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Lighting the flame of inspiration: the Olympics and east London

May 10th, 2012

The news today of  Olympic Flame lighting ceremony – and the beginning of the torch relay was warmly received here in east London – not least because the first British person to carry the torch was a local young man Alex Loukas.

Alex was one of the young east Londoners who was in Singapore for the successful British bid presentation in 2005, representing the youth and diversity of London.  Alex was kind enough to write about his experiences for a collection we published in 2007 – it is reprinted below.

We have commented recently about the once-in-a-lifetime opportunity the Olympics brings to east London and the inspiration that young people have found … once the opportunities have been introduced to them. Alex is a Living Legacy of this approach.

After returning from Singapore Alex joined a local boxing gym and got involved in coaching youngsters in the sport.  Alex remains an impressive ambassador for the games, and for his community in east London. He is an inspiring Torchbearer.

Here is what he wrote in 2007 when he was aged 15.

 

THE THREE SECONDS THE NATION HELD IT’S BREATH

JULY 6TH 2005 – Olympic decision day. Today the International Olympic Committee would announce which of the five bidding cities would have the privilege of hosting the 2012 Olympics. Paris, Moscow, New York, Madrid and London, all with different bids but one equal goal, to win.

I had the honour of representing the youth of London as a Youth Ambassador in Singapore as part of London’s bid. More than 30 of us made the journey. As well as representing the Youth of London we were also representing the diversity of London; many of us a different race, religion or skin colour to each other. But diversity is what makes London special and different. We all had to pull together as a team, no matter where we were from.

Every candidate city made an excellent presentation that morning, however London’s was inspiring. In a moving way the presentation portrayed how many people’s dreams could be fulfilled if the bid was successful, not just nationally, but globally.

It came to decision time. Everyone was excited but nervous. It was a race between London and Paris. As the IOC President, Jacques Rogge, received the envelope with the winner enclosed in it the room fell silent. Jacques Rogge slowly opened the envelope. He paused, what seemed the longest pause of my life and said the word we all wanted to hear … London.

The room erupted with cheering and clapping, many people emotional.

With all the happiness inside me I started to realise how much this would change the area I live in, forever. Not just changing our lives for the duration of the Olympics, but for generations to come. What is regarded as one of the poorest boroughs in London, will be a regenerated community.

For me personally, being born and raised in Newham, I will always be proud to know our contribution will change the area forever.

Originally published in Making Links: fifteen visions of community.  2007

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The Wisdom of Prevention

May 9th, 2012

The New Economics Foundations excellent new report “The Wisdom of Prevention”
will be launched at the LSE today.

It is refreshing and inspiring to read something substantial about prevention which doesn’t say that this is all about troubled individuals who need sorting out but offers a serious analysis and a clarion call: excavate the cause, dig out the roots.

Of course critics will say its idealistic, fanciful even. They would do well to remember that NEF were amongst the first, perhaps were the first, to speak with authority about measuring wellbeing and about cancelling international debt. Consider what happened to those flights of fancy. Idealistic? Absolutely – a soaring vision – but rooted in realism and how else do we progress? Sometimes there is no other way.

As a measure of growing interest in earlier action it is gratifying to note that more than 500 people are expected to attend. The urgency, importance and breadth of the issue is illustrated by the panel of speakers – Lord Adair Turner (Chair of the Financial Services Authority), Rt Hon Margaret Hodge (Chair of the Public Accounts Committee), Jonathon Porritt (Founding Director of Forum for the Future) and Dharmedra Kanani (England Director of the BIG Lottery Fund).

I am privileged to be on the panel as well and I will be noting that the NEF report concludes with this reflection: What will happen if we don’t give higher priority to stopping the bodies from falling into the water? If we let the poor get poorer and the rich richer? If we let another generation leave school without hope of jobs or a better life? If we let global warming continue unabated? If we let global markets go on calling the shots and shaping all our aspirations? Would it even leave us with enough capacity to keep on hauling the bodies out? How could we account for ourselves to our children and grandchildren? These are questions well worth asking, even if we don’t yet know how to answer them.

