Public meeting: making Brent a safer place to live - August 22nd 7-9pm

From Brent Council Neighbourhood Watch

We are writing to invite you to join Police and Council leaders for a community conversation about violent crime. It will be held at Roundwood Youth Centre in Harlesden on Thursday 22 August, 7-9pm.

Sadly, like many London boroughs, Brent has had its share of headlines for street violence in recent months.

In response to these events, we are hosting a Time to Talk event focused on making Brent safer. By attending, you will have the chance to talk about your concerns, put your questions to Police and Councillors, hear from young people in the borough, and work together to find solutions.

The event will also highlight the reality behind some of the headlines and tackle misconceptions. Despite a number of high profile incidents, police figures show knife crime incidents in Brent are far less frequent than they were 12 months ago. The number of crimes involving knives has dropped 31%.

Cllr Muhammed Butt, Leader of Brent Council, had this to say: 

We’re working hard, with the Police, to address violence on our streets and make Brent an even safer place to live. But just as it takes a village to raise a child, we need the whole community to work together to put a stop to this behaviour.

Headlines don’t always tell the full story, but they do focus minds. We want to harness the strong emotions people rightly feel about street violence and see if we can find solutions together.

So, we hope to see you at Roundwood Youth Centre in Harlesden on Thursday 22 August. The free event will run 7-9pm and light refreshments will be provided. To register your interest, please go to https://www.facebook.com/events/670868150045602/. Registration is not essential, but it will help us to make sure that everybody is catered for. 

If you need to reply regarding this message, click on this email address: owl@brent.gov.uk

Brent Meeting: Parents' Mental Health & Wellbeing February 12th

Brent Council and Brent Clinical Commissioning Group have organised an event for parents in Brent on Tuesday 12 February 2019 to find out more about emotional wellbeing and recognise mental health issues which they or their children may experience.

The evening, which will be in the Grand Hall at Brent Civic Centre in Engineers Way, Wembley,  will feature talks by parents, discussion and offer information about emotional wellbeing and mental health. The event, part of the It’s Time to Talk series run by the council, is for parents or carers in Brent but other family members over 18 are also welcome. It will start at 7pm and finish at 8.30pm.

To register for the event, parents can book a ticket on Eventbrite, or email StrategyandPartnerships@brent.gov.uk or call 020 8937 1068.

'Brent is no place for hate' - Islamophobic letters condemned by Council & Brent MPS

Brent Council has issued the following annoucement

Recent threatening, Islamophobic letters sent to addresses in towns and cities have shone a spotlight on the national conversation around hate crime and the targeting of faith-based communities.

Brent Council and the Metropolitan Police Service have condemned the Islamophobic threats made in letters encouraging violence against Muslims.
 
Cllr Tom Miller, Cabinet Member for Stronger Communities said:

Brent is no place for hate. Let me be clear: these disgusting messages and their attempts to normalise hatred towards Muslims will absolutely not be tolerated. We are in close contact with the Metropolitan Police Service and are working hard to support residents to feel safe in Brent.

We are proud to be home to one of the most diverse communities in the UK and if anyone believes they have been the victim of a hate crime or knows someone who has, I would urge them to contact the local police force on 101 or 999 for emergencies. Reports can be made by community advocates or faith groups on behalf of those involved

In 2016 Brent Council launched the Time to Talk Campaign, giving people the space to talk openly about difficult issues.

Since then, the council has widened the remit of referral services and its community support officer to include hate crime and has commissioned a hate crime manual. An online portal has also been developed to learn and report different types of hate crime.

Advice and guidance on what to do if you are the victim of or witness to a hate crime is available here.
 
You can also report Islamophobic hate crime to TELL MAMA, an organisation dedicated to recording anti-Muslim incidents and bringing them to the attention of the police.

How we should challenge gang culture

In September last year the Brent and Kilburn Times published an article by Cllr Zaffar Van Kalwala (Stonebridge) on gangs. I republish it here as a contribution to the debate taking place LINK on this blog ahead of the Time to Talk About Gangs event to be held at the Roundwood Centre on January 17th.

The immediate challenge is to get the young people directly affected along to the event.

Recently, six people wearing balaclavas began firing gunshots at each other on the streets of Brent. What should have been a quiet Thursday afternoon turned into something resembling a scene out of a Hollywood movie. It was a timely reminder that gangs still cast a dark shadow over our community.

