Flagging...

This has been a difficult week: I have made a lot of contacts with different groups; I even drove all the way to Teesdale to a Visitor Network meeting and arrived late having got lost. I came back on the opposite side of the valley I drive past to get to work. It was stunning. I arrived at the meeting as they were gloating about their "hidden gem" status. My first contribution was to suggest that patting themselves on the back for being "hidden" was counter-intuitive for a visitor network because people just don't know about the region- people in Newcastle and Durham are as ignorant of the area as Londoners which makes the job of promoting it more difficult ("derr")...

It has been a week of meetings which have disrupted my aim to have a draft budget to work on next week before producing a draft development plan for my boss the following week. I am finding the council's systems as frustrating as I expected. I understand the need for security in all things but Boy!!!: it makes everything sluggish and difficult to use. have had little opportunity to work through admin jobs with looming deadlines. It took me 9 days to write up the notes from the launch of a creative enterprises network and create the social media profiles for it etc. I began to worry about having taken on too much- but then I don't think this sort of thing will happen that often but it has left me drained. I have explored some exciting ideas that will bring new activities- and with them; new customers to the Centre. I am also raising the building's profile and with it an awareness of retail and office space to rent. If we were to achieve maximum occupancy, the deficit would be reduced by 80%, add to that additional income from a new programme of events, activities and services attracting new visitors and the corner is turned well ahead of my two year deadline. I've got a development plan and master budget to complete next week and I have still not got full access to council systems when I am off site. I may be forced to stay late a couple of nights this week to make sure I deliver. 

The worst part is being short of cash! I was broke at the beginning of the week and don't get paid until the end of next week when most of my income will be spent within an hour of it hitting my bank account. The most crucial expense is fuel- it's 33 miles to work and there's no easy public transport link, I think it would take most of the day to get there by bus- and then only on a couple of days per week. I'm sponging off several friends to get by or get stranded. I am slightly soothed by the knowledge that I've bailed most of them out financially at some or other time. LOL I was thinking: my income has fallen about 60% since I left London! It is just as well it is possible to have a good quality of life up here without so much cash. It will take me about 6 months to get back to the level I was before I was made redundant. I am juggling creditors and drip-feeding them payments to keep them sweet- or at least: at arm's length. There is something debilitating about working hard and not seeing the financial rewards.

I made contact with my friend at the project in Leadgate: things had stalled since his accident (he nearly cut off his hand with a rotary saw) I had been helping him to get onto the Enterprise Allowance Scheme and trying to keep under the radar of the hostile (to me) owner- he just got in the EAS before it was abolished. His on-off 'love interest' came back on the scene and for a while was happy because he actually needed looking after. The more he recovered, the more miserable she became. I do feel sorry for her; she is struggling with mental health issues and personal hurts, but when she is with him he changes, not for the better, others notice it too. I timed my visit well as she had irritated him to the point where he had decided to avoid her for a while. I am concerned she might harm herself. Understand: I don't dislike her, but her energy is 'vampiric' -especially around him: she sucks positivity out of a situation, particularly if he is enjoying himself- she can't seem to bear it and she looks depressed and unhappy.

Some guy who bought a projector off him on ebay is threatening us with legal action: 32 days after receiving the purchase he claimed there was something wrong with it- before it was sold it had been checked by a technical engineer who had been staying at the building. My friend told him to return the item, but he refused asking for money for a part instead - which was refused, ebay have been involved- and refused to support him so he is going after the directors of our CIC to be reimbursed!!! I am in no position to seek legal counsel, but it does seem like he doesn't have much of a case.

In other news: the Snap General Election called by Selfservative Prime Minister Theresa May blew up in her face: Hoping to consolidate her position to go into Brexit negotiations despite securing the most votes and seats she lost her majority in parliament and Jeremy Corbyn's Labour party are resurgent. Corbyn captured the imaginations of many young people who are responding the Brexit and to the Selfservative's failed "Austerity" programme that has seen benefits to young people severely cut and their future abilities to live independent lives curtailed. Labour have promised to stop the 'programme' and reverse key policies like tuition fees and cutting benefits that force young people to remain dependent on their families. 

There has been a tragic fire in a London tower block that has killed at least 70 people (tbc). The Selfservative response has been terrible- more so since it has been revealed that 79 of their MPs, who also happen to be landlords have consistently voted down legislation about habitable buildings that might have prevented the tragedy. Theresa May has come across as a cold, unfeeling coward, whilst Jeremy Corbyn has been literally embraced as a man of the people. The Selfservatives are horribly discredited AND are struggling to come to an agreement with the Democratic Unionist Party from Northern Ireland- formed by Ian Paisley to help them to form a government with enough seats to deliver legislation. I remember thinking when I saw Paisley on TV in the 1970s that he was one of the most evil people around. -With his purchased reverendship he spouted vile bile LOUDLY whenever he got the opportunity. The DUP have weird fundamentalist pseudo-Christian beliefs akin to American Bible-belters. This has not gone down well with the average Brit, most of whom (at least on the mainland) hadn't even heard of the DUP. The Selfservatives are literally clinging onto power like moss on a rock. Meanwhile, Jeremy Corbyn rocks up to the Glastonbury Festival and draws as big a crowd as any band to listen to him speak! They've been chanting his name like a drunken football song.

I doubt the Selfservatives will survive for long. Everyone expects May to be gone soon- though she is taking so much flak the rest of the Selfservatives are cowardly waiting to see how much she can absorb before any of them stick out their necks. I hope and expect their to be another election this year, certainly within 12 months. The sooner it happens, the more likely it is that Labour will be outright winners, which is another reason for the Selfservatives to continue clinging to their rock.