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A Father's Day Message

6/16/2013

4 Comments

 
As Father’s Day is celebrated today we must remember; what is it to be a Father? 


Indeed what memories do we have our individual Father’s, if any and what values have we been thought from the person that is suppose to be the main role model in our lives.

For me; my memories of my father are precious as he died when I was 11; however, the time spent with him I learnt a lot and have ensured that the values picked up during our short time together have been passed onto my Children.

The sense of family, togetherness, love, loyalty, unity, kindness, sharing and responsibility.
The value of providing for the Family as a member of a team with my Mother.

It does not take much to father a child, however, it takes a lot to be a Father, and today we must also honour the many step fathers also that take on the responsibilities of others.

Therefore, let us not just look at the commercial factors of Father’s Day, but also think about what makes us good Father’s and ask ourselves if we are ensuring that our sons are good Father’s when their time arrives.

Happy Father’s Day

Desmond Jaddoo
Organisor
Birmingham Empowerment 
4 Comments

Is The Leadership of Birmingham City Council Accountable?

6/9/2013

2 Comments

 
Below are two emails sent to the Leader of Birmingham City Council Sir Albert Bore, which he has failed to respond to at present.


These are of the utmost interest to the people of Birmingham especially the poor and vulnerable that are currently relying on Foodbanks and also those being affected and placed into debt as the Bedroom tax begins to bite into the pockets of the poor, hence increasing their poverty.


I am disappointed as we have a Leader that claims he believes in transparency and accountability, but, apparently by ignoring my previous emails he is not demonstrating this.


In this one the reasons that many people do not go out to vote although they are registered, yet alone those that are not registered.


There is no excuse for these emails not to have been responded to by the City's Leadership and may I take this opportunity of reminding them that there are elections in 2014 for which they will be seeking the support of the public; oh I forgot they do need public support in order to secure office.


Its time to start holding Sir Albert and his non reflective Cabinet to account and he has a responsibility to respond to enquiries from the people of this City. All Politicians are accountable to the public and they must demonstrate this.


I believe that this type of behaviour is why we have low turnouts at especially local elections and why disaffection is so high.


Time for all Communities to Unite for Change and if Politicians feel that they are above the electorate then we must demonstrate to them that they are not by Electing new people from Our Communities that we can connect with. 


TIME FOR CHANGE TOGETHER WE CAN DO IT.


From: [email protected]
To: [email protected]
Subject: FW: Birmingham Housing & Local Welfare Provision
Date: Thu, 30 May 2013 10:19:47 +0100

Dear Sir Albert

Below is an email inquiry I sent to you on 15th May 2013.

I am disappointed not to have received a response as yet. This is an important issue with the increase of poverty and the reliance of Foodbanks in this City. 

Furthermore, there needs to be a strategy to deal with the increasing housing crisis and the pressure's faced by people in Social Hosuing.

I would welcome an early response.

Regards

Desmond Jaddoo
Organisor
Birmingham Empowerment Forum

From: [email protected]
To: [email protected]
Subject: Birmingham Housing & Local Welfare Provision
Date: Wed, 15 May 2013 09:33:11 +0100

15th May 2013

Sir Albert Bore

Leader Birmingham City Council

The Council House

Birmingham B1 1BB                                     By Email

Dear Sir Albert

Housing Issue & Local Welfare Provision

 

As you are aware this City has been facing a major housing crisis and this is now being compounded by the bedroom tax.

I have noted that you have not reinstated the Housing portfolio in the Cabinet as a stand alone function, taking onto consideration that the Housing Revenue Account is ring fenced. As a former Housing Officer I believe that a dedicated and strategic approach is needed in this area and I would urge you to reinstate this post into your Cabinet as it is urgently needed.

The Housing Crisis in this City will only worsen and the reliance on the private sector will increase and place greater financial burden on benefits as the rents are substantially higher and some property conditions leave a lot to be desired. We must also remember the human factor in Housing taking into consideration the recent suicide in Solihull.

I would urge your consideration on this matter.

Furthermore, can you please update me as to where the City is in terms of the Local Welfare Provision and the expanding of arrangements with other outlets part from Asda.

The City needs to deal with this matter as there are various cultures and religions in this city and Asda does not cater for all of them. Furthermore, there is still the question of value for money and accessibility.

I look forward to hearing from you.

Desmond Jaddoo

Organisor

Birmingham Empowerment Forum
2 Comments

Is the FA Committed to Tackling Racism in Football?

6/5/2013

3 Comments

 
Is the FA Committed to Tackling Racism in Football?

In November 2013 there was anti-Semitic gestures and mocking from West Ham fans toward Tottenham fans during a game at White Hart Lane.

Another incident occurred that was filmed by sky sports showing Millwall fans racially abusing El-Hadji Diouf of Leeds United.

Both Clubs gave assurances that they would act swiftly and impose life bans on fans showing this type of bigoted behaviour.

Unfortunately the FA once they were made aware and following an investigation; no further action would be taken against both Clubs.                                                                    

They issued a statement that said: “No charges are to be issued to either club in relation to these isolated incidents.”

