I am delighted to start my five year term as FoGA chair. In striving towards our vision in ‘Co-operating for a contented neighbourhood’, I aim to ensure that FoGA stakeholders – being our patrons, our local councils and our residents – interests and influences, are represented and addressed.
I am sensitive to the fact that FoGA may not yet have properly communicated its core principal of being wholly accepted as party apolitical. We, and I specifically, will strive to encompass and integrate one nation, co-operative and community interest principles, in 2022 to overcome this. This is because FoGA wish to embody and represent the very best of our locality.
Recognising that assumptions about ‘party political biases’ cannot be easily eradicated, our patron stakeholders [1] have set an intention that FoGA, and me, should strike a balance between any local party political interests. This is because those interests tend to direct and influence our local councils, who are critical stakeholders, and party conflict should not interfere in the public interest. They have directed me to police FoGA approach transparently, fairly and with a focus on our impact.
Our local stakeholder councils are represented by their published strategies, plans & policies, delivered by their hard working officers, whom FoGA volunteer stakeholders are motivated to support and seek guidance from. Finding, engaging and managing volunteers is challenging work, which I will direct most of my attention to.
Volunteering is necessary and now even more vital, because local government finances are likely to be constrained post (or in the event of an enduring) Covid. Value for Money, that is effectiveness, efficiency and economy need to be the watch words of all of our efforts.
We engage our resident stakeholders through regular surveying and frequent direct contact. Our feedback is delivered via this website, through quarterly leaflets directly delivered to doorstep, and newsletters, normally via social media. FoGA member’s attend local events and are always out and about. In this way, we communicate and explain our decisions and focuses. Where possible, we will provide support for residents to solve their issues, themselves.
However, alongside our regular rights of way and greenspaces work, and in addition to working with local community groups, FoGA are developing added value services.
On occasion we will campaign on behalf of residents. We have a clear campaign remit for doing so [2].
Keith Abrahams chair.fogasg16@gmail.com January 2022
[1] Governance
1a Our current patrons are Tim Lee, Sandra Barr, Usman Butt and Terry Tyler, who have set our governance and directed party political neutrality. My role is to listen to the nuances of stakeholder needs and deliver action that is aligned. I have not yet secured a fifth patron.
1b We also look carefully at the manifesto’s of the local county & district form May 2021, seeking to address the concerns raised by surveying and engaging with residents.
1c We also stay alert to the communications of local councillors.
[2] Campaigns
2a We have a neutral policy on campaigning, ordinarily focused on raising the issue rather than proposing. I have one interest that could conflict with this, which is that I am an active campaigner for ’20’s plenty’, being a maximum speed of 20 on our side streets where people play, learn, live and work. Current Campaigns – Friends of Great Ashby (friends-of-great-ashby.org)
Friends of Great Ashby 
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