Interview with the Chair
Introduction
In this interview, we are speaking with Michael Leng, the newly appointed Chair of the GALE Board of Directors. Michael brings over three decades of experience in community service and housing development, having dedicated his career to addressing pressing social issues such as mental health, homelessness, and disability support. With a rich background as a psychiatric nurse and leadership roles in various charitable organisations, he is well-equipped to guide GALE through its next phase of growth.
Since relocating to Wester Ross, Michael has embraced community involvement, becoming an active participant in local initiatives. His passion for volunteering shines through as he highlights the importance of working towards the betterment of community and fostering strong community relationships. In this discussion, we delve into Michael’s vision for GALE, his goals as Chair, and the strategies he plans to implement to ensure the organisation continues to thrive.
Congratulations on your appointment as the new Chair of the GALE Board. Not everybody may know who Michael Leng is, so if you were to do a highlights reel of yourself, what would you like to include?
I lived in Nottingham for over 30 years, before relocating to Wester Ross three and a half years ago. I’m married to Melanie. We have three children, three grandchildren and a dog who is often seen sitting very quietly below the table when I’m holding meetings at the GALE Centre.
I was born and brought up in the northeast of England but left to undertake my nurse training. I’m a registered psychiatric nurse and worked for local Mental Health Services in Nottingham. After 16 years I went on to work for a homelessness charity covering the East Midlands and South Yorkshire where I was the Deputy Chief Executive. The work involved looking at the many factors which lead to homelessness including mental health, addiction, unemployment, crime and domestic violence. I now work from home for Leicestershire County Council as a Specialised Housing Program Manager where I am responsible for the analysis and development of housing for people with disabilities, mental health issues, and older people with frailties.
I have always taken an interest in volunteering. I believe its important to be prepared to contribute for the betterment of the community. I have been a governor at a large secondary school, where I was chair for eight years. I did some youth work volunteering many years ago and since relocating to Wester Ross, I’ve got involved with a couple of community groups, GALE being one of these, and also with the Community Car Scheme.
As the new Chair of GALE, do you have any specific goals or achievements you would like to accomplish during your tenure?
I think there are challenges that affect the whole of Wester Ross at the moment. GALE, other Development Trusts, as well as other community organisations and community councils have a role in addressing these challenges. So building strong and functional relationships with community groups is important to me as well as ensuring a good dialogue with our members. I will be working with all the leaders in GALE to that end.
I’m grateful for the work of previous employees and volunteer board members in getting GALE to a position of sustainability. We’re only custodians for a time, and our job is to improve, develop and secure the medium and long term future for the organisation.
Our primary challenge in our locality is around population – its maintenance and growth. If we can’t keep developing our population and the opportunities for our population in terms of housing, employment and leisure activities, then we will continue to see threats to our population. We need to ensure that our area is attractive to families because that will sustain our skills. We need to have diverse employment opportunities so that people can confidently look to live in this area and feel that there’s something for them, something for their children, because we live in a place that is truly stunning.
GALE has a long history, starting out as LEAF. During that time our community has changed and GALE itself must continue to adapt. We cannot rest on our laurels, I want the organisation to continue to contribute to mid-Wester Ross being somewhere families can live, work and thrive.
The GALE Centre has been been operating since 2012. Do you have any thoughts on what its impact is on the local economy and community wellbeing?
Reflecting on what I just said, GALE’s remit is to address some of those factors which make our community a vibrant place to live, work, and thrive. The GALE leadership believes the provision of year-round employment helps in achieving these factors. While we’re not alone in that offer, in terms of retail and hospitality the GALE Centre sits alone in operating seven days a week, three hundred and sixty-four days a year. That is an incredible achievement that not only touches a lot of people from our community but also a lot of people who visit our community.
We want people to have a positive experience of being in mid-Wester Ross. You can go to a stunning place and if you don’t feel a sense of warmth you don’t feel inclined to go back or to encourage others to visit. So, the GALE Centre has an important role in that aspect, offering a warm welcome and the provision of a cafe, gift shop, and tourist information.
GALE does lots of work with partner organisations around health and wellbeing including a befriending service. The last two years we have been running an Everyday Basic IT Workshops to reduce social isolation through advancing digital skills. So where we’re commissioned under grant funding we engage with elements of our population who maybe have particular challenges and struggles. I think overall the impact of GALE is considerable.
