Please read the details of our meeting programme for London Funders for spring. We have all sorts of interesting opportunities for you to meet other funders and talk about some of the current issues relevant to your work and aspects of funding practice and where we would be pleased to hear your news and views.

March and April topics include a guide to quality systems (18 March), the many ways money can foster the voluntary and community sector in addition to grants (28 March), updates on work around the Olympics (4 April), the plans being unrolled for the new research centre on giving (8 April), new research on supported volunteering to encourage people with special needs build skills and confidence through engaging in voluntary activity (19 April). Details of all these are in this e-bulletin.

We are also doing our level best, with London Voluntary Service Council, to get the Mayoral candidates together in a hustings event for you have a chance to put them to the question on issues you care about. We will email you as soon as we can confirm this.

Members will be hearing from us in the next few days about the AGM. This will be in May and will be part of a half day members meeting on a range of aspects of funding work for young people. The first communication from us will be about our need to hold an Executive Committee election. There are four vacancies on the Committee. Several existing members of the Committee have to stand down at the end of terms of service: they are eligible to stand again and all our members are asked to think about nominating them or others to the Committee for the next three years. We will hold an election if we have more than four nominations. Please have a look at the paperwork when it arrives – London Funders has a great Committee, with a lively mix of different sorts of funders represented, and they have good debates as well as offering the Secretariat a wise steer on strategy and direction.

Belinda and I will, as ever, be pleased to have feedback on London Funders’ plans and priorities, and your good ideas for further activities.

With every good wish for your work, Gaynor Humphreys