I want to talk to you about shame.  The shame that is forced upon me by – and here’s the irony – the shameless judgement, cat calling and ignorance that people heap upon me when I am out and about with my grandson.   This is a child of seven with a variety of complex conditions, a vulnerable, loving, energetic, kind boy.  Yes, he is loud and chaotic too, and he doesn’t always behave in a way that makes people feel comfortable but is that a reason to keep him locked away?

I found myself thinking about Jess on Tuesday morning (25th March), the day after I stood at the podium at St. James' Park to launch the Society Matters Foundation. For those of you not in attendance, Jess's story is sobering - a 12-year-old with dreams of becoming a hairdresser who's facing school exclusion not because of behaviour or ability, but because she shares a single pair of shoes with her working mother.

On Tuesday the Work and Pensions Secretary Liz Kendal introduced the “largest welfare reforms for a generation to help sick and disabled people who can and have the potential to work into jobs”.

There’s a lot of detail in these proposals, but people are concerned and want to know how it will affect them, so whilst we work through the detail here’s our broad brush take on what it could mean.

Last week, I had the privilege of speaking at North East Chamber of Commerce East Chamber of Commerce  event held at the Stockton-on-Tees Borough Council Employment Hub on the subject of “social value and the Third Sector” as part of a four part series.   The panel was expertly hosted by Dr. Suzanne Hague with an introduction from Darush Dodds Dodds of Esh Group .  My fellow panellists included Angela Miles of Stockton-on-Tees Borough Council, Alison Walton of Muckles LLP and Angela Corner of Thirteen Group.

"My dad had a stall in Leeds Market," Lord Richard Harrington recalls with a smile. "He always used to say that Marks & Spencer started in Leeds Market and so did he. The only problem was, he was still there."