GALE has been involved in so many projects over the years. When it comes to prioritising projects, how do you ensure that voices from the community are heard in the decision-making process?
What’s important is that we have a culture where anyone who chooses to be connected with GALE can do so. The Board aspires to providing as many ways as possible for anyone who wants to understand GALE to have the ability to interact with us; whether that’s through our blog, local newspaper column, the GALE Newsletter, social media, visiting the Centre, booking a one to one Ask GALE appointment, or taking part in the occasional community consultation. We will continue to look to ways to constructively engage
.
It’s through these routes that our population can keep up to date and in doing so this stimulates feedback for GALE; whether it be supportive, enquiring or critical. We’re here to listen and incorporate feedback into the strategic priorities of the organisation.
GALE has an operating area population of around three and a half thousand people. So I think we need to be realistic about being able to take actions based on every viewpoint. However, it is the responsibility of the Board to steer the organisation in a direction which provides benefit to our community.
Moving on to the Shieling, what plans do you have for its development and how will it complement the operations of the GALE Centre?
The GALE Centre is a fantastic success story and I think it will remain our most important asset. The proximity of the Shieling is great in supporting and complimenting the activities of the Centre – it’s ten, perhaps twelve strides away.
At the GALE Centre we only have a fixed amount of floor space which in turn means you have a fixed amount of earning potential. We’re getting close to that maximum potential. The Board took the decision to look for opportunities to grow and we are delighted that the Shieling provides that opportunity. Some of those additional services are starting to emerge, like Unwrapped, our zero-waste shop. Our newly appointed Shieling Project Development Manager, Iona, is working hard to prioritise the project suggestions from the community consultation and there will be more 6 month pilots coming soon. The online bakery is growing and I would anticipate more activity in this area shortly.
The Shieling is a building which lends itself to offering hospitality and retail, so expect the Unwrapped Shop to relocate from the Centre to the Shieling. We also had a lot of requests for a community pub and that would be a good fit too.
What is the anticipated timeline for the Shieling to open to the public and what factors are influencing this schedule?
It’s not a straightforward question in the sense, we’re already using the Shieling. It’s supporting the GALE Centre operations seven days a week; for laundry services, a prep kitchen, staff meetings, and now background operations for the Unwrapped Shop. We all know that the Shieling operated as a restaurant for a long time and people may assume that GALE bought a restaurant. However, we acquired a building and it isn’t our purpose just to return it to a restaurant, but rather offer a wider array of activities some of which may well involve some hospitality.
Part of the funding allocated to the Shieling allowed us time to be patient. A project manager was hired five months ago and has two years to implement the pilot projects which will each have a six month trial period. As with the acquisition of any building, there are jobs that you know will need done and others which creep up on you. Some of the unforeseen hold-ups have been related to necessary upgrades to the electrics and an over complicated procedure in getting a broadband connection. We wanted to refresh the public part of the building before welcoming the public and there is a lot of painting going on just now. At the moment I do not have a hard deadline but we are planning a members meeting in the Shieling in late March.
The Shieling is an ongoing part of GALE with its services available to our community for the next five, ten, twenty years and beyond. And so the fact, we can take our time and it emerges as a resource for the community over the course of months and years, is part of its strength.
What inspired the concept of the Unwrapped Shop and how do you envision it contributing to the community’s sustainability efforts?
GALE has a long history of operating in a way which minimises our impact on the environment; the Centre is Passivhaus certified and we reuse, recycle and compost where we can. So adding a zero-waste shop into the mix feels like a good fit. Zero-waste shops are all about reducing waste; reducing the need for packaging and reducing food waste by being able to buy only as much as you need. Unwrapped is not the first of these shops in Wester Ross and through the community consultation, we believe there is enough interest to support this venture in our locale. It’s a complimentary activity to the GALE centre operations and will be a good fit for the Shieling when we relocate it.
We are really pleased with the feedback so far with in terms of the product availability and requests for other stock. The freshly made peanut butter has caused quite a stir! The range has been extended in the last week and I know there is more to come, so if you’ve not yet managed a visit, please do drop in.