Avoiding stereotypes about Romanians living in Brent

I made representations to Brent's Equalities Committee last night about a report on the borough's Eastern European Community. LINK Although the report's recommendations are mainly non-controversial I argued that statements in the report were likely to reinforce stereotypes about the Romanian community. They focused on single men despite the fact that there are many Romanian families settled in the borough and contributing to the community. Reminding the Committee of the Counci's policy on hate crime I warned that in the present climate the report could reinforce prejudice and as it was in the public domain potentially damaging to the council.

The report's opening paragraph states:
 

This cross-Council group has been established to look at the socio-economic barriers and challenges experienced by the Eastern European communities living in Brent and make recommendations to address these. The scope of the group does not cover rough sleepers, overcrowding and anti-social behaviour because these themes are either within the scope of other forums or will be considered as separate work streams. 


But then goes on to give 'anecdotal  evidence':
 

The two largest Eastern European groups in Brent are Polish and Romanian. The Polish community is on the whole quite well settled and has an established support network in Brent. Unlike the Polish community, the Romanian community does not have access to an established support network. The majority of the Romanians in Brent are single men and/or economic migrants who are financially supporting their families back in Romania. Some of them are coming to Brent to do seasonal casual work, they are not interested in 
interacting with Council’s and NHS services and often do not have National Insurance numbers. They often sleep rough and/or in overcrowded conditions, their health needs are often unmet. There has also been an increase in female sex workers from Eastern Europe who are often subject to abuse and violence and who also experience health inequalities

The focus on single men ignores the fact that later there is data from nurseries and schools that indicate significant number of Romanian children in Brent schools. 500 children (3%) speak Romanian as a first language and 384 (2%) Polish. In primary schools 1,164 (4%) of children speak Romanian as first language and 1,000 (4%) Polish.

In comparison there were 24 rough sleepers in Brent on 25th November 2016 (compared with 64 last year) and 'Romanian and Polish are the two largest groups of rough sleepers in Brent'.

The focus on barriers perhaps inevitably means a concentration on the negatives so in my presentation I wanted to focus on the positive side for balance.

I spoke about my experience as a governor at a school where 12.5% of the children speak Romanian (compared with 4.5% Polish) where the Romanian children are very much part of the school community with some sitting on the Pupil School Council and involved in the many extra-curricular activities, including music and choir.  They are proud of their country of origin but see themselves as now part of the UK.  Many have been at the school for 5 or 6 years although their sense of security was shaken by the EU Referendum result.

There are no issues regarding attendance etc and a Romanian parent (a teacher at another school) is standing in the current Parent Governor election.

In the local community longer-term settlement is also indicated by the number of Romanian shops opening up in Wembley, Preston and on the borough boundary in Burnt Oak.

A further indicator of settlement is the establishment of Romanian Orthodox churches in the borough. A long lease has been taken out on the Old St Andrews Church in Kingsbury and it has a large congregation that spills over into the churchyard on Sunday mornings.  A London based Romanian language newspaper is distributed and there is a community notice board in addition to the services which are attended by many family groups.

I read the committee an e-mail from a local Romanian in reaction to the report. She said:

I think the Romanians are worried for the following reasons:

They do not know yet the effects of Brexit for them. eg They may lose their jobs and they will have to leave the UK
There have been malicious newspaper articles in the UK about Roamnians involved in organised crime such as huuman trafficking, beggars, thieves
Loss of benefits for families with low income
Loss of access to the NHS

In response officers argued that the report was the first step in an new approach and was focused on barriers to the progress of Eastern European communities and as it could not cover all of them, looked at the two largest from Poland and Romania.

They said that there had been 'no negativity' at the Round Table meeting on November 30th with 15 or so organisations that serve the Eastern European community and that the recommendations had been welcomed.  They said that there  data behind the report but that only a limited amount was available.   The community was not always aware of support groups but future activity would be based on the community's own assessment of its needs.  The scope of the proposals will be expanded out into the community as a whole and more research would be undertaken. Genevie George, Partnerships and Engagement Manager, who has been in post for 2 months, emphasised that the report was a starting point.

They acknowledged that 'precarious work' was an issue and the need for workers to know about their rights. Brent was working with Work Rights Centre with sessions every Saturday at Wembley Library.

During discussion councillors paid tribute to the contribution of Eastern Europeans to Brent and approved the recommendations.  They thought it important for the council to undertake positive public relations about the Eastern European community and looekd forward to the rpgress of our newest community. In a caveat Cllr Thomas said that the Council had to be careful not to be seen to be doing more for one community than for others in Brent. He suggested that the research and work on this report could have been done by Brent CVS as they had the capacity to undertake it while the Council was shedding staff.

Brent Council to take over maintenance of historic Old St Andrew's Churchyard

The churchyard at Old St Andrew's Church in Kingsbury has been cleared of vegetation, including brambles and elder, which had covered and concealed many of the graves for years. Apart from revealing many fascinating headstones it also reveals considerable damage to graves including fallen headstones, subsidence of graves and gaping holes in some vaults.

Old St Andrew's is Brent's only Grade 1 listed building and the oldest building in the borough dating from before 1100.  The graves appear more recent but are hard to date because inscriptions on the oldest headstones have been worn away.

According to the incumbent, Father Jason Rendell, the last burial in the churchyard was in 2003.

The churchyard includes many fine yew trees and is at its best in the Spring when snowdrops, violets and bluebells can be found.  It is amazingly peaceful for a site surrounded by suburban  development and where yesterday the roars from Wembley Stadium could be heard.

A proposal to close the churchyard for future burials has been tabled with the closing date for comments tomorrow. Parishioners who have reserved their places will be unaffected by the closure. (Details below)

Once the churchyard is closed, a process that may take a year, Brent Council will take over the maintenance. An electronic survey of the graves  is to be undertaken which will record the position, condition and inscription of each grave. There will also be a tree survey and self-seeded trees will be removed opening up the churchyard to more light.

The churchyard is overcrowded and there was a proposal in the 1930s to open a lawn cemetery nearby on ground now occupied by the Birchen Grove allotments, Welsh Environmental Study Centre and the Garden Centre. As far as I can ascertain that site is still consecrated ground. The chapel for the proposed cemetery still stands and houses Energy Solutions.

I sometimes visit the churchyard with primary classes and it is interesting how they overcome initial fear  to become fascinated by the social history recorded by the graves including infant mortality, references to the two world wars and the verses on many of the graves. Those children whose first language is not English can be confused.  'Is there really someone sleeping under there?' one asked me pointing to a huge stone slab.  There follows a lesson about euphemisms and an eager search for examples.

Influenced by the peace and the surroundings children often initiate profound discussions about death and religion. Some children who are refugees from conflict open up about their experience and their family losses.

The churchyard closure notice:

Representations should be sent to Coroners and Burials Team, Ministry of Justice, 102 Petty France, London SW1H 9AJ quoting Reference OPR/075/333

Old St Andrew's footpath cleared

Last month I highlighted the fly-tipping at Old St Andrew's Church Yard in Kingsbury LINK. The main dumping was on the public footpath leading from the church yard to St Andrew's Road.

I recently bumped into the local street sweeper and he told me that his supervisor had asked him to clean up the path in addition to his normal work when he had time.

I was delighted today to see that most of the bulky fly-tipping had been removed, including toys that appeared to have been dumped over the fence of the nursery.  I had sent links to my posting to Streetcare and the vicar of St Andrew's and perhaps that had some impact.

There are still some discarded carrier bags and beer cans which appear to be dumped by people who use the ancient church yard for drinking sessions, but it is good to see some improvement.