Meetings and Leaflets

The last week has been very hectic with the main focus being delivery of leaflets.

Sunday saw a very successful MayDay Charity Fun Day at the Maypole in Borden - very very busy and they must have collected loads for the relevant charities including MacMillan Cancer Relief and Demelza House.

Tuesday was a Regional Health and Safety Committee in Guildford. Two years ago Management and the Trade Unions would hardly speak to each other, and there was a hideous atmosphere at these meetings. Since then, the Regional Management seem to have slowly realised that Trade Union H&S isn't about messing up the working day and bringing things to a halt - perhaps they'd been watching too many 70s sitcoms! Now that they understand that the TU Reps are generally more knowledgable, better trained, and more focussed on H&S and simply want to ensure that changes are made or prevented that will enable staff to work better under safer and more comfortable conditions, both side cooperate far more and we manage to get a lot of things agreed and progressed. You actually come out of these meetings with a positive feeling and a schedule for action!

The meeting went on late so I was quite late back home, with just enough time to grab some food before heading off to Newington Parish Council's AGM. I do like the way Newington runs its affairs - every Councillor has an area of responsibility, they always have good reports and feedback, and they get a lot of decisions made and progressed.

Wednesday - yuk! Had to spend the day sorting out my nominations - the part of campaigning I hate most! Couldn't get in touch with several people who had agreed to nominate me, and ended up handing my papers in to my Agent Roger Truelove at 9 o'clock... which meant I sadly missed the Bobbing AGM for the first time in several years.

Thursday and back to the stump with over 1000 leaflets delivered. Several supportive comments as I walked around and bumped into an old school mate and had a chat - sadly Charlton Athletic's progress this year didn't make for successful football stories, but at least the Gills might save the season!