SKNPRA AGM: Volunteering and achievements

These are my Chairman's remarks at tonight's Seven Kings & Newbury Park Resident's Association AGM, based on http://www.worldvolunteerweb.org/resources/how-to-guides/volunteer/doc/benefits-of-volunteering.html:

Getting involved in the work of SKNPRA can make a real difference to your own life and the lives of those around you. Getting involved offers the chance to give something back to the community or make a difference to the people around you. It also provides an opportunity to develop new skills or build on existing experience and knowledge. Regardless of your motivation, getting involved will be challenging and rewarding.

Here are some reasons to volunteer:

Learn or develop a new skill 

Volunteering is the perfect vehicle to discover something you are really good at and develop a new skill. As Mahatma Gandhi said, “Live as if you were to die tomorrow.  Learn as if you were to live forever.” It is never too late to learn new skills and there is no reason why you should ever stop adding to your knowledge. Planning and implementing a campaign on a local issue can, for example, develop goal setting, planning and budgeting skills. These are examples of skills that can enhance a career but you don’t have to develop skills with the intention of facilitating your career. The possibilities for developing and using new skills are many.  

Be part of your community

No man or woman is an island. We sometimes take for granted the community that we live in. People and societies co-depend on each other for survival but growth of such things as commercialism are seeing traditional values being disregarded. Communities are suffering due to the growth of selfishness in society but we can bridge that expanding gap through volunteering. Volunteering is ultimately about helping others and having an impact on people’s wellbeing. What better way is there to connect with your community and give a little back? As a volunteer with SKNPRA, you certainly return to society some of the benefits that society gives you. 

Motivation and sense of achievement

Fundamentally, volunteering is about giving your time, energy and skills freely.  Unlike many things in life there is choice involved in volunteering. As a volunteer you have made a decision to help on your own accord, free from pressure to act from others.  Volunteers predominantly express a sense of achievement and motivation, and this is ultimately generated from your desire and enthusiasm to help. Sometimes volunteers are regarded as do-gooders and those that hold that view also assume that one person can never make a difference. It may be true that no one person can solve all the world’s problems, but what you can do is make that little corner of the world where you live just that little bit better.

Boost your career options

A survey carried out by TimeBank through Reed Executive showed that among 200 of the UK’s leading businesses:

·       73% of employers would recruit a candidate with volunteering experience over one without

·        94% of employers believe that volunteering can add to skills

·        94% of employees who volunteered to learn new skills had benefited either by getting their first job, improving their salary, or being promoted

Also, if you are thinking of a career change then volunteering is a perfect way to explore new fields.

New interests and hobbies

Sometimes we do get locked into the “rat-race” of life and volunteering can give that escape to everyday routine and create a balance in our lives. Finding new interests and hobbies through volunteering can be fun, relaxing and energizing. The energy and sense of fulfilment can carry over to a work situation and sometimes helps to relieve tensions and foster new perspectives for old situations. Sometimes a volunteer experience can lead you to something you never even thought about or help you discover a hobby or interest you were unaware of. You can strengthen your personal/professional mission and vision by exploring opportunities and expanding your horizons. 

New experiences

Volunteering is a brilliant way to get life experience. Whatever your involvement with us, you will be experiencing the real world through hands-on work.

Meeting a diverse range of people

Volunteering brings together a diverse range of people from all backgrounds and walks of life. Both the recipients of your volunteer efforts and your co-workers can be a rich source of inspiration and an excellent way to develop your interpersonal skills.  Volunteering also offers an incredible networking opportunity. Not only will you develop lasting personal and professional relationships but it is also a great way to learn about people from all walks of life, different environments, and new industries. Networking is an exciting benefit of volunteering and you can never tell who you will meet or what new information you will learn and what impact this could have on your life.

Send a signal to your employer, teachers, friends and family…

People pay attention to your life outside the environment in which they have direct contact with you. For example, your employer would be interested in the activities that gives you a good work-life balance, just as academic institutions are interested in your extra-curricular activities. Volunteering reflects and supports a complete picture of you, and gives real examples of your commitment, dedication and interests. Show people what you are passionate about and maybe you will inspire them too!

