I unusually see a copy of the Municipal Journal (for 10th July 2008) about Hazel Blears’s ‘people power’ white paper. The front page highlights from it that the MJ can dredge up include, for the ‘Third Sector’ cutting barriers to councils commissioning faith groups (that is finding ways of giving power to not very many people in minority groups), grassroots grants (that is small grants for organisations that don’t have the capacity to do very much) and involving the third sector in local management schemes. Are hospices involved in local strategic partnerships? Should they be? According to an article inside, by the authoritative George Jones and John Stewart, there are going to be sustainable community strategies. I think hospices ought to get themselves involved in this sort of thing, which often seems to be the province of planning in deprived urban communities. All communities, but particularly deprived urban communities, are awful at sustaining help to bereaved and dying people. Its still a real syndrome of crossing to the other side. So I’d like to see sustainable communities with a plan for how they’re going to increase the competence of people to respond to dying and bereaved people in their midst.
Jones, G. and Stewart, J. (2008) The democracy of partnerships. Municipal Journal. 10th July 2008: 24-5.

Pics of the rebuilding at St Christopher’s, now under way, in solidarity with all colleagues working through a difficult time, to make things better in the future:
New routes