The Boy Now Knows....

I've just got back from London where I met up with Dave (my son and heir) to tell him about all this.  Dave is in the middle of his 2nd Year exams at LSE, so I wanted to wait until there was a gap in his schedule to let him know.  Thankfully he was really pleased.  We had a meal at wahaca, a Mexican restaurant just south west of Covent Garden - very good indeed.

Thanks

It's worth noting that my enthusiasm for getting more involved with the charity sector and volunteering was first stimulated by my good lady wife, Jan, who has spent many a long year gently nagging me to do more in the wider community.

And secondly, I got a huge benefit from the excellent programmes developed and offered by the Foundation for Social Improvement who do a great job supporting small charities across the UK.  Here's a plea - if you work in a small charity in the UK and want to build your knowledge and skills, get in touch with the FSI.

And thirdly a big thanks to Integration Support Services, the charity that I've only recently joined as a Trustee for letting me do this project.  I'm working on a new website for them, and the pressure is on to get it done before I go.

Overwhelming Response

Yesterday I emailed all my UK clients to let them know that I was going to be out of the country for 3 months in the very near future.  I'm really grateful the positive feedback from them all - even though it might in theory cause them a few difficulties if I'm not able to respond to issues from them with the speed to which they may have become accustomed.

I'd just like to record my appreciation to them for their understanding, support, and good wishes.  All being well any issues or requirements that do arise I'll be able to handle from Malawi.

How Brilliant Is This?

So what's this Malawi thing all about?

It started for me at the end of April, when Jan (my wife) came back from a meeting in London with a copy of the Metro newspaper.  In it was an advert from Challenges Worldwide (CWW) asking for volunteers to join a project team based in Blantyre, Malawi.  

The project is funded by the Scottish Government, and aims to build an indigenous consultancy capacity in the country through UK consultants working on live projects for micro, small and medium-sized organisations, and also training and mentoring local apprentice consultants.

It struck me as a well-defined and sustainable approach and one that seemed extremely worthwhile, so I called CWW up and received a load of information.  There was a need for a new consultant to get out to Malawi urgently to work on a new client requirement, so on 17 May I had an interview, was offered the position, and my e-tickets to Lilongwe with Kenya Airways arrived in my inbox this afternoon (18 May).

It's now all a question of rushing about to get all my stuff together ready for the off.  I can't wait.