Last year Peter Robinson volunteered to join the SKNPRA committee. As a result, this year we are able to tell you about the campaign for step-free access at Newbury Park Station which Peter is running. We could run that campaign without his volunteering. If you are prepared to get involved as he has done, there will be other campaigns and other issues that we can tackle which would simply not have been possible without you. So, for all these reasons when we come to elect our committee do please think seriously about volunteering.

Audrey Shorer, our Secretary, reported on our achievements in 2012/13:

Our biggest success last year was to get the public toilets in Seven Kings Park re-opened. They will be managed and maintained by Redbridge Vision and should be open 7 days a week. We are aware that some Sundays they have not been open but this has been brought to the notice of Vision and will be closely monitored. They are closed at the moment because the hot water boiler failed and is being replaced.

In September, the new park bench was installed in Seven Kings Park near the bridge  at a cost of £480.00 plus an engraved Traffolyte plate at £15.  The bench is made of very durable recycled polystyrene.  Redbridge Vision installed it free of charge. The Ilford Recorder did a photo shoot of the event.

In November we organised a protest meeting outside the park gate at Beddington Road against Redbridge Council’s decision to leave the park open at night. This has since been rescinded and the gates are now locked at seasonal closing times.

Our Chairman has attended meetings of the Seven Kings Ward Panel to report problems of drug dealing in Norfolk & Elgin Roads,  He has also spoken at Area 5 meetings to speak on a variety of issues on behalf of the residents.

I have reported to our Community Ward Police, problems of car repairs in Farnham Road which was dealt with. I also reported to the Cleansing Department, pallets and rubbish dumped in Seven Kings Water which was cleared.  Also reported on line via Redbridge i several incidents of fly tipping, litter and dog fouling all of which have been dealt with promptly by Redbridge Council.

The £100.00 which you voted to donate to Seven Kings Park Users Group was a great help with the initial setting up of the group towards the cost of postage, stationary and a Laminator.  The Chairman David Wynne-Fitzgerald thanked our Association for their generosity.

The Community Day on 18^th May in St John's garden was a great success with several new members signing up. We would certainly like to repeat this next year.

And finally I would like to thank all those people who help with delivering the Newsletter which cuts the cost of postage.

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King Crimson - Epitaph.

Of park benches and toilets

Seven Kings and Newbury Park Resident's Association features in the Ilford Recorder this week because we have donated a bench to Seven Kings Park. The bench, which has been donated from monies raised by SKNPRA through fundraising events, has been located alongside the path leading from the park to King George Hospital and the A12 alongside Happy Valley. This location was chosen as a useful resting point, alongside Seven Kings Water, on the walk to and from the hospital.

This is the second additional bench which SKNPRA has been able to obtain for the local community. The first is located in Aldborough Road South and was provided by the Council as part of our Living Streets project.

We will be returning to Seven Kings Park tomorrow at 2.30pm for the re-opening of the toilets in the Park. These were closed in 2011 as part of austerity cuts by the Council in the borough. SKNPRA led a campaign against their closure and has since worked with councillors and officials to enable their re-opening. Their reopening has been has been the result of a significant local campaign and much behind the scenes negotiation led by our membership Secretary, Mark Kennedy. We are therefore thrilled that the toilets are to be re-opened.

SKNPRA is organising a Community Information Day to be held on Saturday 18th May between 11.00am and 1.00pm in the community garden at St John's Seven Kings. This event provides an opportunity for community groups and those organisations providing services in the local community to promote their organisation and meet local people.

We will be promoting the event locally and St John's Church will also be holding a Plant & Table-top Sale in the St Johns Centre at the same time. The combination of these two events on a previous occasion - see http://joninbetween.blogspot.co.uk/2011/05/creating-community-event-2.html - proved very successful.

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Deacon Blue - Here I Am In London Town.

The work of a Resident's Association

Last night was the AGM of the Seven Kings and Newbury Park Resident's Association (SKNPRA). This is what I said in my opening remarks as Chair:

2012 has been a year of further development and growth for SKNPRA. What I want to do is set the scene by outlining the broad areas of SKNPRA’s work.

The first thing to mention is our ongoing liaison with the Council and other agencies over specific issues in particular parts of the area. This work results either from our own observation of issues in the locality or through notification by other SKNPRA members or members of the local community. This work is not publicised but regularly achieves small but consistent improvements to the area simply by bringing issues to the attention of the authorities.

