http://www.community-links.org/media Community Links Press Releases en no-reply@community-links.org Copyright 2008 2008-11-18T12:00:51+00:00 http://www.community-links.org/news/pr/co-founder-kevin-jenkins-wins-beacon-prize-for-community-builder/ http://www.community-links.org/news/pr/co-founder-kevin-jenkins-wins-beacon-prize-for-community-builder/#When:12:00:51Z Kevin Jenkins OBE has been awarded the Beacon Prize for Community Builder for his work with the children and young people of Newham. This is a prestigious award recognising individuals who have made an exceptional contribution to charity work.  Kevin is just one of six recipients of the 2008 Beacon Prize and joins the ranks of previous Beacon winners such as Sir Bob Geldof, Jamie Oliver and environmentalist, Zac Goldsmith who have all been recognised for their charitable work through what has become known as the ‘Nobel Prize of the charity world’, first coined by Prime Minister Gordon Brown. Kevin co-founded Community Links in 1977 whilst still at school and grew the Children and Youth Programme from four projects that helped 150 children and young people to a £5million budget supporting 3,000 individuals aged 2 – 24 years every week. He remains at Community Links as a Senior Advisor. In addition to his work with Community Links, Kevin has also played an instrumental role in the Newham community, influencing local council strategy on early years, play and youth; set up and supported emerging youth agencies; and fundraised for local schools. His work is so respected that he has shared best practice across the country and has also received an OBE. Martyn Lewis, former Chairman of Beacon, who will be hosting Tuesday’s Prize Ceremony, said: “Kevin’s work in Newham is based on a strong belief that investing in our children and young people should be at the very heart of any drive to regenerate an area and build cohesion and inclusion in a community. Thousands of children and young have greater life opportunity thanks to Kevin’s work. His contribution and dedication are outstanding.” Speaking just ahead of the prize-giving ceremony, Kevin said: “I am so pleased to receive this award. I hope it sends a message that our nation’s children and young people deserve the very best start in life. They need our help to develop and learn, and we should also remember the great contribution they can make to their communities through initiatives such as volunteering if they are only given opportunity and encouragement.” Kevin will receive his award at a Prize Ceremony on Tuesday 18 November 2008 at ‘Room by the River’, Southbank, London, SE1. All six winners will be inaugurated as Beacon Fellows, a community of Beacon Prize winners who together champion charitable causes across the globe and nurture a wider culture of giving in the UK. The ceremony will also see the overall Beacon Prize winner announced, receiving £30,000 to donate to the charitable cause of their choice.   2008-11-18T12:00:51+00:00 http://www.community-links.org/news/pr/auction-my-stuff-founder-named-future-100-young-entrepreneur/ http://www.community-links.org/news/pr/auction-my-stuff-founder-named-future-100-young-entrepreneur/#When:12:16:48Z Chris Allwood, founder and Manager of Auction My Stuff, our social enterprise, was named as one of the Future 100 Young Entrepreneurs of the Year during Global Entrepreneurship Week 2008. The Future 100 Awards profiles young entrepreneurs aged 18-35 who are demonstrating entrepreneurial flair and innovation in progressing a responsible business venture; one which demonstrates a balance between economic, environmental and social goals to achieve ultimate business success. The awards encourage and reward extraordinary vision, ethical business practice and social responsibility. They aim to showcase businesses that offer innovative and sustainable solutions to social problems. Auction My Stuff aims to give young people the chance to get the skills, experience and confidence for work, as well as raising money for charity. We sell on eBay on behalf of our parent charity community links, as well as other much larger national charities. Auction My Stuff is generously hosted by Tate & Lyle at their Refinery in Silvertown, as part of their commitment to the local community. Chris said, “ Winning the Future 100 award shows just what a fantastic team of staff and volunteers we have at Auction My Stuff. Please contact us if you’d be interested in joining” www.auctionmystuff.org   2008-11-17T12:16:48+00:00 http://www.community-links.org/news/pr/social-change-series-launched/ http://www.community-links.org/news/pr/social-change-series-launched/#When:13:17:56Z The Community Links Social Change Series draws together information from our existing research reports detailing our position and track record on significant, complex issues which we, as a multipurpose organisation, are engaged with on several levels.The first in the Social Change series focuses on Physical Regeneration. Community Links has worked for over thirty years in Newham, east London. Our area is currently undergoing unprecedented regeneration as work gets underway to prepare the site for the London Olympics 2012. However we are concerned that the focus on buildings and infrastructure