Curry Clubs to Reveal Future Leaders

The National Council for Voluntary Organisations (NCVO) is holding a series of 'curry club' meetings to uncover future leaders in the voluntary and community sector.

The Leadership 20:20 programme was launched to explore some of the major issues affecting progression in the sector and shape new ways of supporting and guiding emerging leaders.

The programme begins with a series of informal meetings across England’s nine government regions, which will be held in local curry houses. Participants will take part in debates about the sector and present their views in an informal setting.

The findings from the ‘curry club’ meetings will feed into a new commission on the future of leadership in civil society, looking specifically at ways to support young and emerging leaders, and ensure their opinions are considered in the process.

The Leadership 20:20 chair, Graham Allcott, said: “This is a very exciting and innovative programme to find and support our sector’s future leaders. It’s imperative that we help our up and coming leaders develop their talent and managerial skills. After all, these will be the people running our organisations in 10 or 20 years’ time. The ‘curry clubs’ are a fun and informal way of beginning this process.”

Key points from the ‘curry club’ meetings will be presented to commissioners through short YouTube clips recorded at the meetings and uploaded the next day. The first curry club meeting takes place in London on February 24.

The commission of 20 ‘emerging leaders’ will be recruited and appointed during the programme to consider how best to support and develop potential leaders. The Commission is expected to publish its recommendations on how the sector can improve current practices in a year’s time.

There is still time to take part in this programme as a commissioner. The deadline for recruitment to the commission is March 10. For more details visit

http://www.ncvo-vol.org.uk/leadership2020

Commission hearings (curry clubs, one per region) will take place from 24 February - 25 March 2010.

Planned dates are as follows:

Wednesday 24th February, London

Wednesday 24th February, South East

Thursday 25th February, East

Tuesday 2nd March, West Midlands

Wednesday 3rd March, East Midlands

Thursday 4th March, South West

Thursday 4th March, North West

Monday 8th March, Yorkshire and the Humber

Thursday 25 March, North East