The Big Society in Action

BBC Radio Cumbria rang to tell me that the winner of the bid to run the Windermere Tourist Information Centre would be announced on the 7am news. Would I be available to give an interview live, straight after the announcement, to give my comments on behalf of the Lakes Hospitality Association- who were one of the 19 bidders to run the TiC? The BBC knew the identity of the winners, but I didn’t, and they weren’t at liberty to tell me. ​

I would have to wait for the news bulletin. I knew that we were one of the three finalists, but although we have put our hearts and souls into this project and really wanted to win, we knew the other finalists were strong contenders, so we couldn’t be confident of success. What could I read into the invitation to be interviewed? Had all the candidates been invited? To be on the safe side I made a mental note of “winner” and “loser” comments. It would have been sensible of me to turn off my mobile, because I was live on air when someone who had been listening to the news headlines rang to congratulate me. It was a great relief to be able to use my “winner” comments. The Windermere TiC is the busiest in the Lakes with 300,000 visitors a year. From next April the LHA will take over the running of it from the District Council in a public/private partnership- very much the Big Society of which we have been hearing so much, and which we will now see in action. This is a big step forward for the LHAand, if the truth be told, rather daunting. We’ve been campaigning for so long to keep it open and now we really have to put our money where our mouth is.