Second, we have worked hard to increase our membership because that means that more issues can be noted and addressed and more people can be drawn into higher profile campaigns and other work undertaken by SKNPRA. With this in mind, we have also re-introduced social and fundraising events to the SKNPRA programme, beginning with our recent Quiz Night, as these increase our profile, generate funds which can be used to publicise the Association, and bring our members together.

Third, are our higher profile campaigns which this year has primarily been the campaign to reopen the toilets in Seven Kings Park. Campaigns like this need to use different approaches at different times in order to achieve their overall aims. We began the campaign with significant publicity but, in more recent months, it has been more effective to have been campaigning on this issue behind the scenes.

Fourth, we facilitate other groups and initiatives. So, over the past year, have organised meetings which have led on to the establishment of new Neighbourhood Watch groups and also the Seven Kings Park Users group.

Fifth, we contribute to various committees such as the Area 5 Committee, where we have had a co-opted member, and also the Ward Panel for Seven Kings.

Finally, we have also been liaising and networking with other groups, such as the Goodmayes Resident’s Association, and are linked in with plans to possibly create a network of Resident’s Associations in Redbridge.

All these different but significant strands of our work combine to mean that SKNPRA remains a viable and effective Resident’s Association for Seven Kings and Newbury Park.   

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Tracy Chapman - If Not Now.

Creating community event

St John's Seven Kings is holding a Creating Community event on Saturday 21st May, which includes the opening, by the Archdeacon of West Ham, of the community garden at St John's and the presentation of a Living Streets award to the Seven Kings and Newbury Park Resident's Association (SKNPRA).

The community garden, which has been supported financially by Area 5 and 7 committees, London over the Border and the Fitter for Walking project, includes: new seating and plantlocks; a community noticeboard; sensory planting; original artworks; and a remembrance area. In addition, an area has been set aside for use by children at Downshall Primary School.

SKNPRA is receiving the Living Streets award for its work, with the Fitter for Walking project, in improving the local environment along Aldborough Road South in order to get more people out walking. This has included: a community audit of Aldborough Road South; presentations of the audit findings to the Area 5 and 7 committees; a community clean-up day; plantlocks for the community garden; a new bench at the corner of Brook Road and Aldborough Road South; walks organised for children at Downshall Primary School; a community mural project at Downshall Primary School; publicity for the local Church Art Trail; Church Art Trail walks; Newbury Park SNT action on speeding; successful funding application to Area 5 and 7 comittees for repair of the Seven Kings Park bandstand; and a successful community campaign to retain the Aldborough Road South public toilets.

The opening ceremony and the award presentation will take place at 10.30am and will then be followed (between 11.00am and 1.00pm) by a community information event in the community garden and a plant and table-top sale in the St John's Centre. For the community information event, community groups are being invited to set up a stall in the community garden displaying information about their work between 11.00am and 1.00pm.

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The Kinks - The Village Green Preservation Society.

Say No to Closure of Seven Kings Park Toilets Campaign (2)

Mark Kennedy, Membership Secretary of the Seven Kings and Newbury Park Resident's Association writes:

"On behalf of my committee members, I would like to record my thanks and appreciation for all of the effort made by the members of our Seven Kings & Newbury Park Residents Association, the community who pitched in, that we will hopefully gain as new members later and not forgetting the local shops in both Seven Kings and Newbury Park who were tremendous in asking each customer at their shops to sign our petition against the Council's closure threat to close the toilets in our local community, Seven Kings Park, Aldborough Road South, Newbury Park. Sadly, on this occasion, we lost the battle to save the toilets from closure at the Budget meeting, last Thursday 3rd March 2011. Some might say, we wasted our time and effort in trying to save the toilets from closure, no matter how clean and well kept they are, as is the case, the Council would always win and have their way. However, this is not the view we take on this issue. The positives are, we gained over 1,000 petition signatures in 5 days, our residents association name is now known to to all Councillors of all parties, our profile in the community has been raised during the campaign process and we are known now to the many thousands of readers of the Ilford Recorder as well. We have gained some new members, hopefully more will follow. Far from losing the battle, as far as we are concerned, it is game on. As the only local residents association that serves both the communities of Seven Kings & Newbury Park areas and one that prides itself on trying to maintain and improve the community for all people in Seven Kings and Newbury Park, the fight goes on. Our resident's association, will continue to press the council to reverse its decision to close the park toilets at every opportunity. In my appreciation, I must not forget to thank the local Councillors from Seven Kings, Newbury Park and Goodmayes who tried their best in asking questions during the Budget meeting aimed at the delegation protest representatives, which I and our resident's Secretary, Audrey Shorer were part, to highlight how the community users of the park would suffer from not being able to access toilets during recreation, play and exercise. For further details on this campaign and for joining the residents association, please contact Mark on Tel: 020-8598-8435 before 9:00 pm."

