Richard says the foundation is focused on giving financial support to local firms during Covid - but emphasises it ' s not " easy money ".
“ I joined the North East Chamber of Commerce early on . I was part of the Durham Common Purpose Programme , having been sponsored by Durham County Council , a brilliant course teaching one how regional institutions and organisations operated .
“ I have networked over many years , developing relationships and so when we launched the Open North Foundation , I drew heavily on that network .
“ Covid-19 has left us in a state of economic entropy and we not only have to talk the talk as a business community in the North-East , we have to walk the walk and hopefully encourage others .
“ In the short-term , we have to deliver what we can manage and not overpromise .
“ We can offer strong support services in terms of training and mentoring . We have strategic partnerships – like one with Newcastle Business School at
Northumbria University .
“ We don ’ t give out ‘ easy money ’ – strict criteria need to be met .”
With the momentum the Open North Foundation is gaining helping mitigate the impact Covid-19 , it is hard to escape the thought there might be a real future for the ONF after Covid-19 .
“ It ’ s an open question , what we become ,” the foundation chair muses .
“ We have a growing number giving us their support .
“ In the short-term , our direction is clear – getting funds and support in and out .
“ At least we would have made a positive difference , although our hope is to make it a long-term thing and it could morph into something else but for that , we ’ d have to sit down sometime in the future and discuss where we would want to go with it .”
There goes Richard again , managing change and building bridges .
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