Christmas Reflections

I love this time of year and not just for the Christmas cheer, but because I get to see the dawn without having to get up early!   All of this week we have had beautiful skies with incredible colours - each morning I have felt a sense of delight and wonder. 

This makes me think too of the changing of the seasons, the solstice, looking forward to spring and the New Year. It is a period for reflection too. What have I accomplished in the last year, what do I want to do differently in the new? 

Looking back on my year’s work I feel really lucky to have a job which is both challenging and rewarding and a fabulous team around me. I think that this is not unusual when working in the voluntary sector and I would like to say a huge thank you to all of you for making it such a wonderful sector to work in.

Looking ahead, I feel very excited about the New Year, not least because it’s only a few weeks until the evenings lighten, but also because we have plans for some really interesting work.

We will be holding some shared learning workshops, one around creating a new community hub in Chesterfield and one on Social Prescribing, we all know it is happening, but how can we work together to get the best outcomes for everyone involved? There are more training opportunities for voluntary groups coming up, on themes such as impact evaluation, marketing and volunteer management.

With very best wishes to you all for the Christmas and New Year.