Season’s greetings to everyone, wherever you may be.
In so many ways it is hard to focus on the positives as we head toward the end of 2021. It is a year many will be keen to forget. Without doubt there have been exceptionally difficult times. Few of us would have anticipated Christmas 2021 would be so similar to the disruption we faced in 2020. Too many of us have experienced personal loss or have struggled with all the uncertainty and ambiguity we have been forced to face. And as we turn to the new year, it is hard to do so with the positivity usually associated with the expectation we will be starting afresh.
But within everything that has happened I believe there is a lot for us to remain positive about.
This has been a year of significant change at ECT. In the midst of the pandemic Anna retired as CEO after so many years involved in the organisation, and I took on the role. But the strength of the team meant any potential risk during the transition simply never surfaced. Instead, it became an opportunity to improve the way the organisation works together – led by the board and senior team but involving everyone. The entire staff team may have stepped up whenever a need was identified during the lockdowns, but they also responded to changes to their roles, the needs of their passengers, and the need to deliver our services throughout the year with commitment and professionalism.
More widely, the support from all our clients has proven how important it is to build relationships to enable true partnership working. They have been open, willing to listen and supportive at all times. And ECT have made sure we returned the favour by trying to adapt and respond when some new obstacle appeared. The potential disconnectedness of home-working and on-line communication took some getting used to but also means getting to a meeting, and involving a wider audience, is now much easier. Our thanks go to them all and to our key contacts who have been absolute stars throughout all the confusion.
Similarly the network of charities we work with proves the impact we make together is much more than we could ever achieve as separate entities working separately. This is definitely the case with the many community transport organisations at a local and national level. As we all emerge from 2021 we are already talking of new ways to do more together, with new partnerships and a planned revision of our well-respected social value toolkit gaining a lot of interest.
Our heartfelt thanks go to everyone involved with ECT. And best wishes for this Christmas and may 2022 be a considerable improvement on 2021!
-- John Chesters, CEO