The reflection reminded me of the Hilbert Challenge. More than 100 years ago Dr David Hilbert issued 23 challenges in mathematics inspiring a generation of mathematicians and a revolution of new ideas. Nearly all his challenges have now been solved. The “Grand Challenge” approach has been adopted in other fields – health care, for instance, by the Canadian Grand Challenge and the Gates Foundation and in global economics with the Wolfson Prize. What might be the equivalent grand challenges whose resolution would sweep away barriers to the preventative approach or generate new ideas we’ve never seen before?

  • Perhaps “How might we prepare differently for a better and cheaper old age?”
  • “How could acting earlier reduce severe mental illness?”
  • Or maybe “How might earlier action enable an inclusive economic recovery?”

Suppose philanthropists or even government funded such a set of early action grand challenges. A different level of ambition, a different approach to funding, a different scale of outcome. It would be an appropriately ambitious response to a wise and important report.

I will be calling for challenge ideas at the conference. Do please let us have your suggestions.

 

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Do you remember when you were a teenager?

May 3rd, 2012

Recently we submitted evidence to the DWP select committee for their enquiry into youth unemployment; specifically, the government’s Youth Contract. A few weeks ago we spoke at a Westminster Briefing event on youth unemployment and the new initiatives being proposed by government. Based on our experience of supporting young people, often with complex issues, into employment or some form of education or training, we made a number of recommendations to the committee and to practitioners at the conference. Most importantly we highlighted the importance of turning a set of complex initiatives into accessible support services for young people; basically to keep the wiring behind the scenes and make the support simple for young people to use.

We used to the opportunity to get policy makers and practitioners to think back to what they were like when they were a young person. We asked them to take a minute and step back from the intense discussions of the morning and think about their own situation at the age of 25, and then 18, 16 and right back to the age of 14 years old. Suddenly wage incentives, a payment by results system of support, Jobcentre advisers and incentive payments for apprenticeships seemed slightly obscure and complicated. We remembered how our priorities were our friends and family, having enough money to be able to live but at the same time having aspirations to be successful in a career. Many people recalled the difficulties of trying to figure out what type of career they wanted and how much of a barrier this could be to making progress. They remembered the two or three lucky people in their class who know from an early age what they wanted to do – usually it was the lawyer, doctor and there was always a vet!

This made us remember the diversity of the age group we are talking about when we discuss youth unemployment. It made us remember the different stages of being a young person and the different types of young people that policies are designed for. Young people are by no means a homogenous group and each young person’s priorities change at different points in life. Therefore they respond to very different triggers and people. Added to this difficult time, for some of the so called ‘harder to help’ young people, is an additional range of complexities they have to deal with; things like extreme poverty, family breakdown, being excluded from school, being in a gang, drugs, alcohol, being in trouble with the police, homelessness the list goes on.

Our point was that policy makers and those who design the implementation of the initiatives in the Youth Contract must keep in mind their client group, what are their priorities; what are their needs?

At Community Links we do exactly this. We make sure our activities are fun and relevant to young people’s lives, we make sure our services fit around the life of a young person; they are flexible, holistic, and friendly and are there for the long term. Most importantly we invest in our staff. We aim to develop a deep value relationship with young people as we know that developing trust and mutual respect is fundamental to helping young people; right from the diagnosis of their concerns and barriers to work, right though the journey of support into employment and beyond.

Later that day Community Links’ young people delivered an inspiring sell-out event called ‘Street Life’ which showcased a range of fantastic performances by our young people. The message of the night was to say no to knife crime. Kids from the age of five up to adults in their early twenties got on stage and acted out a short drama, some rapping, some art work and even some break dancing to illustrate, in their own way, what they were fighting against almost every day. It was a stark reminder of the problems they had to deal with, and how abstract the youth contract could be at times. This isn’t to say that any of the initiatives are in any way flawed – our submission of evidence says otherwise. But it does mean that we think the initiatives need to be really carefully turned into delivery.

Support needs to be simple – young people have enough going on in their lives. It needs to be accessible and have a human face, and it needs to be consistent support – not full of gaps for young people to fall through once they turn 17 or 19 years old. Government may work in silos – but young people don’t.

As we said in a previous post back in November when Nick Clegg was challenged by some young people in Brixton – the key is to ‘keep it real’. There’s a place for policy development, but when implementing it, we need to make sure we are always connecting to young people and this requires us to think a little more like a young person – or remember what it was like to be young and unemployed at least.

