Journal

Delightful dinner this evening at Admiralty House, London, hosted by the Office of the Third Sector  – with excellent catering by Jamie Oliver’s restaurant Fifteen.  In addition to social entrepreneurs I already knew – including Penny Newman (now of Fifteen), Nigel Kershaw of Big Issue Invest, Gib Bulloch of Accenture Development Partners and Reed Paget of Belu Water, I was delighted to meet people like Tokunbo Ajasa-Oluwa of Catch 22 Magazine and Sam Everington of Bromley By Bow.  Many of them were Social Enterprise Ambassadors.  Good chat, too, with Campbell Robb, who heads the Office of the Third Sector.  Downturn very much in people’s minds, but I found myself thinking of same rooms when occupied by Winston Churchill during WWII and my mood lightened considerably.

Never thought of myself as a diary-keeper, indeed had not kept a diary until 1989, when I completed a diary which was then turned into a book, A Year in the Greenhouse, by Victor Gollancz.  The first entry, for Friday, 23 December 1988, began as follows” In today’s world, a shotgun can sometimes be heard around the world.”  I then went on to talk about the assassination the previous day of Chico Mendes, who had fought to protect Brazil’s rubber and brazil nut reserves against the depredations of loggers and cattle ranchers.  Activists still run the risk of murder there.

Tonight, went along to the Royal Society of Arts for an evening with Elenira Mendes, Chico’s daughter, flanked by a panel including Jonathan Dove, Charlie Kronick of Greenpeace and Dame Vivienne Westwood.  Interesting flashes, and not (mercifully) by the once-knickerless-Dame, but overall the evening struck me as somewhat flat.  Dame Vivienne did her best pantomime party piece, alternately lauding Jim Lovelock and warning that 5 billion people will die this century before scooting off into la-la-land.

Early on there was lively applause for Greenpeace’s cunning plan of buying a plot of land smack-bang in the middle of where BAA wants to build its third runway at Heathrow.

Gaia took a number of us to the Soho Curzon this evening to see Slumdog Millionaire, the film she has been working on at Celador.  Wonderful to see her name rolling up in the credits at the end. Absolutely stunning film, though puts you through the emotional wringer any number of times on the way.  The kiss on the scar will live on in my memory.  Struck me that tthis could help raise awareness of a number of issues we have been associated with at Volans, particularly our work with Jeroo Billimoria’s Aflatoun, which helps teach children (including slum and street children) – in India and elsewhere – how to manage what little money they do get their hands on. 

Blur 1 Blur 2 Blur 3 (Roka)

Elaine, Gaia, Hania, Christine, Mickey and I went to see Slumdog Millionaire at the Curzon Soho this evening – in my case for the first time.  Totally blown away.  Then across to Roka in Charlotte Street for supper.  On the way across, my camera seemed to take on a slightly slumdog personality.

Cotswold frost (Tim Elkington)   One of a series of images sent this morning by my father, showing hoar frost in their garden yesterday.