Good news from the local police as they succeed with a prosecution of a local
serial robber and mugger who used a garden in Thornhill Square to stash a large
haul of stolen iphones. Police message begins: A 22 year …
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How to incentivise considerate dog ownership... Are dog owners going to be more
inclined to scoop up after their pooches, if doing so generates free wifi in
the park? In Mexico City they’re giving it a try. The more substantial the
deposit, the more minutes everyone gets. Do watch the video.
I’ve been co-authoring a report on a ‘young inspectors’ project in East Sussex.
It has been revelatory for several reasons, two of which I’ll mention here. The
project involved training and support by participation workers for eight young
people with a mix of disabilities, to carry out inspections of public venues
and services. They inspected an outdoor activities centre, the catering service
at that centre, a youth centre and a public library. This was the second such
programme in East Sussex. The report describes the significant benefits both to
the inspected agencies and to the young inspectors, especially in terms of self
esteem, skills and employability. My conversations with some of the young
people, and telephone interviews with some of their parents, showed that for
most if not all, the impact for them has been transformational. One young woman
hinted that ‘bad things’ had happened to her, and said that she was always
‘very shy in school’ and used to put herself down a lot: ‘Now I’m loud at home,
more confident, I don't need any help in any lessons… It's made me feel more
special in a way, I speak more in class, I'm more confident in what I do.’ The
father of a young man who experienced intense anxieties and phobias, reflected
in very low self-esteem, told me that the project had ‘helped him to overcome
his fears and helped him to go to places.’ Simple things like having a
clipboard and a badge helped his sense of identity enormously. Two things in
particular resonate with the work I have been doing in the east of England with
young people looked after (eg). One is just to do with the inclusive diversity
of the group. The age range was from 12 years to about 20 years. I suggest that
a bunch of relatively privileged young people, covering that age range, is
quite likely to be hard to handle; but not this lot. Just as with the diverse
groups of young people looked after that I’ve observed, they are dependably
mutually supportive and tolerant. They’re an inspiration and the rest of us can
learn from the way they unfussily co-operate to overcome difficulties. The
second point is a consideration of the costs and benefits of a project like
this. In our evaluation of work with museums and young people looked after,
Martin Dudley and I found that significant personal benefits accrued to the
participants, reliably and sustainably, for around £30 per young person per
hour. A typical programme in that field might run for say 15 hours, and this is
quality, skilled work we’re talking about: in terms of funding, you’d think it
was a no-brainer. The same goes for the young inspector programme. Some of
these young people had serious challenges in their lives, which might leave
them marginalised and not in a position to contribute to society. The benefits
were consistently attained and the risks of failure were low. The estimated
cost to the state of providing...
Sounds like a promising community meeting on public safety in a couple of
week’s time. It’s important to go to this sort of thing to let the police
and others know what your priorities are. ‘The Caledonian Ward Partnership
Public …
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Work continues at a snail’s pace on the deadly junction….
I’m voting for him, he’s done a good job. Nelly told Ellie no way, not for that
lot. So we cancel each other out. I’m really busy tomorrow anyway. Me too said
Ellie, let’s not bother. Agreed? Next morning Ellie recognised Nelly’s boots
under the booth, almost squealed, lost concentration, and crossed the wrong
box.
Free local health event including lovely massage, for info email
linden.rennie@hcct.org.uk
I’ve just caught up with this New York times article about the killing of
Trayvon Martin, which moves away from two-dimensional racism to pinpoint the
cultural threat of privatisation that is summed up in ‘The Gated Community
Mentality’: ‘The rise of “secure,” gated communities, private cops, private
roads, private parks, private schools, private playgrounds — private, private,
private — exacerbates biased treatment against the young, the colored and the
presumably poor.’ I suppose I may seem like a socialist yahoo just for
mentioning it, but I'm beginning to wonder how long before the tension between
privatising policies and public need can hold? In London we're still mopping up
after last summer's disturbances. Where and when will it snap next?
Determined to cover every aspect of life in Kings Cross we bring news of a new
Kings Cross Super Model (video). The layout from YouTube user 04clemea follows
on from our earlier coverage of the Kings Cross club for Super … Continue
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Please remember to vote on Thursday – we don’t care who you vote for, just
remember to do it. The election is not just for the Mayor but also the
GLA members who will hold him/her to account. So even …
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