linksUK

Archive for November, 2008

Pre Budget Report: spend or save?

Tuesday, November 25th, 2008

I attended the briefing on the Pre Budget Report, given this afternoon by the Institute for Fiscal Studies. Two major factors arose from the cut in VAT from 17.5% to 15%, which will cost £12.4 billion. Firstly this cut will give people immediate money, but there is a question mark over what to do with [...]

Side by Side: one-to-one mentoring and befriending

Monday, November 24th, 2008

Chain Reaction saw the launch of a series of publications detailing the work of the Council on Social Action (CoSA) and suggesting policy recommendations for government. CoSA brings together innovators from every sector to generate ideas and initiatives through which government and other key stakeholders can catalyse, celebrate and develop social action.
One of these reports “Side by [...]

Poverty expert Professor Peter Townsend is the don!

Monday, November 24th, 2008

Professor Peter Townsend CBE is a don. He literally is as he’s worked in the world of academia for more than 50 years. He’s also been a  campaigner and activist, for example he was the founding chair of Child Poverty Action Group and the Disability Alliance.
Peter is 80 this year and there have been various celebrations, [...]

Chain Reaction: the event is over … now the work begins.

Thursday, November 20th, 2008

We’ve been overwhelmed by the very positive response from participants who attended Chain Reaction. The Chain Reaction event brought together social leaders, community activists, policy makers, business leaders, and young people from around the globe to share learning and to generate new ideas for social change, locally, nationally and globally
You can find links to all the [...]

We’re in the Middle of a Chain Reaction

Friday, November 14th, 2008

So a frantically busy week for the linksUK team comes to an end with just a couple more days now until Chain Reaction. We’re really excited about how the event is shaping up - both days are now full, we have a fantastic and inspiring programme, some wonderful volunteers, a great crowd of participants who have already started [...]

Work for your benefits?

Friday, November 7th, 2008

Here’s a tasty little research report, which has been commissioned by the Department for Work and Pensions themselves, the report is entitled: ‘A comparative review of workfare programmes in the United States, Canada and Australia’ (report 533) 
This report examines the impact of workfare schemes that mandate participation in unpaid work activities as a condition of receiving [...]

TUC: challenging poverty - the media and politicians

Thursday, November 6th, 2008

The TUC conference Challenge Povertyism on the 17th October  included a workshop from our Need NOT Greed campaign: challenging perceptions of people working cash-in-hand. Povertyism has been defined as discrimination against people experiencing poverty, negative attitudes to people experiencing poverty and as Professor Ruth Lister describes ‘Othering’  In all these interpretations  the media and politicians have a responsibility and a role [...]

Barack Obama: Community worker to the very heights of power? YES WE CAN!

Wednesday, November 5th, 2008

He’s one of us! Barack Obama worked as a low-paid community organiser in the mid-80s. For a paltry $10,000 a year, he campaigned in challenging housing estates in Chicago’s South Side, where black families struggled to get basic services. It was the unglamorous work typical of all community work - getting asbestos removed, getting landlords [...]

Developing the Community Allowance Pilot Programme.

Wednesday, November 5th, 2008

We hosted a meeting about CREATE: the Community Allowance in Coffee Hall Community Centre, Milton Keynes on Monday to further develop the pilot programme. 
We had quite a turn out with people coming from Devon to Liverpool, Manchester, Sheffield and Portsmouth to name a few. We’ve launched a new page on the website today, encouraging organisations that are [...]