Survived! (Just) Now let's get going!
I wrote my last entry just before things got VERY uncomfortable for me...
I'd accepted so-called "Voluntary Redundancy" six months earlier and was running out of cash. My employers had enough cash to pay one of the two workers. I could have claimed the 'last in, first out' rule and fought to stay, but the other guy was a new dad and had only been in post for about six months and besides; having predicted the organisation would be in that situation as early as October 2009 and having submitted various proposals to avoid it that were politely ignored by the Board of Trustees, I was pissed off and wanted out. It really was strange. One of the Board confided that he hadn't actually believed my prediction would come about "so quickly". I reminded him that it was central to my job to have intelligence about the economic state of the sector the organisation purported to serve. I was confident I could "go it alone". I thought that without the restrictions of a Board of Trustees; most of whom were engaged with the work for a couple of hours every six weeks and who complained that I sent them too much information and then that I was doing things without their knowledge and understanding. I'd had enough! I wanted JUST ONCE to be in a position to make the decisions I believed to be right and the most effective. If it failed, I would perform public contrition to anyone I'd criticised to date and seek shelf-stacking in Sainsbury's...
Of course; I never expected to still be out of work six weeks later: I pursued a double strategy of applying for 4 or 5 jobs a week whilst developing a proposal for a capital project that would provide about 10 jobs and be commercially self-sufficient within 24 months... IF I could raise £750,000.
I lost count of the jobs I applied for, from minor clerical to major executive. I received four very nice replies and was interviewed for something I was relieved not to be offered. Things got BAD by Christmas, if it wasn't for the intervention of a friend, I might have had to give in to threats to repossess my home. It took hitting what felt like rock bottom for me to get my shit together, ask for help, fight back and demand my RIGHTS. in the previous 8 years I'd paid £80,000 in taxes, I'd paid £38,000 towards my mortgage and I was being threatened with reposition for a little over £2,0000??! WTF? I decided I would NOT let this happen!
And all the time, I noticed the work I'd developed over the last five years crumble away without so much as a "peep" of comment let alone protest. I could not see the services my former employer said would be delivered when I left. Former clients contacted me dismayed that they felt completely unsupported and asking for help. I decided to resurrect work I did in the late 1980s in South London and planned a freelance practice offering fund-raising and project development services to not-for-profit organisations. I realised that some of the things I want to do in the building for which I'd been making presentations to millionaires (and "esses") could at least be initiated. By organising activities in a range of different community buildings to start off with, it could develop long term relationships with other organisations if/when the capital project was possible.
So, as of 02/04/12, I am trading as "Arts Management and Consulting". I've set myself a target of £250,000 to raise in the next year for clients: Fifty successful applications at £5,000 (average) seeking 7% of funds raised as a fee. I start with three clients seeking a combined target of £90,000- its a good start. I'm also heavily involved with two developing organisations: a User-led ex-offender support project and an organisation to develop a commercially viable lgbt centre for Newcastle upon Tyne.
This is more like it!
Of course; I never expected to still be out of work six weeks later: I pursued a double strategy of applying for 4 or 5 jobs a week whilst developing a proposal for a capital project that would provide about 10 jobs and be commercially self-sufficient within 24 months... IF I could raise £750,000.
I lost count of the jobs I applied for, from minor clerical to major executive. I received four very nice replies and was interviewed for something I was relieved not to be offered. Things got BAD by Christmas, if it wasn't for the intervention of a friend, I might have had to give in to threats to repossess my home. It took hitting what felt like rock bottom for me to get my shit together, ask for help, fight back and demand my RIGHTS. in the previous 8 years I'd paid £80,000 in taxes, I'd paid £38,000 towards my mortgage and I was being threatened with reposition for a little over £2,0000??! WTF? I decided I would NOT let this happen!
And all the time, I noticed the work I'd developed over the last five years crumble away without so much as a "peep" of comment let alone protest. I could not see the services my former employer said would be delivered when I left. Former clients contacted me dismayed that they felt completely unsupported and asking for help. I decided to resurrect work I did in the late 1980s in South London and planned a freelance practice offering fund-raising and project development services to not-for-profit organisations. I realised that some of the things I want to do in the building for which I'd been making presentations to millionaires (and "esses") could at least be initiated. By organising activities in a range of different community buildings to start off with, it could develop long term relationships with other organisations if/when the capital project was possible.
So, as of 02/04/12, I am trading as "Arts Management and Consulting". I've set myself a target of £250,000 to raise in the next year for clients: Fifty successful applications at £5,000 (average) seeking 7% of funds raised as a fee. I start with three clients seeking a combined target of £90,000- its a good start. I'm also heavily involved with two developing organisations: a User-led ex-offender support project and an organisation to develop a commercially viable lgbt centre for Newcastle upon Tyne.
This is more like it!
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