Thoughts of a CEO November 2022

Well, this is our last newsletter of 2022, and what a year it has been: War in Ukraine, cost of living crisis, inflation, droughts and floods, Government turmoil and strikes. In the face of everything that seems bleak, and with little optimism about improvements in 2023, it is even more important to focus on the positives so here are my personal and professional highlights of 2022.
Helping get the Surrey VCSE Alliance up and running represents a great opportunity for our sector to get front and centre of health and care integration in a way we’ve never seen before. It’s early days, but definitely has the potential to make a massive difference to our sector and residents of Surrey.
Despite the challenges, the VCFS in Surrey remains strong – 4,500+ registered organisations and 2-4 times as many community groups all working tirelessly on behalf of others (you are all stars!)
The Surrey Charities Forum is going from strength to strength, bringing in people from across the VCFS, SCC, Districts and Boroughs and Health to share information, discuss, debate, agree and collaborate on issues common to us all.
SCC carried out an infrastructure review that demonstrated the great service we, the County’s CVSs and other infrastructure charities offer to other charities and community groups across Surrey.
Hybrid working is here to stay and we have done our bit by making our conference rooms at Astolat hybrid-friendly with new screens and video conference equipment in all three rooms (contact us to find out more!).
Our 2022 annual conference, the Charity Mash-Up was a rousing success with well over 130 people coming together in Woking for keynote speakers, workshops and market place.
One thing that is common across all of the above, and the hundreds of things I didn’t mention, is the amazing bunch of people I get to work with every day. Even if it feels like the odds are stacked against us at times, I’m pretty certain that this dedicated, tireless, fearless and unwaveringly optimistic group of people will rise to the occasion and do even greater thigs next year. I’m proud to work alongside you.