His Master’s Voice: the next step

By David Woodward, Master

Another month has gone by and life is still very much restricted for us all. The Furniture Makers’ committees are all working hard, remotely, laying plans for our emergence from COVID-19, hopefully in the not too distant future.

A new two-year COVID-19 recovery strategy is in the pipeline and will be presented for acceptance at the December court meeting.  It will include the development of the regions to create a vibrant and active nationwide community. It will focus on growth in membership both corporate and personal, fundraising, promotion of our core pillars of education, welfare and excellence. The regional committees will be linked to the central committees and overseen by the first assistant and wardens.

It is time for me to reinvigorate the One Step at a Time campaign, to persuade more businesses to sign up as One Step Champions.

One Step at a Time was launched in 2019 to encourage companies to commit to communicating the support we provide to their employees. If you sign up as a One Step Champion, we will send you posters, help cards and digital collateral to display and share at your workplace.

With the end of the furlough scheme looming, redundancies will inevitably increase.  There has never been a more important time for our charity to be at the forefront and step up with positive help. Each and every one of us can help to make this happen by encouraging our employers, suppliers and fellow businessmen to register for the campaign.  It will enable us to reach more people in the trade, like Toby, who may have seen their financial situation change over the past couple of months. 

In the meantime, please continue to support the excellent virtual events and fundraising activities taking place, it all makes a difference. Apart from anything else it is good to see everyone on Zoom and keep in touch.

Finally, be positive, Things will get better. Stay safe and well.