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Will the London 2012 Olympics “Inspire a Generation”?

April 19th, 2012

Trina Geasley is Centre Manager of Community Links Chandos East Hub – in this post she reports on the young people at the hub participating in a live radio broadcast, debating the Olympic legacy.

 

Yesterday Jason Rosam a reporter for BBC London 94.9 visited the Community Links Chandos East Community Hub and interviewed some of the young people who attend Chandos regularly.

The young people were interviewed live on-air, as Part of BBC London’s Drivetime broadcast. Jason asked the young people about their views on the Olympics in the wake of the “100 Days to go” milestone and the launch of the Olympics promise to “Inspire a Generation” which we wrote about yesterday.

Here is a clip from the interview (click yellow arrow to start).

Audio clip: Adobe Flash Player (version 9 or above) is required to play this audio clip. Download the latest version here. You also need to have JavaScript enabled in your browser.

You can listen to the full show on the BBCiPlayer

Well done Stevie and Jenna participants in the FRE-Flyers hockey team and Chandos Youth Club and to Syed and Tahmid of the YoungStars anti violence group.

After his visit BBC reporter Jason Rosam Tweeted:  “2 young lads have set up an anti violence group called Young Stars. Amazing! like so many young Londoners they’re NOT all bad – most aren’t!”

In a second message he wrote: “Met some amazing young people at the Chandos East Community Centre in Stratford. Very inspiring but not necessarily inspired by Olympics.”

I’m so proud of all of the young people; their ability to clearly and passionately articulate their views is a credit to them and the enthusiasm they showed made me really proud to be part of Community Links and the Chandos Centre.

Trina Geasley

 

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London 2012 Olympics: A Living Legacy to ‘Inspire a Generation’

April 18th, 2012

Today marks 100 days until the opening ceremony of the 2012 Olympics and organisers have revealed the slogan of the London Games: ‘Inspire a Generation‘.

The sentiments behind the slogan mirror our own belief that the Olympics provide our area of east London a once in a lifetime opportunity to secure a positive impact on the lives of young people. Just last month we launched our own “Living Legacy” campaign – a programme that is about changing what a whole generation of young people believe is possible in their lives.

We have a unique opportunity.  Three factors have come together in this exceptional year:

  • Unprecedented development & opportunity – working in east London we’ve seen how exciting new architecture and infrastructure have transformed the landscape, the huge new Westfield Shopping Centre for example. We’re delighted that some of the young people we support have secured opportunities through this redevelopment but most are many steps away from being able to benefit.
  • The second thing that makes this year unique is a business focus and interest in east London at a scale we have not seen before. Working in the shadow of Canary Wharf, and a stone’s throw from the City of London we have benefited from generous corporate support over many years – but there is a growing recognition that there is more that business can and should do.
  • The third factor – and possibly the most crucial one without which the others cannot deliver – is the inspiration of the Olympics for young people – we have found that even a small contact with the Olympics (a visit to the site, a meeting with an athlete) can transform what a young person thinks might be possible in their life.

We won’t ever see these factors all at once again; we need to seize the moment now – within the next 100 days.

Because in September, the wall around the Park will go back up.  It is a real wall, but it’s also a metaphor.  The story that the kids we work with, the ones who struggle to take advantage of all the initiatives and opportunities that exist, will be telling themselves is that they have been ‘shut out’.  So all the other imaginary walls will go back up as well.  The mental one that tells them they can’t. The social one that tells them they mustn’t have hopes or dreams or cross that postcode.  And by the time the wall comes down in 2014, we will have some really lovely buildings and some wonderful green spaces but they will be surrounded by entrenched exclusion.  And, sadly, not seething resentment that their hopes were raised and then dashed, but just resignation – ‘it was never for me anyway’.

Our “Living Legacy” is about changing the minds of a generation of hard-to-reach kids. From ‘I can’t’ to ‘I’m ready’. We want to “Inspire a Generation” of kids living on the doorstep of the Olympic Park so that by the time the wall comes down, they’ll be ready for anything, understanding they have potential, and knowing how to unlock it.

We want to see a generation that plays its full part in society.  And even more importantly, a generation which brings up the next generation to be the same; passing on the torch of a positive legacy; a generation which shows others how to do it.

