Community First

On Sunday night I was lucky enough to be at Manchester Arena on a birthday night out with my brother listening to Professor Brian Cox and Robin Ince. I learnt a lot that evening, but what really resonated with me was Brian’s insights into what people say about planet Earth when they return from space. To be so far away and look at Earth as such a tiny dot, we suddenly realise how tiny, vulnerable and insignificant we really are.

As I write this, the team are just about to head over to the Mechanics Institute for today's Emergency Voluntary Sector Assembly event to discuss the impact of Council budget proposals on the work of the voluntary and community groups in Manchester.

Four weeks to go and the Spirit of Manchester Festival is building up nicely.

 Out of the many reasons I applied for an internship, probably the one I dwelt on most was the fear of being unprepared for the real world come summer 2015 when I graduate. As I scrolled through available opportunities nothing appeared to spring out at me and I had almost become resigned to the fact that I would return home for the summer in search of any sort of employment that would tide me over till September.

One of the things I love most about working in the voluntary sector is that if you have a really good idea you can generally find a way to make it happen. It might take a while – things like our State of the Sector and Civil Economy work were on my wishlist for years before we were finally able to publish the finished work. But sometimes you can be taken by surprise at how fast you can go from the idea to it actually happening.