Now that we’ve all recovered from the 20th Annual LACA conference in the Birmingham Hilton Metropole two weeks ago, I thought it was time to write a new blog. The conference was truly a great event and it never ceases to amaze me how so much dedication and commitment has been put into this event year on year by the volunteers of LACA. In my previous roles I’ve witnessed events being staged but the sheer magnitude and respect this conference commands is not to be under estimated.

Whilst at the conference I managed to meet some of you and discuss the topics and issues that are currently facing us as an industry. I think the universal feeling is that you are all facing large cuts to your service and the potential loss of the School Lunch Grant is going to cause major problems for some of you. At LACA we are doing what we can to support you all and hope that you will take the time to sign the School Meals Matter campaign which is drawing to a close this week. Click here for access to the petition.

Those of you at the conference will know that Lynda Mitchell has been elected as the new Vice Chair for LACA Ltd. Lynda is currently Chair of the Communications working group and is the Contracts Manager for North Somerset Council. I’m sure you’ll all join me in congratulating Lynda on her election into the role! The ceremonial handover of the National Chair position has now taken place and the formal handover will take place at the September Board meeting. Congratulations to Sandra, who now takes on the mantel of Chair for the coming year, and I would like to express my thanks to Beverley who has steered me through my first year with LACA.

I continue to get out and meet the regions and am glad to see that the regions are so vibrant and passionate about LACA and the industry – which is so important when you’re at the core of the organisation.

Below is a roundup of what we’ve been doing in the working groups:

Events and Training (Chaired by Sandra Russell)

We are currently waiting for the final details of our Autumn Summit which will encompass the Government’s Public Spending announcements and provide a platform for our industry to be heard. More details will follow.

The LACA Annual Conference tender process is now underway.

The Middle Manager’s Training pilot has proved successful, with all 14 candidates passing the course. A full evaluation of the course is due to take place shortly with exploration of the way forwards.

Administration and Finance (Chaired by Hilary Witt)

The LACA IT system, for membership management, is now live and implemented and the second stage of the project will be a Members Portal whereby you currently access your details from the LACA website. The final stage will be to enable events to be booked on line and allow members access to even more information and resources. Watch this space for more information. The F&A group are responsible for the procurement of new contracts. Full tender processes are being put in place to ensure openness and best practice. Tenders for the handbook, website and annual conference are all underway. All contracts will now be let in this standard form as they become due.

Communications (Chaired by Lynda Mitchell)

As mentioned above, the handbook tender is now well underway and we will award the contract early September. The specification for the tender of the LACA Website is currently being developed and this process will commence in September.

Membership (Chaired by Lin O’Brien)

Our Partners all reported a successful conference and we will soon be discussing the new Partner year commencing Jan 2011.

National School Meals Week planning is now well underway – keep updated via www.iloveschoolmeals.co.uk