To make it work then we need to be doing it now. Community Links has been changing the lives of young people one by one for 35 years. Inspiring a whole Generation is clearly a step up! However our plans are in place and we now want to:

  • maintain and develop our work tackling gangs, guns and knives helping young people to overcome the fear that holds them back and makes their aspirations very small Our recent event “Street Life – the conversation” put young people at the centre of addressing these issues themselves.
  • scale up our sports programmes – We have written before about the transformative effect on our FRE Flyers hockey team who, having never played before were inspired by coaching from the GB Hockey team and traveled to play an international tournament in the Netherlands. Sport is an effective tool to motivate young people, and to give them confidence, self discipline and skills that will stand them in good stead for the future.
  • The power of sport to inspire young people should be shared as widely as possible which is why we are building on the success of the FRE Flyers project to lay the foundations of the UK’s largest mass membership multi-sports club. We are delighted that LandAid, The Property Industry Charity  have made a cornerstone investment allowing us to kick-off this initiative.
  • Alongside the sports related activity we are also launching a new programme encouraging young people to develop employability and self-enterprise skills.

All of this will be delivered through our network of Community Hubs which are in the most deprived neighbourhoods around the Olympic Park.  And all of the learning will be shared with other practitioners and policy makers to multiply the impact

The young people of east London are ready now to be inspired and persuaded that life can be different – “inspiring a generation” will make the young people we work with ready to step up and seize the once in lifetime opportunities.

If you would like to find out more about how we might work together to deliver the Living Legacy,
please get in touch. Geraldine.Blake@community-links.org

 

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Sir Ronald Cohen: improbable poster boy for the voluntary sector.

April 10th, 2012

Sir Ronald Cohen is an improbable poster boy for the voluntary sector.
The immaculate suits and the monogrammed shirts hint at the personal fortune amassed in the distant, hard-ball arenas of venture capital where fellow high rollers speak in awe of of his accomplishments. Yet across the media last week and where ever these matters are discussed third sector leaders were queuing up to sing his praises as Big Society Capital was launched with the Prime Minister in support.

Perhaps the most extraordinary thing about Big Society Capital isn’t that it has now been established but that it has taken so long to happen. Sir Ronnie chaired the Social Investment Task Force established by the Treasury in 2000 and then the Independent Commission on Unclaimed Assets in 2005. Its report launched by the then Chancellor Gordon Brown at Community Links one chilly, wet morning was not widely remarked. The press and sector glitterati, so prominent last week, were largely absent from the occasion but Sir Ronnie was already a man with a mission. Under successive Labour administrations and then with coalition ministers he pushed and persuaded and badgered with an elegant but steely determination.

But still it took years.

It was manifestly unjust that wealthy financial institutions should be allowed to keep money that wasn’t theirs for no purpose but their own. Almost everyone agreed, certainly in Westminster if not the City. Making it available for social purposes was self evidently reasonable. Channeling the resource into an investment bank would turn the windfall into a sustainable asset. What’s not to like?

But still it took years.

Whilst failure is always an orphan, success has many parents, and lots of people played a part in the birth of Big Society Capital. I have a theory that for every policy idea that survives the uncertainties of development there may be 20, 30 people who make a significant contribution. But of only a handful, maybe one or two for any single development, can it ever be said with due certainty, that without that particular individual, this would not have happened. Despite a just idea, an intelligent proposition and universal political support Big Society Capital would not have happened without Sir Ronald Cohen and many years of unyielding commitment.

That made me feel two things as I read the commentaries last week. I felt sad that our structures and our systems make change so very hard and I felt inspired. I’m not much fussed about immaculate suits and monogrammed shirts but Sir Ronnie’s clear sighted, bloody minded, never-say-die determination is indeed an example to us all.

David Robinson is a Trustee of Big Society Trust – the holding company for Big Society Capital. The task of the Trust is to ensure that the Bank remains true to its social mission for evermore.

 

Listen to Sir Ronald Cohen explaining the role of Big Society Capital in an interview on BBC Radio4 Today Programme:

listen to ‘Sir Ronald Cohen explains the aims of Big Society Capital’ on Audioboo

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Work Homes coming soon

April 1st, 2012

We understand that ministers are expected to announce this week plans for a new network of “Work Homes” bringing accommodation and employment under one roof for people who have become homeless as a result of losing benefits or employment. They will explain that the programme, which was not  trailed in either coalition party manifesto, is “demand led” and has been inspired by the increasing numbers of people available for this “blended provision” as a consequence of cuts and changes in the benefit system.