However they also added: “The FA advises that consideration will be given to taking disciplinary action against both West Ham United and Millwall if further reports of spectator misconduct are received.”

Is this really showing a commitment to tackling this type of behaviour?

The FA must appreciate that many football stadiums are located in highly populated BME communities, which will impact upon the local residents also.

Following the FIFA announcement last week one would have thought that the FA would have at least closed a stand at each ground or even order a game to be played behind closed doors, bearing in mind that these incidences are regularising themselves.

It would appear that Racism is not an important part of the agenda and would beg the point, as to why there are promotional shirts and various campaigns, demonstrates mere window dressing and no real substance towards tackling this issue which is not just with football but also sport and society, in my opinion.

There are independent groups such as Race for Sport that are willing to work with the FA in order to develop solutions to this alarming issue, by way of not only punishment but also dialogue and re-education as appropriate.

I believe this was an opportunity for the FA to make a clear statement by its actions. In this case ‘Do Nothing’.

Desmond Jaddoo

Organisor

Birmingham Empowerment Forum

 

3 Comments

The Continuing Journey of Civic Engagement

6/2/2013

1 Comment

 
The latest civic engagement event took place at Bethel Convention Centre in West Bromwich at The Loud Conference.

Interesting enough yet again many people were unaware of how they could get involved in order to contribute and scrutinise matters of concern to the as a community and as a member of society.

Issues surrounding the treatment of detainees in police & Immigration Custody, scrutiny of the Prison Service, LEA involvement in schools and even becoming Magistrates knowing that all they needed to do was apply.

These details are contained in both our websites.

However alarmingly, concerns have for many years been raised about the demographic make up of jury's and many people did not realise if you are not on the Electoral Register then you would not be considered for Jury service as the local voter register is the selection tool.

The main impression is a lack of information and publicity around these matters. It is also noted that various National & Local Government Community Engagement budgets have been cut or even in many cases removed completely, hence creating an even greater barrier in order to publicise civic opportunities to make a difference. 

It is therefore up to those that know, to inspire and encourage others to start stepping up to the mark and participating in order to create greater inclusion.
1 Comment

Time to Demand Change. The Impact of the Cuts

6/2/2013

1 Comment

 
Time to Demand Change. The Impact of the Cuts

 

Ahead of the BARAC meeting at The Drum on Thursday 6th June 2013 at 6.30 in Newtown Birmingham, we must wake up to the stark reality of the fact that many of the issues that we are currently facing we have contributed to by not engaging on the Political process.

Claims have been made that Politicians are out of touch and indeed some of them are there for apparent self gain and the other side is Party first and people second. But are we not at fault also?

When an individual is not registered to vote and even if you are and you don’t use it, you are guilty of allowing the status quo to continue unchallenged.

We have the collective power to bring about change but instead we moan and protest, when we need to be planning affirmative action to remove some of these people that supposedly represent us and replace them with people that we can connect with.

Look at the problems we face, bearing in mind that we are also a diverse society, which has been in existence for yes hundreds of years as Britain is and was not just made up of the British Isles but also many overseas territories.

Racism in sport and especially Football.

Racism in Society.

Religious Divisions.

Non – embracement of our valued diversity.

The widening Gap between rich & poor.

Fuel Poverty.

Debt.

Increasing Poverty.

Social & Economic Depravation.

Lack of adequate Housing.

The impact of these Cuts which our Council in Birmingham in my opinion could be managing better will have the following impact upon our city:

Crime

Prostitution

Energy Debts

Discrimination

Starvation

Suicide

Social Unrest

Public Health

Environmental Decay

Mental Health

Disaffection

Eviction

Homelessness

Education

Domestic & Family Abuse

Increased Bailiff profiteering on council tax debts.

These are just a few of the impacts and challenges we face as a City and are they being tackled effectively?

It is only this week that highly paid Housing Officials in Birmingham are now looking at the initiative led by Leeds City Council in reclassifying empty rooms in relation to the bedroom tax.

Is there any real direction without there being a Cabinet Member for Housing in Birmingham? I have written to the leader about this but as yet he has failed to respond.

Where is the effective Leadership in tackling the attack on the poor and vulnerable in Society? We need change and we have the responsibility in invoking change by getting involved and preparing our collective voices by having new people from grass roots to represent our collective communities that put the people first. We as the people deserve better, but, many do not realise that the real power is with us and its time to prepare ourselves to use it.

We have seen the increase in racial and religious division. May I just say that criminals are criminals no matter gender, religion, race, ability or wealth. We must remind ourselves of this.

We have also seen Football issuing guidelines to tackle racism, however, these are and will only be effective if applied in a positive stomp it out manner, no matter which club and geographical area it applies too.

The bottom line is we do have a voice and we do have power, we can no longer just sit back and let anarchy take over. We all want change and time now to Unite and demand it.

Desmond Jaddoo

Organisor

Birmingham Empowerment Forum

1 Comment

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