Monday, December 05, 2005
Am a bit late with the blogging this week, so I have done a round up of the last week and a half!
On Thursday 24th November, I attended a meeting at No 10 with the Prime Minister, Secretary of State for International Development, Hilary Benn MP, Disaster emergency Committee Charities and other stakeholders to discuss the response to the earthquake in South Asia. There was a conference for donors in November, and President Musharraf reassured those present that the re-building work would not be blighted by corruption, and that the tendering process would be fully transparent. This is very welcome – I think some people have been reluctant to offer aid because they were concerned about how the money would be invested.
On 25th November, I attended a fundraising event organised by British Telecom Muslim Network in BT Tower. Despite being a Londoner all my life I had never been up the BT tower so was quite excited at the prospect. Of course raising funds was the priority but it was exciting seeing London from 158 metres high. I discovered that without the BT tower, we wouldn’t be able to see our favourite TV programmes or live news pictures of events unfolding around the world. The BT tower is the nerve centre of a vast broadcasting and communications network which is also a telephone exchange. Although we were only allowed to go 158 metres high, the highest point of the Tower is 189 metres above the streets of London.
On Saturday 26th, I attended the 2nd anniversary of the Poppy Café in St Lukes Community Hall. The Poppy café is open once a month on a Saturday for the sufferers of Alzheimers and dementia and their carers and family. 5 local groups are involved in the running of this including the Furzedown project, Wandsworth Age Concern, Wandsworth Crossroads, Wandsworth Alzheimers Society and the local PCT. I met loads of users and their families. The staff and volunteers were all very enthusiastic and energetic. You can find out more about the Poppy Cafe here.
On Monday 28th I attended the AGM of the Tooting Graveney Day Care Centre in Lynwood Road in Tooting. The Centre is now open on Mondays and Thursdays and continues to go from strength to strength. The Centre provides a useful role in relieving the loneliness of the elderly, providing exercise classes to keep their bones and muscles flexible, provide two well balanced hot meals on a weekly basis, keep users informed about social benefits and housing, make provisions for continued learning in IT skills as well as arts and crafts, visit the housebound taking them a hot meal and generally having a good time! During my speech I paid tribute not just to the centre, staff, volunteers and users but to the Labour Government who had done and were continuing to do so much to improve the quality of life for our elderly. It was good to speak directly to local pensioners who were benefiting so much from our government.
The Tooting Labour Party annual fundraising dinner was, once again, the highlight of the CLP social calendar. Hilary Benn MP was our guest speaker, and he addressed local party members about his involvement with the Make Poverty History campaign and the Government’s response to the earthquake in Pakistan.
On Tuesday 29th I met the Transport Minister, Karen Buck MP along with a delegation of Earlsfield residents to lobby the Minister for improvements to Earlsfield station. We have been campaigning for improvements to the station for disabled access (more details on my campaigns page), and I am now trying to make sure that the sale of the land around the station will result in improvements for the station. We do not want to end up with a situation where the land is sold, and no benefits locally.
I also attended a meeting with the Borough Commander Joe Royle and Head of Wandsworth Council's Anti Social Behaviour team, Mr Warren to discuss my concerns at the lack of action taken by the local council and police on anti social behaviour. Although there is a partnership effort, it is up to the Council whether to request to the courts that an Anti Social Behaviour Order (ASBO) be made. Only fourteen ASBOs were issued in Wandsworth between January 2004 and March 2005, compared with 63 in Camden over the same period. You can download my survey on Anti Social Behaviour, as I would like local residents to let me know where the problems are.
I received assurances from Mr Warren and the police that the council were not being complacent in their lack of action on Anti Social behaviour despite the low level of ASBOs and ABCs (Acceptable Behaviour Contracts) made in Wandsworth. The team have agreed to keep me involved on progress of initiatives actively being worked on by the police to "nip in the bud" any problems from individuals and to work with local Youth Offender teams and Youth services to provide constructive outlets for our youngsters. It was good to hear that only a minority of the ASBOs made have been against young people. The Council and police were also able to confirm that there have been no occasions when the local courts have refused to make an ASBO on the request from the council.
In the evening I gave a lecture at the newly opened Human Rights Centre at Roehampton University in Putney. The topic of my lecture was ‘Human Rights, Citizenship and Muslim communities today’. I talked about issues surrounding integration, and how I believe that the debate about the definition of ‘Britishness’ is at risk of clouding a more urgent need to re-engage young British Muslims by addressing social and economic exclusion. It was a pleasure to go back to university for one evening! John Simpson has just been appointed as the new chancellor at Roehampton. Find out more on the University's website.
On Wednesday 30th I attended a reception by the Limbless Association in the House of Commons. The Limbless Assocation are based at the Roehampton rehabilitation Centre and do a brilliant job as I saw first hand in my recent trip to Pakistan.
I also attended a General Purposes Council meeting at Wandsworth Town Hall. One of the matters we agreed to do is to open a new family centre in Smallwood road in Tooting Broadway, which I was very pleased about.