A spokesperson described the Work Home programme as “a practical and innovative response to current needs but firmly rooted in the deepest traditions of public welfare.” It is, she said “breaking new stones for this government but a natural extension in our approach to tackling poverty.”

The announcement has been delayed by more than a month as coalition partners wrangled over whether a place in a Work Home should be mandatory. Liberal Democrat ministers were celebrating last night when Number 10 agreed that placements could be voluntary, subject to the approval of the local board who will manage each home – a decision eventually reached by the Quad group of senior ministers. “We drew a red line in the sand,” said a top Liberal, “we believe that people who are homeless and unemployed and without benefits deserve the right to make choices about their own lives.”

The Treasury consider the financial model to be cost neutral and self irrigating. Residents will pay for their accommodation with the income they derive from work undertaken in the Work Home and will be encouraged to keep up to 4% of their earnings subject to the earnings rule (minimum earnings must always exceed the full cost of accommodation). Details of the employment opportunities have not been confirmed but might range from simple assembly work to traditional home working skills such as sewing and picking oakum with a large metal nail. Reviving these time honoured crafts is believed to have been of particular importance in persuading Conservative backbenchers to back the plan.

Capital investment in the Work Home programme will be raised through a new bond. Figures prepared for the Cabinet Office by consultancy group I 4 Me show a likely annual return of around 40% plus an equity stake in the capital value of the properties. The product will be tax evadable and is especially attractive to private investors. One leading figure in the City told us yesterday “I feel it is important to put something back. This is the right way to do it.”

An opposition spokesperson agreed that the Labour Party had been developing a similar idea but questioned the speed of implementation: “Hard working families who play by the rules” he said “should know that we are just behind them and will be watching this development very carefully indeed.”

A poor person has not been invited to comment.

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When is a strategy not a strategy?

March 23rd, 2012

Iain Duncan Smith’s social justice strategy – launched last week with a remarkable lack of fanfare – is billed in its forward as an ‘ambitious new vision for supporting the most disadvantaged individuals and families in the UK’ and advances the idea that it’s better, both socially and financially, to intervene early in social problems rather than wait to pick up the pieces. It’s hard to argue with this vision. Certainly the opposite approach sounds absurd: “Let’s leave it as late as we can to intervene, making sure it’s as expensive as possible” is not a promising approach to social policy or deficit reduction.

Given that we’ve been working on the Early Action Taskforce for over a year now, we’re obviously delighted in the vision, which we broadly share and like to think we helped to shape. Just as delighted as we would have been, in fact, had we existed in 1997 when Tony Blair, speaking on exactly the same issue, warned of the “double jeopardy – worsening social problems and escalating tax bills” and said “Government must not fall into the trap of short termism.” It’s not a new vision. And its certainly not a strategy.

When we launched our first report last year we said that the common sense case for spending on early action has been made, in speeches, in repeated Government reports and strategies. Missing in all these was the detailed analysis of why good intentions had rarely led to significant change, and we tried to identify some of these ‘obstacles’ to early action and set about addressing them.

In contrast the social justice strategy gives no thought to why early action has not become the norm despite its obvious advantages over acute intervention. It offers no serious analysis of why, this time around, something will be different. Instead it concludes that the proliferation of social investment, guided by an Early Intervention Foundation, will achieve this transformation alone. There is little suggestion of action to tackle the ‘bureaucratic plumbing’ of spending rules, organisational and departmental silos. There is nothing to ease the barriers, both practical and cultural facing public service leaders who try to make changes.

Early Action will take hold in government when it becomes the default option in public service delivery, when it would be ‘brave’ of leaders to do otherwise, and when the spending rules and the incentives within departments make it very difficult to do anything else. Realising this vision is a profound challenge. Doing it without a strategy that genuinely engages with the obstacle is just not credible.

