CHE graduate Andy Wynne is hoping to organise a north of England human ecology group, and graduate Denya Hirst launches her new book.

At the CHE’s annual general meeting last month Andy volunteered to arrange a meeting to allow people with CHE connections in the North of England to get together and would like anyone interested in becoming involved to get in touch with him at This e-mail address is being protected from spam bots, you need JavaScript enabled to view it

Andy has also been busy with his own work with the Manchester Progressive Enterprise Network. He recently published research which shows the difficulties facing voluntary and community groups in the Manchester area as they try to come to terms with the increased business orientation of the sector.

His work found that voluntary and community sector (VCS) infrastructure organisations in Greater Manchester want to dramatically increase the amount of earned income they generate in the next three years. However, 87 per cent of the organisations interviewed believe that they have a skills gap regarding business orientation and only 40 per cent could pay the market rate for critical items of business support.

Andy, who is co-ordinator of Manchester Progressive Enterprise Network, said: “We urgently need to bridge the gap between the pressure on the sector to move towards more entrepreneurial activity and the limited capacity of hard pressed voluntary sector organisations to make the necessary adjustments in culture and approach.”

The research was carried out in the context of three inter-related policy agendas: social enterprise; the voluntary sector infrastructure review; and voluntary sector service delivery. Whilst the focus is on infrastructure organisations the findings will also be of interest to the frontline VCS. Fifteen organisations were interviewed for the research which gave a sample size of 50 per cent of the VCS infrastructure organisations in the Greater Manchester sub-regional consortium. A copy of the report, which was funded by the Active Community Unit through GM Voluntary Sector Support, can be downloaded from: www.mpen.org.uk/publications.htm.

Also taking place in the north of England this month is the launch of book on yoga by CHE graduate Denya Hirst. The launch takes place on Wednesday 13th December from 5pm to 7pm at the Lakes and Dales Book Town Centre at 72 Main Street in Sedbergh with the price on launch night at £15.

Deyna describes the publication as: “a book about yoga as a way to be, a life philosophy and how the inspiration of nature can lead us back to listening to our hearts, our inner wisdom and spirit”. She adds: “It describes the journey from the inside of our beings to the outer world, relationships, planetary concern. The book is illustrated with photos and in full colour.”