misses real opportunities for community regeneration. Our second booklet reports on the devastating impact that child poverty has on many of the young people we work with . We set out our practical work with families and young people and summarise several recent research reports including policy recommendations. Case studies illustrate the difficulties faced by many who are struggling to bring up children in difficult circumstances. Download the reports 2008-10-21T13:17:56+00:00 http://www.community-links.org/news/pr/we-march-to-end-child-poverty/ http://www.community-links.org/news/pr/we-march-to-end-child-poverty/#When:12:25:10Z Community Links supported the national 'End Child Poverty' rally this weekend. Local families joined us as we wore our special t-shirts, carried banners and gave out leaflets to call on the government to ‘keep their promise’ and halve child poverty levels by 2010 and eradicate it by 2020. The government needs to have programmes in place, adequately funded in the budget, by spring 2009. With an uncertain financial situation, the government has to take action, and quickly which it will only do with significant public pressure. This is why Community Links supports the Campaign to ‘End Child Poverty’. Community Links and local residents attending the End Child Poverty rally were also part of the national ‘Need not Greed’ campaign, which originated from the grassroots experiences of people in Newham. ‘Need not Greed’ is about understanding that people trapped in poverty work cash-in-hand out of need not greed, and require support and guidance to make the transition into formal work and out of poverty. The campaign seeks to change attitudes to people working cash-in-hand. Policy changes are need to encourage parents to come forward and formalise their informal paid work, which in turn will increase their income levels, so lifting their children out of poverty and social exclusion. Maeve McGoldrick, linksUK Campaigns Coordinator says, “our work and research over the last 30 years shows that poverty has a life time impact on our children and young people. A child that grows up lacking resources and educational and employment opportunities, becomes the next generation of struggling parents, so the cycle continues.” Read more about the march and watch a video on the linksUK blog. For more information about 'Need Not Greed', contact Maeve McGoldrick.   2008-10-04T12:25:10+00:00 http://www.community-links.org/news/pr/chain-reaction-programme-launch/ http://www.community-links.org/news/pr/chain-reaction-programme-launch/#When:15:20:21Z Our national team LinksUK have today announced the programme for the first Chain Reaction event - our new initative to share learning and to generate new ideas for social change, locally, nationally and globally. We are delighted to be welcoming social leaders, community activists, policy makers, business leaders and young people from around the globe. Our contributors include Comic Relief founder Jane Tewson, now doing ground breaking work in Australia, who will challenge and inspire us and angry alchemists like John Bird (Big Issue) and Tim Smit (Eden Project) will be sharing their special brew, reminding us that some things are hard but nothing is impossible. In addition, venture capital guru Sir Ronald Cohen will be applying his experience to the financing of social change and Mark Thompson Director General of the BBC will tackle the contribution of the media. Richard Branson will be joining us via a video link, and City father Sir David Walker will be with us in the flesh. Chain Reaction November 17-18 at Londons Southbank. Download the Press Release. More details www.chain-reaction.org 2008-09-19T15:20:21+00:00 http://www.community-links.org/news/pr/we-launch-a-chain-reaction/ http://www.community-links.org/news/pr/we-launch-a-chain-reaction/#When:05:59:00Z Our national team, LinksUK have launched a new initiative, Chain Reaction. Chain Reaction is about connecting people together from around the world to work together on new ideas for social change. A dedicated website, http://www.chain-reaction.org, is now live and tickets to the first Chain Reaction event in November are available to purchase online. As well as the opportunity to buy tickets, there is a forum for sharing ideas. Chain Reaction is about connecting people together from around the world to work together on new ideas for social change. Chain Reaction is about one talent, experience or idea unlocking another, creating massive energy in a chain. Our individual actions multiplied by millions of others are a driving force for change. If our individual actions are reflected by those of organisations and businesses, and supported by governments, then, together, we have the power to change the world. 