CARNIVAL AGAINST THE CUTS
more info from:
Please contact Ray
on 07871 187162, email: raymondwoolford@aol.com or at The Tea Factory, 100-106 Endwell Road, Brockley, London SE4 2LX

EVENTS HAPPENING ON SATURDAY 19TH FEBRUARY
• Community groups opposed to library closures will
organise carnival protests outside every threatened
library.
IN SE23,
• Early Childhood Centres – parents and disabled
groups will be protesting outside Amersham, Rushey
Green, Downderry and Ackroyd Early Years Centres
and other services facing closure or cuts. There will
also be protests at the loss of mobility allowance. Groups will also
mobilise outside the Jenner Centre (11am) and Brockley Rise Centre (11.45am)
• Homeless people and workers will be staging protests
at hostels against 60% cuts to services affecting the
most vulnerable people.

• Students will protest at every college across the
borough.
• Pensioners and others will be protesting outside
Lewisham Hospital in support of the BMA objections
to the changes to the NHS and creeping privatisation,
and supporting concerns from nurses, Doctors,
patients and healthworkers.
• Young people will be protesting at youth provision
venues facing cuts.
• Residents associations & tenants groups will be
organising an estate protest against council housing
policy. No to 80% rent increases and loss of security
of tenure.
• Disabled groups will be protesting at community
centres such as Open doors and Connexions facing
closure and cuts.
• Bank customers and UK Uncut will be protesting at
banks opposed to our money being used to subsidise
banks. Who in turn are paying out bonuses. What our
government SAYS and DOES are two different things.
• Transport – Public transport users will be protesting at
selected rail stations in protest at the massive rise in
the cost of travel while the train companies continue
to make massive profits, exploiting peoples necessity
to use public transport.
• Allotment holders will be protesting against rising
costs. Many may be priced out of their plots.
• Unions will be organising action across the borough
in support of hundreds of local workers facing job
losses.
• Local traders will be protesting against record
increases in business rates, license fees and car
parking charges for shoppers, whilst many shoppers
will be protesting outside shops owned by companies
who avoid paying tax in the UK

At 12.30pm people will start assembling from
across the borough outside the Town Hall in
Catford to march to Lewisham Town Centre for
a short rally with guest speakers.
NO IF’S, NO BUT’S WE NEED OUR SERVICES
March Carnival Parade Helpers urgently wanted. We also need people willing to wear Carnival
Costumes and help on Floats. We also need bands and dancers to add colour.
Can you help on the day? Could you be a steward? Could you hand out flyers at any of the venues? Please contact Ray
on 07871 187162, email: raymondwoolford@aol.com or at The Tea Factory, 100-106 Endwell Road, Brockley, London SE4 2LX
I/We would like to help I/We enclose a donation to LPBP to help pay for the day I/We will vote LPBP at the local election
I/We would like to join LPBP I/We will put up a poster I/We would like to play an active role in my neighbourhood. Can you help on the day? Could you be a steward? Could you hand out flyers at any of the venues?
Name: .............................................................................................................................................................................
Address: ..........................................................................................................................................................................
......................................................................................................................................................................................
......................................................................................................................................................................................
Tel: ................................................................
Email: .....................................................................................................................................
Lewisham Carnival Against Cuts is being organised jointly by various trade unions and groups active in Lewisham including Lewisham People Before Profit, Lewisham
Pensioners, Goldsmiths Students and Lecturers, Lewisham Anti Cuts Alliance, N.U.Teachers, Right to Work Campaign, Civil Servants & Socialist Party

What blinkered and biased posting.

So we have no cuts after the mess the last government left us in.

You seem to living in cloud cuckoo land.

If you spent some of your time volunteering for a charity ( helping the Big Society ) rather than rabble rousing , then we would all make more progress.

Perhaps if more of those who should be paying their taxes did so and were less focused on creaming off riches for personal gain there might not be the need for such drastic measures.

I don't think PSF's posting is either of those things (blinkered, biased) Most people realise that savings need to be made but there may be an issue with the speed, depth and severity of this action.

