Stepping into the blogosphere

Well, here goes, with the first blog from Cumberland Lodge on a chilly sunny morning in Windsor Great Park. The place is just waking up - guests are wandering around looking for breakfast, staff gulping their first coffees to kick-start the day, builders already arrived to put the final touches to the refurbishment of Studio Cottage.

A new era starts today, with the arrival of Sir Stephen Wall to lead his first Executive Committee meeting as Chairman of our charity, succeeding Sir Eric Anderson (see photo) who retired at the end of January. That adds a little frisson, not knowing how Sir Stephen will approach his role and how the dynamics of the committee will change as a result. He was a career diplomat, so that bodes well. He has joined Cumberland Lodge at an interesting time, with all the anxiety about the state of the economy and its potential effect on the charity's business and core activities. A Government department just yesterday renegotiated the terms of a visit in August because of a steep funding reduction, costing us 25% of the value of a four-day meeting. Who knows where and when it will end?

Our own conference department is as busy as ever, and the only obvious negative there is the drying-up of sponsorship. The recent colloquium on Arts funding was a great success and we will have a full house for our imminent and very topical "Freedom from Fear: Public Perceptions of Crime and Justice". More on that soon.