Journal: Julian Daniel

A glimpse into the life of a civic leader

Things move quickly when you're a Lewisham Civic Leader.

The morning after the launch event, to welcome me (and 29 others) on to the civic leadership programme, I was observing my mentor (my local councillor) as he conducted his surgery.

Prior to this, I'd never been to a councillor or MP's surgery, but being on the programme has already put me in situations I wouldn't normally have been. For example, despite living in Forest Hill for 5 years I'd never been to the local Assembly meeting. That soon changed.

Amongst the things under discussion at the Assembly meeting was how Lewisham can improve its recycling efforts. I also had to vote on whether local organisations received the small amounts of funding they were pitching for. Thankfully, all the projects got their money, or it might have been a little awkward turning people down in such a small room.

In addition to the above events, I've attended a consultancy on the future of Lewisham's libraries, a planning meeting, a Mayor & Cabinet meeting, a Housing Select Committee meeting and observed a number of trials at a magistrates court. All this in the first 3 weeks of my new role. As I mentioned earlier, things move quickly when you're a Lewisham Civic Leader.