Sadiq
On Thursday 24th November, I attended a meeting at No 10 with the Prime Minister, Secretary of State for International Development, Hilary Benn MP, Disaster emergency Committee Charities and other stakeholders to discuss the response to the earthquake in South Asia. There was a conference for donors in November, and President Musharraf reassured those present that the re-building work would not be blighted by corruption, and that the tendering process would be fully transparent. This is very welcome – I think some people have been reluctant to offer aid because they were concerned about how the money would be invested.
On 25th November, I attended a fundraising event organised by British Telecom Muslim Network in BT Tower. Despite being a Londoner all my life I had never been up the BT tower so was quite excited at the prospect. Of course raising funds was the priority but it was exciting seeing London from 158 metres high. I discovered that without the BT tower, we wouldn’t be able to see our favourite TV programmes or live news pictures of events unfolding around the world. The BT tower is the nerve centre of a vast broadcasting and communications network which is also a telephone exchange. Although we were only allowed to go 158 metres high, the highest point of the Tower is 189 metres above the streets of London.
On Saturday 26th, I attended the 2nd anniversary of the Poppy Café in St Lukes Community Hall. The Poppy café is open once a month on a Saturday for the sufferers of Alzheimers and dementia and their carers and family. 5 local groups are involved in the running of this including the Furzedown project, Wandsworth Age Concern, Wandsworth Crossroads, Wandsworth Alzheimers Society and the local PCT. I met loads of users and their families. The staff and volunteers were all very enthusiastic and energetic. You can find out more about the Poppy Cafe here.
On Monday 28th I attended the AGM of the Tooting Graveney Day Care Centre in Lynwood Road in Tooting. The Centre is now open on Mondays and Thursdays and continues to go from strength to strength. The Centre provides a useful role in relieving the loneliness of the elderly, providing exercise classes to keep their bones and muscles flexible, provide two well balanced hot meals on a weekly basis, keep users informed about social benefits and housing, make provisions for continued learning in IT skills as well as arts and crafts, visit the housebound taking them a hot meal and generally having a good time! During my speech I paid tribute not just to the centre, staff, volunteers and users but to the Labour Government who had done and were continuing to do so much to improve the quality of life for our elderly. It was good to speak directly to local pensioners who were benefiting so much from our government.
The Tooting Labour Party annual fundraising dinner was, once again, the highlight of the CLP social calendar. Hilary Benn MP was our guest speaker, and he addressed local party members about his involvement with the Make Poverty History campaign and the Government’s response to the earthquake in Pakistan.
On Tuesday 29th I met the Transport Minister, Karen Buck MP along with a delegation of Earlsfield residents to lobby the Minister for improvements to Earlsfield station. We have been campaigning for improvements to the station for disabled access (more details on my campaigns page), and I am now trying to make sure that the sale of the land around the station will result in improvements for the station. We do not want to end up with a situation where the land is sold, and no benefits locally.
I also attended a meeting with the Borough Commander Joe Royle and Head of Wandsworth Council's Anti Social Behaviour team, Mr Warren to discuss my concerns at the lack of action taken by the local council and police on anti social behaviour. Although there is a partnership effort, it is up to the Council whether to request to the courts that an Anti Social Behaviour Order (ASBO) be made. Only fourteen ASBOs were issued in Wandsworth between January 2004 and March 2005, compared with 63 in Camden over the same period. You can download my survey on Anti Social Behaviour, as I would like local residents to let me know where the problems are.
I received assurances from Mr Warren and the police that the council were not being complacent in their lack of action on Anti Social behaviour despite the low level of ASBOs and ABCs (Acceptable Behaviour Contracts) made in Wandsworth. The team have agreed to keep me involved on progress of initiatives actively being worked on by the police to "nip in the bud" any problems from individuals and to work with local Youth Offender teams and Youth services to provide constructive outlets for our youngsters. It was good to hear that only a minority of the ASBOs made have been against young people. The Council and police were also able to confirm that there have been no occasions when the local courts have refused to make an ASBO on the request from the council.
In the evening I gave a lecture at the newly opened Human Rights Centre at Roehampton University in Putney. The topic of my lecture was ‘Human Rights, Citizenship and Muslim communities today’. I talked about issues surrounding integration, and how I believe that the debate about the definition of ‘Britishness’ is at risk of clouding a more urgent need to re-engage young British Muslims by addressing social and economic exclusion. It was a pleasure to go back to university for one evening! John Simpson has just been appointed as the new chancellor at Roehampton. Find out more on the University's website.
On Wednesday 30th I attended a reception by the Limbless Association in the House of Commons. The Limbless Assocation are based at the Roehampton rehabilitation Centre and do a brilliant job as I saw first hand in my recent trip to Pakistan.
I also attended a General Purposes Council meeting at Wandsworth Town Hall. One of the matters we agreed to do is to open a new family centre in Smallwood road in Tooting Broadway, which I was very pleased about.
Sadiq
