Adur VA AGM November 16 2012

AVA AGM November 2012

Our 2012 AGM was a memorable event, Chesham House was packed out, and the event attended by over forty people representing users, members, funders,local authorities and groups. In post modernist style, this blog is an attempt to interpret the meeting's significance and meanings for the participants, and for AVA's future.

The business section was kept brief, but we should note the attention drawn by our Independent Examiner, Darren Harding, to the draw on balances over the last year. As this is continuing over the current year, the Board are monitoring our financial position very closely. However, I did point out that our unrestricted balance was the same for 2011/12 as 2005/06, and that volunteers were now making a much more siginificant contribution to AVA than six years ago.

Now, the Speakers. Kevin Curley offered a skilled portrayal, scene-setting, of the world as it is for the local voluntary sector today. He drew out a number of important crossroads that we are facing. These included the issues being raised by campaigning voluntary groups such as Don't Cut Us Out, and the choices the sector faces about whether, or how, to support their campaigns. Kevin also explored the nature of volunteering, and how realistic are some of the expectations built into the "Big Society" ideology,which he saw as the flip-side of cuts in public sector expenditure. He drew out several practical suggestions, including the importance of good and close relationships between local public and voluntary sectors.

Paul Bramwell offered us a concise summary of the life of the Working Together Project. I found his account both moving and convincing. Here was a well-managed charity with clear, worthwhile goals that followed a social enterprise model for over ten years, to provide learning opportunities and training across the County. Yet whilst it wound up last year, governments are still exhorting us to build and rely on social enterprise models.Paul read us a long list of the sources of funding over this period, and this brought us up hard against the changes, which I later summmed up as "The World we have Lost".

What was my personal take on all this? I realised how much AVA had benefited from bringing these two speakers together, but that this benefit had been unplanned. I grasped the links with the challenges that AVA has faced over the last year, and will be facing over 2013. We need to be geared up to survive anything in the world to come, not keep trying to rebuild the world we have lost (in fact, AVA never had it to lose). Are we handling things in the right way? I asked of the speakers and AGM participants. AVA is committed to drilling down into its communities, and to functioning as an integral part of these - not as a delivered service. We're committed to strengthening self-help, both our own and others. We're committed to mutual aid across our networks, a model of mutual support based upon skill sharing rather than purchase-provider relationships, or service delivery contracts. We don't think CVS consortia to bid for major service delivery contracts are the way ahead. We want to stay small, personal and independent. My question to the meeting and speakers: is this realistic and sensible? Is it what people want? Does it chime with the points made by our speakers?

I was encouraged by the response of our two speakers, though would have liked to see a longer discussion across the room. However, I picked up various comments during over the excellent lunch (and thanks to Karen and Sarah for that) to the effect that our AGM "broke the mould" and sought to address issues that are often papered over. People also appreciated the human scale of our organisation and activities, our closeness to communities, and the sharp, very practical strategic focus summarised in the Annual Report.

Why post modernist? Well, post modernism argues that there is no single "reality" and no one truth - only interpretations, responses to the kinds of questions that we ask.  Running an  organisation means asking questions all the time, and answering them as best we can. Our questions and answers "make" our organisation, our reality. If it works for those involved, that's as far as we can go in the search for "truth".

So let's keep rediscovering our Americas, rejecting questions and philosophies that don't feel relevant, using our own networks and skills to work out how to do things for ourselves. Dig out the old copies of "Robinson Crusoe" and "Small is Beautiful", be the living evidence of why "I did it my way" is the most popular song ever.

Keep that rubber ball bouncing!