Please forgive this self indulgence, but the end of the year is the traditional time to reflect on your life and the things you have done. As I end 2020 I look at the range of commitments I have and what difference I am making, if any.
Currently I am Chief Executive of a Healthwatch organisation; the elected Regional Chair of Healthwatch in the West Midlands; I sit on the Board of the Honeycomb Housing Group based in Stoke and am an Independent Director of the Aster Housing Group based in Devizes; I am also Chair of the International Centre of Excellence for Community Schools; and a Trustee of the Equalities and Inclusion Partnership. Politically I am Policy Chair and NEC member of the Co-op Party, and sit on the Labour Party Regional Board where I Chair the Conference Arrangements Committee.
If I was not continually surrounded by incredible and supportive people, all of this would simply be impossible to sustain. When push comes to shove we still instinctively pull together and support each other.
I also reflect that in May 2021 I will have completed 49 years in public service. It started with my time in the Army (including Tours of Northern Ireland), through service in Local Government and the NHS, in a range of Charities and Voluntary Organisations, School Governance, and in the Credit Union movement. In all of this time I have met some amazing people doing amazing things, I also find that I am still learning new things every day.
So as I look around me I understand how tempting it is to believe that, under the pressures of the pandemic, Brexit, and Climate Emergency, things have not really changed that much. We still have child poverty, homelessness, bigotry in many forms, unemployment, a crisis in Mental Health and social care, and the list goes on. It is easy to believe that all we have done for so long has made very little difference.
But, whilst I acknowledge all of this, I remain optimistic about the future. Things today do feel very different from when I started. There is far more awareness now, a far greater understanding of the world around us and our place in it, and that process is continuing. The new generations are forging new ideas and new ways of thinking which will continue and accelerate our journey to a better place.
I still feel I have much more to do, but soon enough it will be time for me to hand over to a new generation. I wish I could have accomplished much more, made more of a difference, but I have faith in those that follow me and I have hope that they will be the best of us. I wish them luck.
Chris Bain 