The post illustrates the range of people and services involved.
On a personal level, I work with homeless 16-21 year olds, hostel places are being cut (over 150 at once in the borough) at the same time young people are looking at the loss of EMA, Connexions and other services, employment opportunities are scarce.
Young people I work with are being placed in unsuitable accommodation (and whilst on a waiting list to be placed other newly homeless youngsters are being placed in B&B - not the nice kind!) with very little 'floating' support (approx 1 hour per fortnight) as well as being at risk in so many ways - so will the people they are living next to in terms of potential ASB etc.

Good people of South London - take to the streets if you want to, have a dance, have a shout, dont throw fire extinguishers at people. Nothing may change, but at least you will have voiced your opinion.

Good luck to the Big Society - I have a feeling it will be needed in abundance

You mention homeless 16 to 21 year olds. Why are they not at home with their parents . Parents should take more responsibility for their children

You also go on again about this EMA as though it has been with us for 100 years . It is my understanding it was only introduced in the middle noughties.


Someone mentioned the severity. The Government are having to borrow 1 out of every 4 pounds it spends. Of course serious action required.

Brian,
Some people face rather bleak prospects in the current climate. If you are not one of them you should consider yourself either lucky or not informed well.

You obviously have no connection to voluntary sector otherwise you would never post such a comment.

How do you know that pixysunflower doesn’t?

I remember agreeing with you in late November last year when you wrote on the thread about the protest at Lewisham Town Hall that “Peaceful protest is fine”.

I now feel that you are sending mixed messages.

What has changed in your mind for you to seemingly disagree with this planned peaceful protest now but agreed to something not too dissimilar just 2 and a bit months ago?

Hi Admin,

With pixysunflower's kind permission, could we please edit their initial post with the dots at the bottom to shorten it as it is stretching the page width of this thread. And that makes it difficult to read on my dear old computer.

Unless some other lovely forum user knows a simple workaround?

Derby Hill Top

I do regular charity work. Unpaid. So am aware of the sector.
Puzzled why so many people are asking for money for a sector which should rely on unpaid workers.

True I do not know whether the good lady with the horticultural name does voluntary work.

I have read again her long lists and apart from anything else gross errors. For instance existing tennants do have secure tenure.

I note that the infamous NUT are one of the organisers.

Protest hoever peaceful cause disruption and cost money in policing.

Brian
OF COURSE in an ideal world 16-21 year olds would be sheltered and supported by the parents -I am lucky to have parents who have supported/loved/cared for me but not everyone is as lucky. The fact is many many people have children who shouldn't but that is no excuse for penalising the poor children who have inadequate parents. Such children should be housed by the council as they are very vulnerable and need showing how to run a home - yes parents should do this but the council is in loco parentis to deprived young people. I would if possible stop people having children they can't afford/can't bring up to be respobsible adults but I know this isn't possible I would have loved to have had a child but being single didn't - I think every child a wanted child and although I would hopefully have coped as a single parent it can't be easy. I know couples who have children struggle at times - children are hard work and need you 24/7

Agreed, it will cost money.
At least you are consistent with your views on the thread about the Pope’s visit last
year when mentioned that it would be nice if the police were doing other things than
looking after him. This seems to harmonise with what you have just written.

Mine too - now fixed.

Dearest Brian,

not sure which charity you work for and what benefit they provide. As you claim they do not need government help to run I expect they have healthy income selling something (eg clothes). Well it may be news to you but some charities concentrate on just providing a free service and although they rely on unpaid staff costs and some donations, there are other costs that they may incur such as: postage, telephone help lines, training, advertising to name a few. These charities were receiving grants to help running cost, are now finding it they will have to turn volunteers away because grants budgets have been slashed.

BTW. As a registered volunteer I even got an invite to volunteer in Forest Hill job centre. Is this Big Society you and PM refer to?

And police can send volunteers to police the event. I may even offer my help. That way it will cost them nothing.

Absolutely.

It is just this type of thinking that will also assist all of us. But it must be well measured for obvious reasons.