2008-07-03T05:59:00+00:00 http://www.community-links.org/news/pr/new-family-fun-day-launched-this-month/ http://www.community-links.org/news/pr/new-family-fun-day-launched-this-month/#When:05:56:00Z Our social enterprise, Links Event Solutions, is holding a fantastic family fun day, raising funds for Community Links. The event, at Barleylands Farm in Billericay, offers an exciting range of activities to interest children of all ages, from face painting to bouncy castles to live music and entertainment. One of the UK’s biggest bouncers,The Castaway (120ft adventure assault course) is likely to be a major attraction! Tickets are available now! The event takes place on Saturday 28th and Sunday 29th June, 11am-5pm. Tickets are £10 per child per day, with adults and children under 2 going free. All attractions and entertainment are included in the ticket price. These include: Craft workshops Face Painting Under 5’s Village Crazy Bikes Garden Games Childrens Rides Trampolines Climbing wall Large Bouncer Slide Puppet Show Emanuel The Magnificent Road Show Rodeo Bull Crazy Golf Live Band – The Reflections Mojo Roadshow Food and beverages on sale 2008-06-16T05:56:00+00:00 http://www.community-links.org/news/pr/what-young-parents-really-want/ http://www.community-links.org/news/pr/what-young-parents-really-want/#When:05:53:00Z The best people to identify what teenage parents want are the young people themselves. Community Links has published a short report detailing how service provision for young parents could be improved based on research by a group who are themselves young parents. Download the Press Release, or read the research report printed copies available from LinksUK. The Community Links “Everyday Innovators” method was used to carry out the research. This approach puts the experience of service users at the centre of the analysis and can lead to more effective services. The project, funded by the Clore Duffield Foundation, trained and supported a group of young parents to design and carry out research into What Young Parents Want. The method includes peer-to-peer research; creativity sessions and meetings with service providers and policy makers. The result is a short report full of good, realistic ideas for improving service provision and in the process helped the young parents gain confidence and skills. One participant, Sarah, said: “I felt this project helped me to interact with my child and peers. It gave me confidence to speak to people who offered services to Teen Parents; I hope it helps other young parents like me”. What Young Parents Really Want is available from LinksUK. Tel: 020 7473 9664 The report is also available for free download. Further information from the young parents’ blog: “Don’t Hush, Discuss” http://donthushdiscuss.blogspot.com or the new linksUK blog 2008-04-29T05:53:00+00:00 http://www.community-links.org/news/pr/fools-gold-the-need-for-a-2012-legacy-plan/ http://www.community-links.org/news/pr/fools-gold-the-need-for-a-2012-legacy-plan/#When:05:50:00Z 2012 Olympics will break ‘legacy’ promise unless rules are changed quickly, says a new report from the New Economics Foundation and Community Links. With only a week to go until the Londoners cast their votes in mayoral elections, a new report from nef (the new economics foundation), Fool’s Gold, shows that, unless cast-iron guarantees are built into plans for the 2012 Olympics, the Games will fail to leave the promised positive local legacy for the poorest residents of East London. The 2012 London Olympics have been presented by the Government and the Olympic delivery bodies as a once-in-a-lifetime opportunity to help regenerate one of the UK’s most economically disadvantaged areas, London’s Lower Lea Valley. But previous Olympics and other ‘flagship’ UK regeneration projects, whilst boosting international tourism, transport, leisure and telecommunications infrastructure, have failed to improve the lives of the poorest people in host cities. Now, as signs of a growing global economic storm gather, with London likely to be particularly badly hit, nef’s report shows that it will be even more important to put in place mechanisms that will guarantee a positive legacy from the games for some of London’s most disadvantaged communities. Fool’s Gold, identifies the ‘trickle down’ economics that underly the approach to regeneration at the heart of the Olympic bid as the root cause of the problem. This assumes that investment flowing into deprived areas will stay put. In practice, as nef research has shown, it leaks out to consultants, developers and large companies which are best able to exploit new commercial opportunities. Small local enterprises are unable to compete and local people who don’t own their own homes are priced out of the housing market because gentrification inflates the cost of living well above their income levels. Fool’s gold identifies clear warning signs that London 2012 may be going in the same direction as previous Games in its failure to live up to regeneration promises: – The enormous debts built up by Olympic delivery will have to be repaid, and the easiest way to do this will be to sell off Olympic land to the highest bidder. Serious doubt has already been cast on the projections used by the Government to calculate the £1.8 billion to be raised by land sales after the Games to repay public and National Lottery money used to buy land for the Olympic site. A problem the current slowdown in the housing market will only accentuate, placing yet more pressure on the London Development Agency to maximise revenues. – Of around 500 contracts already awarded, worth £1 billion, only 11 per cent have gone to companies based within the five Olympic