Thank you very much to all of you who donated so generously to our “60 for 6” project. The money you contributed totalled £1,300 ($1,815.00) and was sent to the Galkayo Education Centre for Peace and Development (GECPD), split equally between them and Hanaqaad in Las Anod, Sool Region.

A small amount goes a long way in such tough situations. From GECPD, Madam Hawa has written: “This is to confirm with much appreciation that we have received the money amounting to US$ 1,815.19 … credited to our account on 5th May 2016. Once again receive our most sincere gratitude for the support to our girls education program… which will help bring change in the lives of some of the many minority, pastoral nomadic and displaced family girls in need of support to access education. We hope and pray that your initiative will continue to attract support from well-wishers who share your vision and our vision for a world with empowered women and girls.”

We have also received a report from Madam Halima and Mohamed at Hanaqaad, who write “Words are not adequate enough to express how joyful we are. The Bursary Distribution has reached its target girl students in Hanaqaad Primary School without any deviation. A total number of 30 of girls have benefited from the bursary.”

We ran the fundraiser until early 2017 and sent a further £440 to GECPD and Hanaqaad for their superb work.

Mind the Gap is running three further seminars this year for the European System of Central Banks (ESCB) and for coordinators working with the Single Supervisory Mechanism. The SSM is the new system of banking supervision for Europe that includes the European Central Bank and national supervisory authorities.

Banque de France colleagues will host the first seminar on Managerial Skills for SSM coordinators in Vincennes 26-27 September. The Bundesbank will host the final seminar for 2016 on 22-23 November. Bundesbank colleagues will also host this year’s final seminar on “Informal Leadership” for ESCB colleagues. It will be held in Seeheim-Jugenheim 12-14 October.

Under very tight time deadlines and through times of significant change, ESCB and SSM staff and managers have been developing innovative and encouraging approaches to leadership. Their circumstances are unique. It is difficult to think of a more complex set of leadership and managerial challenges than in this cross-national, cross-functional, multi-cultural initiative where working with remote teams and brand new systems requires quick, creative, accurate solutions. We look very much forward to working with our highly creative and skilled European colleagues in all these seminars.