Genesis - in the beginning or the end?
Recent Focus Readers will have seen my article asking where the benefits are to be found from Project Genesis. The article was taken up and developed in The Journal on Thursday. You can see the link here: http://www.journallive.co.uk/north-east-news/todays-news/2008/03/27/call-for-probe-into-charity-61634-20678991/
I’ve been doing quite a lot of digging into this project, and accept that much has been done through it, but am still to be convinced that it has delivered, and more importantly will deliver, all it can for Consett.
I propose to publish a series of articles with my findings and questions on the project through this site. I would very much appreciate two things from you, the readers:
1. To provide me with anything you know about the Project, good, bad or indifferent. You can post a comment of email me direct.
2. To write to Mike Clark (Chief Executive of Derwentside Council), Alex Watson (Leader of Derwentside Council) and Denise Bennett (Chair of the Council audit committee) urging them to support my call for the audit committee to examine the project: what it has achieved, why the charitable trust has received so little money - and spent so little even of what it has received, and how the benefits are to be protected for Derwentside when Derwentside ceases to exist.
According to Alex Watson Project Genesis has delivered “hundreds of millions of pounds” to Consett. With that much money at stake some scrutiny of the books has to be in order!
have your say
