ll Million Takeover Day - November 6th

My rather rare visit to Methodist Church House yesterday coincided with '11 Million Takeover Day'. Organised by the Children's Commissioner for England, Sir Al Aynsley-Green. 'Takeover Day' encourages organisations across England to open their doors to children and young people so that they can see for themselves the processes behind the decisions which affect their daily lives.

Groups of children toured Methodist Church House, along with teachers, parents and members of our staff. They engaged in various activities - including interviewing the President of the Conference. These were hard-hitting interviews, with very direct questions from budding Jeremy Paxmans. The tone was set when the first group arrived on our floor of the building. Ken Howcroft and I were at our desks, industriously getting on with the day's tasks. We were introduced to the group and, alnost immediately, a hand went up. 'I have a question,' said the hand's owner. 'OK, what is it?' I responded. 'Why are your desks so untidy?' This was clearly a question for the Assistant Secretary of the Conference, so Ken replied, 'Because we're very busy.'

It was a most enjoyable day.