Candidate's Life Ambitions

ballot-fiend wrote:I would like to ask the candidates what their ambitions in life are, and how these relate to their decision to stand for election to the Phone Co-op's board.

Hello ballot-fiend and, since this is my first posting on this forum, hello to everyone.

Life ambitions? Well, I've too many to list them all on this forum, so I'm going to restrict myself to a couple of 'top-level' ambitions which are directly relevant to my decision to stand for re-election to the board.

One of my ambitions is to see the co-operative movement thrive in the 21st century. By standing for re-election to the board, I'm pro-actively playing my part to help achieve this. In my opinion, the Phone Co-op is already one of the most successful and forward thinking co-operatives, but I believe there is huge potential for us to be even more successful, in terms of developing customer and member services and also significantly increasing the number of customers and members. My long-term vision is that the Phone Co-op will become a household name. Shorter term, I believe that a realistic goal would be for us to become the 'telecoms provider of choice' for ethically motivated consumers (in the broadest sense) and for organisations and businesses in the social economy. So those are my ambitions for the Phone Co-op.

I am of course also committed to my own personal growth and development. Being a director of the Phone Co-op over the past 9 years has undoubtedly contributed to my personal growth and so one of the reasons why I'm seeking re-election is that I would very much like to continue this process.

Peter Turnbull

Hello Ballot Fiend

My major ambition in life is to help sow the seeds of a fairer and more sustainable economic system. The main reason for my lifelong participation in the worker co-op movement was to find and promote a better economic model than the capitalist and communist systems, which I believed were both flawed and unsustainable. The co-operative model limits the power of individuals financially and politically.
I have mainly been involved in worker and secondary co-ops, but feel that the perfect model will be some kind of hybrid between consumer and worker co-ops.
I was a trustee at ICOF when the Phone Co-op first started and came to ICOF for a loan.
I have watched it grow and develop over the years and think that with the current financial crisis and mistrust of the free market that there is an amazing opportunity for the co-op sector and the Phone Co-op in particular to promote the ideas of mutuality and co-operation. I would love to play a part in taking full advantage of that opportunity.
Other ambitions are to do with the planet and what we are leaving behind for future generations. I am currently involved in trying to get Sheffield (which historically was built on water power), interested in micro Hydro Electric schemes and was pleased to see that the Phone Co-op has already invested in the New Mills Hydro.
The objectives of the Phone Co-op seem very closely allied to many of my personal ambitions and I believe I have the skills to help achieve a mutually beneficial outcome.

Paul Grassick

I do not and never have had one ambition. I've always had many things going on each of which has its own dynamic and structural requirements and each of which provides experiences which are available to me to use in cross-fertilisation with other activities. I hope and expect that this will continue.

I hope that makes sense to you - it certainly does to me.

In general - and looking back - I suppose I could claim that being useful to and furthering the aims of the
outfits with which I have been connected (many) has been my aim. I'm an enthusiast and want whatever I am enthusiastic about to thrive and I bend my back to that end.

James E Siddelley

this is a second attempt to answer the question - the first one having been deleted. Fate, perhaps.

And fate, perhaps is probably the best answer to the question. I saw the opportunity to stand for election and thought it might be for me - right thing at the right time. I didn't realise there would be so many excellent candidates, all of them on the face of it better qualified for election than myself. But I would like to think I am beyond the point in life where it is embarrassing to come last in an election. Jim Robertson

I have quite a few the ones which are relevent to the board of the Phone Co-op are promoting co-operation as a better way of doing business and enabling members to take control of their organisation.