As chair of Brent’s Gangs taskgroup as well as having been born in the borough, I have become all too familiar of the impact gangs have on our area; some of the people I grew up with are either in prison or no longer with us – guns and gangs did that. Current estimates indicate almost one in every ten Brent 11-19 year old is a gang member and according to the Met. Police, gangs are responsible for 16% of the total drug supply, 26% of aggravated burglaries and 14% of all types of rapes. Even international events are adding to the toxic mix. My ward’s Safer Neighbourhood Team Sergeant once remarked that young people arriving from conflicts in Syria and Libya, traumatised by their experiences of violence and death were joining gangs. 

Although there are some very good examples of work being done in Brent. Initiatives carried out by the youth offending service, the police and the voluntary sector such as Stonebridge Boxing Club, which worked closely with ex-gang members to develop mentoring and physical routines to help change their lives around. 

The efforts of those working with some of the most hard to reach young people have not gone unnoticed – these are committed people genuinely trying to make a difference. But the truth is that many of the responses have at times been uncoordinated and fragmented. This is further exacerbated by the closure of youth facilities such as the Brent Adventure Playground, youth unemployment and the erosion of ‘community spirit’.

Gangs are also leveraging in brand new Nike trainers and designer clothes for gang members who have more often than not experienced family breakdowns and live chaotic lifestyles. A lack of positive role models, poor educational attainment, mental health and lack of aspirations are just some of the factors that lure young people to this violent subterranean street culture. Young women are also at risk from gangs whether it’s sexual exploitation, violence or becoming involved in criminality.   

Our solution to gang culture needs to move away from a one-dimensional approach, which focuses solely on increasing resources. Although this is important, increased investment in young people will achieve nothing without paying attention to other factors such as housing, education, family support and tackling social deprivation.

We need a more inclusive approach, which empowers the local community to develop youth-led initiatives. Local models can respond to local dynamics, and can be specific to the communities in which gangs operate. This should also be extended nationally and locally where we encourage young people to use their skills positively. Perversely, gang members can possess an entrepreneurial drive namely, building up their ‘gang business through clever branding and slick You Tube music videos. 

We should develop innovative schemes to provide business ‘start-up’ funding for young people who could be at risk of joining gangs to help them achieve their real potential. Moreover, we should have wider apprenticeship opportunities whereby those that display the ‘entrepreneurial spirit’ are given opportunities to work in sectors such as banking and finance to make better use of their abilities. 

Brent is home to the largest industrial estate in Europe, Park Royal. Our young people should be given the opportunities to be apprentices at some of the largest companies in the world. And with Brent collecting £15m from the community infrastructure levy (CIL) from developers building new homes, maybe some that funding should go towards building the future of our young people. 

We are at a tipping point, do we accept gangs and gang culture or do we together as a community say enough is enough?

'Nothing About Us, Without Us' - Statement on Brent's Time to Talk 'Extremism' discussion

This is the statement that Monitoring Prevent in Brent distributed at Monday's Brent Council discussion on Extremism:

“Nothing about us, without us”

Tonight (3 October 2016) Brent Council is holding the second of its Time to Talk series of events.
The Council believes ‘it is time to talk’. But for two years now, An-Nisa Society and other local organisations have been trying to raise our concerns about the Prevent Strategy and, in particular, the Public Sector Duty, which makes public sector employees liable to prosecution if they don’t report signs of perceived ‘extremism’ or ‘radicalisation’. Almost all of those referred are Muslim, often children as young as 10. Frustrated by months of silence from the Council, we held a public meeting on 10 December 2015.

With the help of Cllr Harbi Farah, we finally met the Leader of Brent Council, Mohammed Butt. Promises made by Councillor Butt to continue the conversation and to take some positive actions have not been followed up. As a result, we released a public statement on Prevent. (http://monitoringprevent.blogspot.co.uk/ ).

Serious questions need to be asked about the purpose of Time to Talk meetings. At the first one in July - a slick, well orchestrated ‘information session’ - we were left feeling that rather than a ‘time to talk’ it was in fact a time to be ‘told’ and ‘to listen’. The purpose of the workshop in the afternoon was unclear: it was really a theoretical tick box exercise. There were more officers and councillors at the meeting than ‘community’ and there was no opportunity to really scrutinise and question.
We view with extreme caution the meeting on ‘Extremism’. The speakers are once again highly qualified individuals who appear to have very little relationship to Brent. The programme offers little or no opportunity for local organisations to raise their concerns freely – the council has requested sending in questions in advance via email before we even hear the speakers.

