Cadbury's history, Miliband and the Archbishop of Canterbury

Last week my family heritage and political present unexpectedly came together with comments from two national leaders, and a book launch,.  Ed Miliband used George Cadbury's business philosophy as a role model for his economic vision, in his major speech in Birmingham. And in the week of his installation, the new Archbishop of Canterbury, referred to the Cadbury's "who have a deep sense of social utility and social value" in a TV interview.

It was a complete coincidence that in the same week I was celebrating one of the tangible results of this legacy.  The Barrow Cadbury Trust,of which I have been Chair for the past six years, launched a book of our history subtitled "Constancy and Change in Quaker Philanthrophy". 

The Trust was founded by my great-grandparents, Barrow (George's nephew) and Geraldine Cadbury who sought to address issues such as poverty, injustice, and a failing penal system.

A good example of how the Trust's history shapes our present is the Transition to Adulthood Alliance.   Initiated in 2008, T2Ais a coalition of voluntary and public sector partners working to improve the life chances of young adults in the criminal justice system.  We are now seeing how that work has influenced UK Justice policy and practice under the last and present Government, seeing how young adults are supported in alternatives to, and on release from, custody.
But our involvement in solutions, and particularly in criminal justice, is not new.  It stems from the passion of my great grandparents who believed that poverty could only be addressed through challenging the status quo.  They sought to distance themselves from the traditional Victorian philanthropists and felt that any solution to the problems of the poor in Birmingham depended on the work of central and local Government to improve housing, education and health care.  Geraldine, with others, founded the world's fist Childrens Court - in Birmingham.  Barrow and Geraldine used their own money to build and staff it.  She worked effectively as an unpaid probation officer - cataloging and understanding the home circumstances of all the young people.  In her later years she spent much of her time traveling to London, exhausting herself on Home Office Committees, working to ensure a more just system of justice of vulnerable children - she was, in the Quaker way, speaking Truth to Power.

For 10 years the Trust office has been in London - so that we can continue to access and influence the decision-makers, but we spend a significant proportion of our money in Birmingham and the Black Country.

It's a privilege and a responsibility, as Barrow and Geraldine's descendents, to steward the organisation.  I've found reading the book inspiring and fascinating, some of the stories are familiar, many are new to me.


NB:
Nick Pierce's Blog on the book and the links to current social and economic challenges is excellent.

Small Business Network - London Labour Councils

Yesterday I was in Brent, when Shadow Small Business Minister, Toby Perkins MP launched the second regional Labour Councillors Business Network (LCBN).

Labour councillors from boroughs right across London attended the event and we heard three presentations of best practice from excellent Labour Councils:

Brent: Cllr Mo Butt, Leader of the Council, and Cllr Zaffar Van Kalwala who represents the Stonebridge Ward, which includes the Park Royal Estate
Mo and Zaffar outlined how Brent have used the “Destination Wembley” project to boost local small firms and have used Council procurement to ensure companies create apprenticeships in the borough.  They also highlighted how the Council are leading by example in paying supplier within 14 days and have decreased parking charges to make their high streets more inviting.

Camden: Cllr Sarah Hayward, Leader of the Council
Sarah explained how access to finance was the most pressing problem facing small businesses in Camden and explained how her borough is working with the peer-to-peer lending site Funding Circle to get money to local firms.  Camden are investing £100,000 in the project and are keen to work with other Councils in the city to boost lending.

Merton: Cllr Stephen Alambritis, Leader of the Council
Stephen stated that “unlike the Tory-led government, in Merton we don’t just sit back and wait for big businesses to arrive”.  He described how Merton had won recognition for its excellent high streets and how the Council supported its high streets by using the Wimbledon championships to direct people to local shops and have insisted on support from large supermarkets for local shops.

After the presentations Cllrs from opposition groups and controlling groups in boroughs as diverse as Barnet, Greenwich, Bexley and Kensington discussed a wide range of ideas and ways to support local small businesses.  These included.
* Ensuring entrepreneurialism is open to all not just as a backstop for those out of work

* Working with the cooperative movement to support small businesses
* Giving local government more responsibility for local economic growth, and more powers to achieve this
* Setting an example with very prompt payment to suppliers
* Emulating schemes such as the Brixton pound.

Toby Perkins MP, National Chair of the LCBN and Shadow Small Business Minister said:

“Although Labour are out of office nationally, there is still much we can do to support the small businesses who are the lifeblood of our economy.
“Across the country Labour councils and councillors are often the first point of access for small businesses seeking support. Labour wants to see more people setting up and working in business.
“At a time when the Tory-led government is making unprecedented cuts to local government it has never been more important for our councils to work together to support their local businesses and economies.

“Councils from across the country are playing a huge role in demonstrating how the next One Nation Labour government will champion and support small business and I look forward to London playing its part.”

Red Nose Day Toll in Church Street

On Red Nose day we raised £406 for Comic Relief at a rush hour road "toll"  in Isleworth. Cllr Sue Sampson and I wore our slippers and dressing gowns and collected funds from drivers slowing down at the width restriction in Church Street. We were joined by Elvis, and local residents including Katherine Dunne who stopped by on her way to work.

We would like to to thank all the drivers who put their change in our mop buckets. Comic Relief funds many projects that support children living in poverty in the UK and in Africa, and every penny went towards the national total that is currently over £75m.

We'd also like to thank the charity Cathja,who made the "Red Nose" toll sign in their barge workshop, and the team at the London Apprentice who generously provided breakfast.

 

 

Noisy Planes? - Sleep Deprivation's Impact on Health

Just had the Monthly bulletin from Airport Watch (www.airportwatch.org.uk) with worrying research news.

"Some interesting new work by researchers at the University of Surrey indicates that sleep deprivation causes adverse effects on health due to disruption of gene activity. They were looking at sleep deprivation, rather than sleep disturbance (eg. from aircraft overhead) but the results are worrying, indicating negative effects on the immune system, and circadian rhythms, increasing stress, heart disease, obesity and type II diabetes. More  at http://www.airportwatch.org.uk/?p=488"

999SOS Petition Update

Yesterday 240 people signed the petition against Boris' cuts to Emergency services in London at our street stall in Chiswick, and this followed stalls last weekend in Hounslow and Feltham - taking the total to almost 700 in just a few hours of activity.

I've never had such positive support from a street stall as we've been having over the last two Saturdays. Nearly everyone has had direct or indirect use of the Ambulance service, their local police station, or the Fire service so threats to these are deeply unpopular.  The campaign, launched by the London Assembly Labour group is resonating way beyond party boundaries, and is really bringing home the impact of Osborne's cuts and Boris Johnson's U-turn on his election promises of last year