What the hell has happened?
Yes, I know ... everything has gone quiet on the website front for months and months.
There have been a lot of changes this year for me. I was part of a group of residents - The Residents Liaison Committee - who attempted to look after the interests of residents at Sandford Starion. We were an elected group and should have stood for re-election in summer 2022, having been elected in 2020 (in the pandemic). We agreed to stay on without elections as St Monica was creating a new system of communication between residents and themselves to be know as Resident Voice. This was being created to replace a previous and short lived body called Village Council.
Sadly, during this time, the residents themselves had split into factions - some for the Residents Liaison Committee, some against and, probably a majority who didn't care one way or another and were happy not to, in any way, try to influence how the Village was managed.
From May 2022, St Monica had unilaterally refused to speak to the Residents Liaison Committee. Thus the management of the Village and, therefore, its maintenance both deteriorated further. In fact, in the end, the residents were forced to raise a Formal Complaint about the almost total lack of maintenance of the grounds.
Despite repeated requests for the presentation of what was proposed for Resident Voice, a year drifted by with nothing happening until a statement was made by St Monica which, essentially, said that that Resident Voice would not accept group representation, only representation from individual residents. At this point the Resident Liaison Committee, effectively, ceased to be.
Nevertheless, in the last year, a number of improvements have occurred. Probably the most important was that a new Head of Villages, Roger Hayward, was appointed. He has proved to be a worthy manager and has stopped (or is stopping) the slide of standards in the Village. Also, the Official Complaint has been responded to and the maintenance of the grounds has improved*.
*Observation tells me that no two gardeners want the same thing and that, whatever St Monica gardeners do, some residents will be happy and some won't. The important change is that the St Monica gardeners are actually doing something!
The residents are lucky that a new band of resident volunteers have stepped forward and created a new group called Social Link. This is in its infancy at the moment but it is going to work in a very different (and more harmonious) way.
For me, this takes a load of volunteer work off my plate and, quite frankly, I have done my time. I no longer run a meeting every week nor do the background work that that entails. I am still drafting a weekly Newsletter, Link News, for Social Link but hope that, at some point, they will take it over completely. Already I have more time available (which should enable me to update this website!). Obviously, being me, I am still involved with many things but at a more individual level.
I have so many other things that I want to do (or should do) so will not be bored! And then there is Margaret ...
Feel free to make suggestions / ask questions / come and stay. (Note : still absolutely no plans to do any cooking!).
There have been a lot of changes this year for me. I was part of a group of residents - The Residents Liaison Committee - who attempted to look after the interests of residents at Sandford Starion. We were an elected group and should have stood for re-election in summer 2022, having been elected in 2020 (in the pandemic). We agreed to stay on without elections as St Monica was creating a new system of communication between residents and themselves to be know as Resident Voice. This was being created to replace a previous and short lived body called Village Council.
Sadly, during this time, the residents themselves had split into factions - some for the Residents Liaison Committee, some against and, probably a majority who didn't care one way or another and were happy not to, in any way, try to influence how the Village was managed.
From May 2022, St Monica had unilaterally refused to speak to the Residents Liaison Committee. Thus the management of the Village and, therefore, its maintenance both deteriorated further. In fact, in the end, the residents were forced to raise a Formal Complaint about the almost total lack of maintenance of the grounds.
Despite repeated requests for the presentation of what was proposed for Resident Voice, a year drifted by with nothing happening until a statement was made by St Monica which, essentially, said that that Resident Voice would not accept group representation, only representation from individual residents. At this point the Resident Liaison Committee, effectively, ceased to be.
Nevertheless, in the last year, a number of improvements have occurred. Probably the most important was that a new Head of Villages, Roger Hayward, was appointed. He has proved to be a worthy manager and has stopped (or is stopping) the slide of standards in the Village. Also, the Official Complaint has been responded to and the maintenance of the grounds has improved*.
*Observation tells me that no two gardeners want the same thing and that, whatever St Monica gardeners do, some residents will be happy and some won't. The important change is that the St Monica gardeners are actually doing something!
The residents are lucky that a new band of resident volunteers have stepped forward and created a new group called Social Link. This is in its infancy at the moment but it is going to work in a very different (and more harmonious) way.
For me, this takes a load of volunteer work off my plate and, quite frankly, I have done my time. I no longer run a meeting every week nor do the background work that that entails. I am still drafting a weekly Newsletter, Link News, for Social Link but hope that, at some point, they will take it over completely. Already I have more time available (which should enable me to update this website!). Obviously, being me, I am still involved with many things but at a more individual level.
I have so many other things that I want to do (or should do) so will not be bored! And then there is Margaret ...
Feel free to make suggestions / ask questions / come and stay. (Note : still absolutely no plans to do any cooking!).
|
Here is an example of Link News - the Newsletter of Social Link. |
Back to the October tab ...