I've come back to this a bit late but in answer to your post Brian - Yes, EMA was not available in 'our day' but it is available now and it is the difference between a less affluent/supported young person attend college and further their educational, vocational and social skills. My comment was not that it is being removed as such - it was more about a range of services being removed at once and the detrimental impact this will have.

It would be lovely if all young people had positive parenting experiences (and if all parents had sweet, thoughtful little darlings) but they don't. That is where support services come in - and actually it is a legal requirement to look after minors.
My team are about to be made redundant, hopefully that will swell the number of volunteers available in the DIY state, hopefully FH job centre is now safe to be in?

I believe PSF's post asked if anyone wanted to volunteer to be a steward?

Right, better get off to work while it is still an option we had a flood on Friday and the ceiling came in, really looking forward to being part of the clean up!!

Perhaps I was a bit extreme , sort of playing devil's advocate but do think people should realise we have been living well above our means for many years.
Of course no one likes cuts but what alternative to the people objecting to any cuts make. Apart from bankers , bankers , bankers. Of course we can take some from bankers but if we take much more than our competitors we will lose precious buisness and financial services are still a major earner for the UK.
All these demonstations just cost MORE money in dispruption and police costs.

Where the Council are wrong inc LBC and they are not following HMG instructions is that they should be cutting office staff and wages not outside staff , who are the front line.
How many people for instance are employed by LBC monitoring disabled , racial sexual quotas ? What actual benefit is this at all to the person needing services.

But whats happening is that the cuts are not proportionate but affect poorer people extremely disproportionately, removing services on which they depend. In the meantime the Government is proceeding with half baked schemes on idealogical grounds and giving large sums of capital to various unproven groups of people who will not be publicly accountable.

I'm not intentionally mixing threads of discussion but want to say that whilst all these cuts are going on, HMGovernment is busy imposing a radical change to education policy that a number of parents like myself fear. They apparently have the budget to consult upon and prepare a new curriculum, even though one was prepared last year which had the input of educationalists. They are taking educational responsibilities away from local councils and putting it and large sums of money into the hands of unknown groups of people in order to set up free schools. In one such school, £15m is being provided to cater for only 120 pupils! There are already 10 such free schools under discussion in Lewisham, doubtless all competing for scarce land and sites and pushing the prices up and it remains to be seen how many will get approved and on what basis. I doubt if it will involve a concerted strategic approach to meeting educational need.
Our existing schools need investment and modernisation and hence this money £50 million and potentially rising should be spent on that not educational experiments.

We need to consider these things when forming a view of the governments need to make such sweeping cuts in public spending. Money is coming out, but its also going back in somewhere else to support the ConDem ideology and to virtually eradicate the notion of public services. Be very outraged indeed!

Roz you mention , you believe , the cuts effect the poorer people rather than the more affluent.
Not 100% sure on this but surely the raising of the personal allowance is a very positive step.

I do hope the genuine poor are not suffering more . What I mean by that is families where adults are working or really trying to work.
For the benefit classes , or intentional non working classes, then I have less sympathy.

Not an expert on education so do not feel able to comment on your remarks.

If anyone is willing to wade through an 800 page document, you can find all the papers for the Mayor's budget meeting this Thursday 17 Feb, on the Council website here

http://councilmeetings.lewisham.gov.uk/i...9&MId=1983

See Item 5, 2011/2012 Budget.

Lewisham Anti cuts Alliance provides a good summary of what the cuts to Children's Centres will mean here
http://laca.org.uk/
It is short-sighted and ill-conceived in a borough with a larger than average proportion of children and young people (25%), and a rising birth rate (35% increase in last decade). Yes cuts need to be made, but taking away a successful programme like Sure Start is just going to create more problems long term, and push more families into relying onto an already overstretched education and health system. They are simply shifting responsibility to make their figures work.

What I want to know is what budgets are they keeping... perhaps the Mayor would like to provide a breakdown of his hospitality budget, expenses, and salaries of senior staff?

Yes I agree Jane
The Savings need to be made at The Town Hall.

It was not that long ago that all the staff fitted in the old building, where have all the new jobs come from to fill the new building.