So, what is presented as ‘community engagement’ and ‘community consultation’ appears to be a public relations exercise by Brent Council designed to validate and implement policies that impact on all our communities without any input from those most affected.

We call on Brent Council to engage transparently with individuals and organisations in Brent affected by government policy on ‘Extremism.’

Statement by Monitoring Prevent in Brent

Members include: An-Nisa Society, Brent Against Racism Campaign, Brent Stop the War, Brent and Harrow Palestine Solidarity Campaign
Email: MonitoringPrevent@gmail.com Facebook: Monitoring Prevent in Brent

LINKS:

• An-Nisa Responds to Prevent, the PSD and outlines our anti-Prevent campaign http://bit.ly/2cXE6ek
• Brent Council meeting on 'extremism' leaves community voices off the platform http://wembleymatters.blogspot.co.uk/…/brent-council-meetin…
• Preventing Violent Extremism (PVE) & Prevent: A Muslim response by An-Nisa Society, 2009 http://bit.ly/2cLQIXA
• Anti-extremism drive puts British values at risk, says Greater Manchester chief constable Sir Peter Fahy who says government strategy could alienate Muslims and damage free speech and religious freedom, The Guardian, 2015 http://bit.ly/2amvIqD
• Andy Burnham calls for 'toxic' Prevent strategy to be scrapped - Shadow home secretary says policy is today’s equivalent of internment in Northern Ireland, Guardian, 2016 http://bit.ly/1UprOqA
• Edinburgh College drops Prevent from its staff training, 2016 – SACC http://bit.ly/2dLG1lj
• Anti-radicalisation strategy lacks evidence base in science, Letters, The Guardian http://bit.ly/2d7ZJGx
• Anti-radicalisation strategy lacks evidence base in science, Joint letter by academics and practitioners, The Guardian Letters, September 2016 http://bit.ly/2dd8WyJ
• Alienation and extremism, 2016, Prevent has merely institutionalised the process, which creates alienation and separation said speaker Imran Khan at a Wadham College Human Rights Forum roundtable discussion. http://bit.ly/2dDwuMm

Green Party Deputy's personal experience informs his statement on mental health discrimination

I thought this item was worth sharing as it represents another step forward in fighting the stigma associated with mental health issues:

Will Duckworth, Green Party Deputy Leader, has spoken openly about his mental health experiences.
Mr Duckworth addressed a small meeting at the Green Party Spring Conference, which had been called to discuss the Party's plans to challenge mental health discrimination and stigma.

He said:

I have bipolar condition. It is normally called bipolar disorder but in my case it is more of a blessing than a curse. I have been a teacher for thirty years including twenty as head of maths in a comprehensive school and am now a Councillor and Deputy Leader of the Green Party of England and Wales.

I was diagnosed as having manic depression more than thirty years ago.  Since then I have had just two manic episodes. I do not take any pills for the condition and am in control of the situation and I can schedule my depressions, so they do not interfere with my work.

I recognise that many people suffer greatly from the condition but for me it is simply that most of the time I am happy and very friendly but every six weeks or so I have to go through a few hours of deep depression and I can even control when that happens.

Many of you may have seen the ‘It’s Time To Talk’ campaign currently in the national media, aiming to encourage people to speak about their mental health, to help other people understand the issues and help destigmatise mental health conditions.

I have chosen to speak out about this because I want to help to dispel the myths and fear that surround any type of mental health issues.

As one in four of the population suffer from mental health issues at some time then it means that a quarter of us are personally affected.

That means that there are probably more than 150 of our MPs and 200 members of the House of Lords who have mental health issues but are restrained from telling people about it.

Many of us have spent years hiding the fact, but now is time for this oppressed minority to ‘come out’. 

'Mental health issues can affect anyone and it certainly does not prevent people from performing well in all sorts of careers but the knowledge that someone has suffered can often prevent them from getting a job. 

After the meeting he added:

I'm speaking out now because it's time to change. It's time to be open. If you had a broken leg you wouldn't try to hide it, and this is no different. It's time to be open and honest. And I would like to thank everyone here, and the Green Party as a whole for creating an atmosphere which is comfortable enough for me to say what I have said.

 The Time to Change organisational pledge is HERE