Monthly Archives: April 2012

OCCUPY WEST SIDE : IDYW ON THE ROAD

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We’re on the road this next week with IDYW events in Newcastle on Monday, in London on Thursday and Manchester on Friday – all in one way or another facing up to the implications of the rule of the Market. If you are still weighing up whether you can make it, I will still be accessible on tonymtaylor@gmail.com.

I’ll try to remember to take some photographs and there is the prospect that I might tweet from the events, but I can’t promise! Feels a bit bizarre!

There is a lot of material to post so watch out from next weekend – stuff on climate change and young people; on young people and the Olympics; on young people’s treatment at work via Paris-Match ; and much more.

I’ll leave you with this revised version of ‘Gee Officer Krupke’ from West Side Story, created after the recent infamous activities of the Deputy Inspector of the New York Police, Edward J. Winski at the Occupy New York anniversary march.

Dedicated to Occupy’s favourite perpetrator of police brutality and squasher of dissent. Deputy Inspector Edward J. Winski.

The lyrics are here.

I reckon Lenny Bernstein and Stephen Sondheim might well approve.

THE FLASH MOB : STOP AND SEARCH YOURSELF

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Back at the end of February we posted notice of rehearsals for a flash mob event intended to highlight the increasing police harassment of young people. This important issue was highlighted through one of the stories, Holding on to your dignity, in our book, This is Youth Work.

Well in the end the Flashmob struck!

Urban dancers dressed as police officers flash mobbed Trafalgar Square and Grosvenor Square on Saturday 31 March 2012 to raise awareness of police discrimination whilst using controversial stop and search powers.

And here is the cool video of their activity. Well worth using as a catalyst for debate.

In the course of discussion created by the intervention one particular question emerged. To what extent are Black Minority Ethnic young people over-policed and under-protected? What are your thoughts?

Thanks to Munir for keeping us in touch with this work.

 

Drive to the Market Seminars : London venue confirmed, April 26

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In essence we want to create an atmosphere, within which we can argue through together the implications and contradictions of the marketisation of youth and community work and the wider voluntary sector as a whole. In short we want to get our own heads around ‘what is going on’.

Thus ran our rationale for our late April ‘Drive to the Market ‘ seminars. The London venue on Thursday, April 26 is confirmed as:

Hughes Parry Hall
19 – 26 Cartwright Gardens
London
WC1H 9EF

For location and travel advice see:

http://www.halls.london.ac.uk/conference/garden/location.aspx

For more info or to book a place, contact Tony at tonymtaylor@gmail.com

 

Detached Youth Work Seminar, April 28

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Notice of interesting seminar from FDYW

The Federation for Detached Youth Work are hosting a one day seminar on the 28th April 2012 from 10am-4pm in Hounslow.  We are aware of the balance between squeezed funding streams and continued need for professional development so we offer this reasonably prices event for anyone interested in detached youth work.

We will have three workshop options across the day on subjects that our members and partners have told us they are interested in.  So far, Malcolm Ball, Advisor to the Lewisham Young Mayor and Paul Olaitan, Hackney Youth Offending Team Manager are confirmed to run workshops.

Booking and payment is easy, please see the link below for all the location and additional information.  We will provide refreshments through the day but lunch is ‘bring your own’ or ‘scavenge’ the local area.

For more information and to book use the below link:

http://detachedseminar.eventbrite.co.uk/

Please contact us on fdyw@nya.org.uk if you experience any problems with booking.

Young Londoners Forced Out?

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We’ve received the following notice from Suzanne Beishon, London Organiser, Youth Fight for Jobs. We know that the dilemmas surrounding young people, available housing and independence circulate far beyond the capital.
I’m emailing to invite you to the campaign launch of ‘Young Londoners – Forced Out?’.
London Youth Fight for Jobs are launching the campaign to take up the huge housing costs and difficulties faced by young Londoners.
The campaign is supported by Unite Housing Workers Branch 1111 and PCS London.
The meeting is on Tuesday 17th April, 7.30pm at ULU (University of London Union, on Malet Street).
See attached leaflet and our website www.londonersforcedout.com for more information about the campaign.

Billed by some as the 21st Century Cathy Come Home, The Truth About Stanley is a 20 minute film aimed to highlight and raise money for homelessness in one of the world’s richest cities, London.

Drive to the Market Seminars : Be There and Contribute

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With the generous support of the National Coalition for Independent Action we are going ahead with our two ‘Drive to the Market’ seminars on April 26 in London and April 27 in Manchester. In essence we want to create an atmosphere, within which we can argue through together the implications and contradictions of the marketisation of youth and community work and the wider voluntary sector as a whole. In short we want to get our own heads around ‘what is going on’.

A central concern is to give people and organisations a chance to share experiences of what is happening and how they are dealing with the new policy landscape. The outline
programme [11.00 - 4.00] is;

   Session 1 Drive to the Market Analysis from an IDYW
   and a NCIA perspective followed by Q&A and discussion.

