynical (Directed by Specter Berlin)