boroughs. Many procurement contracts for the Games are so large that they are impossible for local small and medium-sized enterprises (sMEs) or social enterprises to compete for against national or multinational firms. – Strict branding rules prevent local community organisations leveraging value from association with the Games. Major sponsorship contracts have already been secured by familiar multinational firms. These firms are under no obligation to subcontract with locally based businesses or to employ local people. “Urgent action must be taken to prevent the communities of East London being trampled in the Olympic gold rush. The regeneration legacy was not just an enlightened addition to the Games’s plan which would be good to achieve if possible. It was central to London’s original Olympics bid. Promises and undertakings were made in the bid on behalf of the city and the nation; these must be achieved if we are all to keep faith with the assurances made to the world on our behalf.” says Josh Ryan-Collins, nef researcher and co-author of the report. But, Fool’s Gold says, an alternative is still possible if action is taken now, an alternative which can avoid the mistakes of similar investment projects in the past. As the report shows, there are many examples of how community benefits can be built into major procurement projects, and alternative models of community ownership which guarantee long-term community benefit. Fool’s Gold sets out a ten-point rescue plan, which, if acted on now, could help to ensure that East London isn’t trampled in the Olympic gold rush: – Make community benefit a key criterion for all new contracts: Olympic bodies should incorporate community benefit and the regeneration objectives of the local authority as part of existing ‘Balanced Scorecard’ criteria in awarding all contracts. – Make contracts accessible to local SMEs and social enterprises: The Olympic Delivery Authority (ODA) and other Olympic authorities – as well as the main contractors – should break down the size of future contracts so that local SMEs and social enterprises have a realistic opportunity to compete. – Appoint a new Board position on the Olympic and Lower Lea Valley planning boards for the local voluntary and community sector. This would give a genuine voice in the Olympic Legacy Planning Master Framework to disadvantaged local residents. – Establish an asset-holding organisation for the Olympic legacy. This organisation should play a transitional ‘care-taking’ role to ensure ownership of assets devolves to the local community. Guided by a cohort of community-led organisations, this organisation could develop plans for long-term community ownership of the community facilities on the Olympic site through a community development trust. “The Governments clear inability to manage the budget for the 2012 Olympics means that there must be safeguards in place to ensure that the family silver isn’t, quite literally, sold from under the feet of East Londoners once the games are over to pay back the huge debts accrued in Olympic delivery.” says Paul Sander-Jackson, head of Thriving Communities at nef and co-author of the report. Less than one-third of the total regeneration package for the Lower Lea Valley – about £500 million – could endow 500 locally controlled community development trusts with £1 million each. According to the Development Trusts Association, this would provide them with a long-term income of £60,000 per year to underpin their activities as community-anchor organisations investing in solutions which meet locally identified needs. If the financial returns from the Olympics assets are used in this way, it could have an enormous impact, locking in the value of investment for local communities, ensuring that it was be safeguarded for the communities of East London for generations to come. East London includes some of the most deprived areas of the country; it is also home to many enterprising small businesses, social enterprises and community anchor organisations, as well as vibrant communities who have come to the UK to make a better life for their families. If the wealth creation the Games will deliver can harness and underpin this enterprise and energy, rather than displace it, then the regeneration aims that were so integral to the 2012 bid might still be achieved. 2008-04-23T05:50:00+00:00 http://www.community-links.org/news/pr/two-new-reports-from-linksuk/ http://www.community-links.org/news/pr/two-new-reports-from-linksuk/#When:06:45:00Z LinksUK have released two new reports, exploring work and benefits and the informal economy: Interact is a report conducted with the Child Poverty Action Group and Low Income Tax Reform Group which examines the interactions people have as they move in and out or work with the benefit, tax credit and tax systems. Download the press release here Self-employed and micro-entrepreneurs: Informal trading and the journey towards formalisation This report is a companion to our 2004 report Cheats or Contributors, which examines the rationale for self-employed traders and their attitudes towards formalisation. Download the press release here Both of these reports were produced with support from the SIED partnership. 2008-03-20T06:45:00+00:00