So long and thanks for all the fish

Those of you familiar with the work of Douglas Adams will understand the importance of those words above, however I'm only really borrowing them for a far less important reason.

That is my departure from ChALC.

After six years, it is time to move on. Initially it appeared that the job would remain interesting and motivating for just a couple of years, mainly due to the requirements for "Development" to remain fresh, however the first couple of years were all about Quality. As in helping Local Councils achieve Quality Status. Although the focus for the next couple of years moved towards helping communities create their own council, as well as the preparation and implementation of the Community Empowerment parts of the Local Government and Public Involvement in Health Act (2007), Quality has thankfully never dropped off the agenda of ChALC and there are likely to be a couple of new Quality Councils in Cheshire later this month.

The focus of creating new councils brought a freshness to the job that surprised me (but only in hindsight as I'm not that good) and allowed some really good people to become involved in the first tier that would otherwise have had to take their skills elsewhere - or perhaps spent more time with their families.

Latterly, the move from the ten Principal Councils that ChALC interacted with to the present five has created so many interesting, challenging and inspiring actions for all of us at ChALC that there was never going to be a good time to leave, however there had to come a time as nobody ever got wealthy working with Town and Parish Councils - well not legally anyway - and my wife and I started a part time business to address our lack of pension provision a few years ago. That is now at the stage where it requires additional input to turn it into something to fully support both of us, hence the need to "give up" the work of ChALC.

Over the six years I've worked here there have been numerous people that have helped, cajoled, supported, been there or occasionally kicked up a fuss. Always this has been in a positive way in the end, although occasionally it was difficult to see how at the time. Even on a blog of this length there is insufficient space to thank everyone, however there are a few that deserve special mention...

At the National Association of Local Councils, all in the development team deserve outstanding praise for the patient way they worked to help me settle into both the ChALC and the NALC role, but clearly Justin Griggs is the one constant that has been there for all of the six years that I've been here. Whilst there are others who have also been there, the amount of time spent on phone calls, emails, meetings, seminars, conferences and latterly twitter with Justin has been well beyond the normal call of duty.

Within Cheshire there are three groups of people that have been essential in this venture. Firstly, the clerks and councillors of the "First tier" and more of them in a moment, secondly the staff and officers of ChALC and we will get to them soon also, however the third group are those officers and members of Principal Councils that have had such a huge impact on my role and indeed the wider work of ChALC. Although there are dozens that could be mentioned here, the main two I wish to thank are Lyn Raynor and Alison Armstrong. Alison for being the funder of this post for the first five years of course and working so hard to continue the funding now! Although that would be sufficient to deserve praise, Alison has been available well above the normal call of duty and is an absolute stalwart when it comes to our tier. From attending and involving all of us at the County Parish Conferences - and mostly remaining in the background - to being at so many meetings and ensuring ChALC received invitations to many other meetings, Alison has been there and I would particularly point out her work with the Cheshire Quality Forum as a huge commitment and success.

The other person who has been there for all of the six years I have been at ChALC - and for some time beforehand in my role as Town Councillor - is Lyn Raynor, whose knowledge of all things "parish" that affect and involve the County Council, and now Cheshire West and Chester Council, is encyclopaedic. Her appearance at so many of ChALC's Area Meetings, as well as the conferences, consultations and parish council meetings deserves praise alone, however mostly Lyn deserves appreciation for the work she does when "nobody is watching". It is all of this minutiae that takes hours of - probably boring - work to help so many of you, as well as answer the trivial questions that I put her way that makes Lyn a shining example of the public sector. Like so many of you, she never asks for appreciation or recognition, but this is the one chance I get to provide it so there you go.

Back to the first group in Cheshire, where there are a couple of councillors and clerks that are not involved in the "running" of ChALC that have been important in helping me out of the occasional hole I got myself into. In no particular order, these include (but are not limited to of course) Alan Warburton, Ann Banks, Steve Sharman, Jeanette Hughes, Brian Hogan. These are the clerks of course and the sad thing is there ARE too many councillors to mention.

One person out there has been of particular importance and that is the clerk to my own council, Jonathan Williams. Despite calling himself one of "that band of depressives that support Manchester City", those of you who know Jonathan will be aware he is least of all a depressive. As he now approaches 25 years as the clerk to Middlewich, he may not be the most experienced, but he taught me the basics of Local Council working and has supported me since 1999.

As far as those that ARE involved with "running" ChALC, the three Chairmen in my time have always been involved, open, available and even caring! Frank Thomas, Roger Parkin and now Stuart Hulse have one of the most difficult jobs around, yet they have carried it out - and in Stuart's case continue to carry it out - without looking for any external appreciation. Which is just as well as they rarely get it! From my perspective they certainly deserve significantly more appreciation than they have received, as does Brian Kerr for the Finance job he does, although he has helped me in more ways than finance.

As for the staff, Susan is a rock in ChALC, always being there for everyone who asks her to help, occasionally complaining about them, but never in a nasty way, always with a smile on her face - as you always notice at the many events you will have met Susan at. Her particular brand of humour is wasted on many people, including myself at times, but if Susan tells you she will do something, she will do it.

Lastly, but most certainly NOT leastly, the Chief Officer of ChALC has a role to fulfil that is impossible. Trying to keep councillors and clerks from member councils delighted is not achievable in itself, but then add to that ensuring the members of the Executive are mollified, pacified, informed, updated, located (yes, they do get lost occasionally), listened to and even fed and watered and you will see that it is a difficult job. There are huge swathes of Jackie's current responsibilities being ignored (interaction with Principal Councils, Government Office, NALC, other CALC, then the voluntary organisations... and the list goes on), again that is because of space.

Add to all of that the job of managing Susan and I, as well as Brenda for a while, then you can understand the importance of Jackie to ChALC, as well as to myself over the past six years. From the fledgling development role that expanded to become a small part of supporting the Local Councils in Cheshire when Jackie was not around, the role of Jackie patiently explaining for the umpteenth time the ins and outs of Local Council procedures, law and personalities should never be underestimated.

Let's hope for ChALC's sake they will not have to replace Jackie for some time, because when the time comes for her family to take first place again they are going to have a job and a half replacing her. Doubtless this thought will give the Admin panel some sleepless nights, but Jackie's input never gave me sleepless nights. And the fact that she is still there will continue to allow so many people involved in, or with, Local Councils in Cheshire much fewer sleepless nights than they otherwise would have had.

Thanks to you all, but especially for all the fish.

Chalky