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The budget – early action, enterprise, and the advice sector

March 22nd, 2012

Yesterday’s budget has yielded the usual stream of comment and analysis, much of it repetitive, some inspired. Instead of piling in with more, here are a few links to read or look back on:

On the big picture: It’s easy to get bogged down in the detail, but I think this response to the budget from Oxfam’s Moussa Haddad provides a superb view from afar. He points out, amongst other things, that despite public service cuts shouldering most of the burden of deficit reduction we tend to concentrate on the impact of tax and benefit changes alone, mostly because they’re easier to measure.

On early action: A similar focus on public services lay at the heart of David Robinson’s post last week setting out our hopes for the budget. Yet despite the launch of Iain Duncan Smith’s social justice “strategy”, promising a wholesale shift in focus from acute to early intervention in social spending, there was no mention of it at the dispatch box. And no mention of the wider implications for public services which are withering randomly around us. We repeat our plea for a deep and considered analysis of the principles which should underpin the design and delivery of our public services in the future and which should inform the reshape.

On advice services: Buried away in the detail was the announcement of £20m for advice agencies like Community Links in 2013/14 and the same in 2014/15. This follows on from the £20m already announced for this year, which has been distributed. As Justice for All – the campaign group of which we are a member – pointed out though, this doesn’t even begin to cover the £100m annual shortfall advice agencies are facing, and is no replacement for legal aid which funds specialist advice. That’s why we’re still urging Government to keep specialist welfare benefits advice within legal aid, particularly as the welfare system undergoes fundamental reform, and the budget heralded a further £10bn cut in the welfare bill. You can write to your MP about that on the Justice for All site.

On Enterprise: We wrote last week about the wealth of potential young entrepreneurs in east London and our plans to help tap into it, so the announcement of a Youth Enterprise Loan Scheme looks interesting, and is something we might return to on this blog. But it certainly does not amount to the coherent vision for enterprise in the UK that we’ve been calling for over many years.

On social investment: Finally the social investment sector was disappointed that there were no changes in the rules to match ministerial rhetoric on social finance. The promised “internal review” suggests that the issue has been recognised if not addressed. The deepest knowledge on independent investment lies, by definition, outside the Treasury. The credibility of the review as well as the quality of its work depends on engaging with that expertise. We recommend significant independent engagement and probably an external chair.

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Homes for London should exist

March 19th, 2012

With “Transport for London”, accompanied by the Mayor’s logo, emblazoned across everything we travel on every day, travel fares are one of the few things we know the Mayor can control. It’s no coincidence that they feature heavily in the debate around May’s Mayoral election.

Few of us know, though, that housing is also a crucial part of their portfolio. For previous incumbents of the position that might be a relief, since housing in the capital isn’t in great shape. In Newham, for example, there are over 32,000 households on the council waiting list, 2,300 households in temporary accommodation, and the average price for a 2 bedroom house stands at £215,700, seven times the average income.

I took those stats from Shelter’s excellent new campaign Homes for London, which is looking to give housing the same profile, and the same level of mayoral accountability, as its namesake Transport for London has afforded buses and the tube. In a series of great videos (one’s on the right) and a website they’re urging Mayoral candidates to commit to creating a new coordinating agency – Homes for London – and then asking Londoners exactly what it should do.

The four options they suggest all seem sensible. First deliver new homes – no doubt these are desperately needed. Newham is one of nine boroughs with more than 1,500 people in temporary accommodation, and one of eight with over 15,000 people on the council housing waiting list.

Second, broker a deal between landlords and families who want to rent for longer than a year, providing security for children in families who cannot afford to buy. As the local authority area with the youngest age profile in the country, Newham is full of families living precariously in homes that could be no longer theirs within months.

Third, lead the drive to prosecute rogue landlords, who can leave families homeless, destitute or desperate if left unchecked. Newham has a head start in this, since the Council has started doing something very similar already and uncovered some horrifying stories of abuse by landlords. Rolling it out across London must be a good idea.

And fourth, a London-wide social letting agency to cater to private renters and responsible landlords, ensuring that both get good terms and don’t lose money to unscrupulous agents. Anyone who has tried to rent privately in London knows the dangers, but they are nothing compared to some of the stories our housing advisor hears – of people on very low incomes, often who don’t speak English well or struggle to understand their rights, being exploited by rogue landlords and collaborating agents.

So please sign up to Homes for London and help make it real. The website includes lots of fascinating (and depressing) stats about every London borough.

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