   Session 2 Dilemmas for the statutory and voluntary
   sectors – speakers from both corners thence Q&A and debate.

   Session 3 Social Enterprise and Cooperatives ; Not all
   Bad? – speakers reflecting this contradiction, thence Q&A and argument.

   Session 4 Promoting Alternatives Working ‘In and Against’? Small groups.       

We are especially interested to hear from you if you would like to make a lead contribution to any of the sessions. Please contact Tony at tonymtaylor@gmail.com. Amongst the contributors will be Bernard Davies, Sue Atkins, Tania de St Croix[IDYW], Andy Benson, Melaina Barnes [NCIA], James Beecher [Stroud against the Cuts].

The Manchester venue is confirmed as the Greater Manchester Council for Voluntary Organisation’s St Thomas Conference Centre, Ardwick Green, close to the city centre and Piccadilly rail station.

GMCVO Conference Centre

GMCVO Travel directions

We will confirm the London venue in the next few days, but it will be in a central venue accessible from the main rail stations.

As ever we  strive to make sure our events are free or low-cost. Thanks to the NCIA support these seminars will be free, but a donation to coffee/tea will be appreciated. Bring your own lunch.

To help us organise, please book a place in advance through tonymtaylor@gmail.com

Our Book Inspires Further Training and Development

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The workshops based on our book, This is Youth Work, continue to provoke debate, difference and solidarity, the latest held in Liverpool at the end of March. The next event in the diary is to take place in Newcastle on Monday, April 23 – see here – whilst forthcoming dates include May 11, Plymouth and May 28, Coventry.

London has been a particular hot-bed of activity and two spin-offs are now being promoted.

(1) IDYW ACTION LEARNING SET - a six month initial commitment to monthly half-day session.  Only 8 places available.

The set will work as a group to develop and support their practice through a range of activities: Using Open Space Technology to hold issue based conversations; Skills focused workshops; Group/Peer supervision; project exchanges; bring our young people together for a summer activity; and creating our own This is Youth Work Stories.

Starting with an exploratory session on Friday 4th May am to explore what everyone wants from the group and how we wish to develop it. Venue to be announced.

(2) Training for anyone interested in facilitating IDYW workshops

Following the success of the recent Stories workshop and interest from others to facilitate, we will have a half-day FREE FACILITATOR TRAINING WORKSHOP for anyone interested in joining a pool of Stories workshop facilitators.  Approx 15 places available.
The workshop will include: understanding the role of the facilitator; use of games etc in workshops; and sharing reflections on the Stories workshops so far.  Workshop will be use a range of tools and activities throughout that can then be used by facilitators in other workshops.

Friday 20th April, 10am to 1pm.  Venue to be confirmed.

Please contact Susanna, sdarch@gmail.com about either of these opportunities.

Flourishing under Caring Capitalism : Commission on Youth Engagement

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David Cameron and Philip Blond at the Launch of Respublica.

 

 

 

 

A fascinating and intriguing development emerges. NCVYS have joined forces with the sophisticated right libertarian think-tank, Respublica, in launching a Commission to explore the impact of youth engagement.

The commission has been set up as a response to the riots with the aim of “redefining the debate” surrounding the disturbances, by joining social theory with direct work with young people.

We are well up for the debate.

NCVYS chief executive Susanne Rauprich said: “As we approach the anniversary of the August 2011 riots, the commission will offer space for reflection, dialogue and debate.

We embrace critical dialogue.

“We will be working with experts in our membership and academics to match real life experience of working with young people with social theory and existing research. By partnering with ResPublica we hope to develop solutions with an influential and independent think tank that can help us to steer change.”

IDYW is keen on social theory and has supporters/academics with recent and relevant research under their belts.

However the independent and influential think tank, Respublica, has an explicit ideological agenda – the project of radical transformative conservatism. We wonder whether dissenting voices might be heard?

http://www.cypnow.co.uk/news/1125277/commission-explore-youth-engagement/

http://respublica.org.uk/

Privatisation and the Public Good : Drive to the Market

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More background material to our ‘Drive to the Market’, April 26/27 Seminars.

A short history of privatisation in the UK: 1979-2012

 

When privatisation doesn’t work

The economist’s notion of public goods has lost currency in this age of commodities, not just in the EU but particularly in the Anglo-Saxon world. Unlike today, two generations ago, economics undergraduates were taught that such goods were different from soap flakes and hamburgers. Public goods and services are things which need to be supplied – or at least regulated – by the public sector because they are by their very nature collective. Clean water, unpolluted air, education and law and order are obvious examples; there is no doubt that everybody should have such goods, not merely those who can afford to buy them privately.

and

The same public logic holds for education. Universal literacy may be instrumental to developing a skilled workforce – a notion much loved by Tories – but the real reason we value education is because it is a necessary (though insufficient) component of a well-functioning democratic society. Education is not a commodity to be purchased according to individual preference; it’s central to the meaning of civilised society.