Reflecting on 2021

Laura Church, CEO, Bedford Borough Council

2021 has been a year of real challenge, change and opportunity for me. I took on a new role at Luton Borough Council in November 2020 as the Corporate Director for Population Wellbeing covering Adult Social Care, Public Health and Housing. It was an interesting time to move role – COVID-19 lockdown; concern at re-opening schools; significant numbers of households in temporary accommodation; vaccination roll-out. What I found inspiring was the commitment and dedication of all of the teams to really making a difference and the strong links to individuals, families and communities. It was also a good opportunity to get re-involved with the Integrated Care System and to focus on the work at Place.

In October 2021 I moved to become the Chief Executive at Bedford Borough Council and again I have been able to see the amazing work undertaken by our teams on response, recovery and all of our business as usual work.  It has also been good to hit the ground running with strong links back into health.

My main reflection on 2021 is that we have had to remain resilient and keep going at the same time as thinking about new ways of working. Most importantly we have made a real difference to people’s lives.