Phil Horrell, the Deputy Regulator (who has been in the CIC office since the beginning of time!), presented at his last CIC event before retirement and jetting off to sunnier climes (Australia so I’m told).
The CIC office attended a CIC Association event this September in Birmingham which marked an end of an era and a beginning of a new chapter.
Phil was called upon by the event organiser John Mulkerrin of the CIC Association, not only as an Expert Panel member, but to give a masterclass covering CIC issues. You can just see him, third from the right in the picture below.
Other Speakers, Expert Panel members and those who gave Masterclasses included:
Kevin Caley – discussed alternative investment options.
Karen Cheney – gave a masterclass on ‘Community Asset Transfer.’
Heidi Fisher – gave a masterclass on ‘Social Value’.
John Mulkerrin – told us why he set up the CIC Association and showed us his passion and belief in the CIC model.
On the Expert Panel were Peter Hughes for the Charity Bank and
Denise Holle – a financial institution specialist.
The people who pulled everything together were Heidi Fisher (Make an Impact CIC) and Karen Cheney of Stirchley Baths, the host venue. They were assisted by the provision of tea, coffee and a delicious lunch all served by another of our long established CICs, ChangeKitchen CIC . The whole day was a great success.
Apart from an array of CICs covering a wide variety of services, there were representatives from Community Chest, Co-operative Business Telecoms and the Charity Bank providing invaluable information on funding and company loans.
The attendance at the event was encouraging with over a 100 attendees. Some of the CICs had stands and some were there to collect as much information as they could from those wishing to help Social Enterprises. We found that there were CICs offering each other support and tips on how they have grown as well as the lows and highs they’ve had on their CIC journey.
These included:
- MerseySpring
- Help4Wales Foundation
- The Social Enterprise Mark
- Appoint Us Services (Midlands)
- Feelgood Communities
One attendee is in the middle of setting up a CIC and said that, as he was new to the whole idea of setting up a social enterprise, he would be grateful for all the help he could get! Keep a look out for Rubbish Science and he’ll tell you how many ways you can recycle a plastic bottle!
Introducing Anne Vincent
It was also the first event for the new Deputy Regulator, Anne Vincent (third from the right in the picture above) to attend and see the ‘master’ at work. Anne found the day enlightening and was extremely pleased with all the interest in our stand. Our case study packs were very popular and vanished steadily during the day (so did the chocolates!!).
I was there as chauffeur and to man the CIC Regulators stand and I am in the photo with Anne, “get your pens and pencils here!!!”
And now the end is near ....
Phil’s Masterclass finished off the day’s events for the CIC team and Anne got the feel of the type of questions asked of the CIC Regulator. As always Phil gave a very interesting and informative presentation and will be a hard act to follow. The font of all knowledge on CICs he will be sorely missed by the team and the sector.
Good luck for the future Phil Horrell and Goodbye, or as they say in Wales – Hwyl Fawr!
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