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Elbow - Jesus is a Rochdale Girl.

Manipulative inter-action on behalf of forgotten communities

Great to see Steven Saxby and Chris Connelley featuring in a story from The Guardian about community organising.

Steven Saxby says his church joined in December to benefit from the network of organisations that Citizens UK engages with in the field of social action. He wants to help immigrants who have been in this country for years, but are paid below the minimum wage and have no permanent right to remain.

Chris Connelley came on the Citizens UK training course because he is a founder of Take Action for Seven Kings and has been campaigning against the closure of Goodmayes library. He has used the techniques taught to good effect:

"The threat to Goodmayes library has been lifted as Redbridge council has removed it from its cuts prospectus after the most massive local campaign – 5,000 signatures in three weeks. I used a number of the methods and ideas from the course. Our sense is that they worked and established powerful new relationships ... which we are all now resolved to build upon and strengthen."

Paul Trathen has said recently that he remains unconverted about Community Organising, liking the idea but being unsure that it resists becoming bullying. I'm reminded on the subtitle to my Dad's second book which was, A Study in Manipulative Inter-action on Behalf of a "Forgotten Community". As a community work pioneer in the UK, he was upfront about what he was doing and took some flack for his honesty in saying it. The reason it is necessary, however, is because the complex and sometimes arcane nature of local and national government processes mean that it is incredibly difficult for those who are already disadvantaged in society to have their voice heard. The idea of community organising, as I understand it, is to train people in understanding and using those processes for the benefit of the local community which does, inevitably mean a degree of confrontation and manipulation through those processes. This is, to my mind, an important element of challenging those who hold power.
 
The Seven Kings and Newbury Park Resident's Association campaign to resist the closure of the toilets in Seven Kings Park reaches its climax tonight as our Secretary, Audrey Shorer, and Membership Secretary, Mark Kennedy (who has organised the campaign), speak at the Council meeting where the budget (and its programme of cuts) are to be finalised.   
 
The campaign, which has seen close to 1,000 signatures collected for its petition over five days, is featured in the current edition of the Ilford Recorder. Mark Kennedy has said: “The response we have had from the local community had been fantastic.”
 
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The Killers - Smile Like You Mean It.

Say No to Closure of Seven Kings Park Toilets Campaign

Seven Kings & Newbury Park Residents Association (SKNPRA) are requesting that Redbridge Council reconsider their plans to close under reference: CDS309 the toilets in Seven Kings Park, Aldborough Road South, Newbury Park.

Seven Kings Park is used not just by the residents in Seven Kings and Newbury Park, but also from visitors outside the community as well. Many sports are played in the park with Saturday and Sunday teams playing football and cricket during the summer months, not forgetting the playing of tennis on the courts and Bowls on the green as well. There are additional facilities with the large children’s play area at the far end of the park and the recent NEW Lottery funded Playscape area that is being built for completion early 2011 for children’s use, sited near to the toilets precisely to accommodate the needs of children and parents. Seven Kings Park is a very busy, well used community park.

SKNPRA was recently successful in obtaining funding from Area 5 and 7 Committees to refurbish the bandstand, so that bands can play in the park once more in the summer to attract, entertain residents and their families. The park is greatly used by many of the residents on a daily basis, with dogs being walked by their owners, people playing sport, keep fit walkers and runners alike.

The park is also used by the local schools. Downshall Primary School, in particular, we understand have stated that if the toilets close, then the school children will no longer be able to visit the park to play, learn and explore as the risk is too great that a child may want to go toilet at any time. It seems a great shame that this basic, but necessary facility is proposed to be closed to save money, when its use is a much needed public convenience!

We urge the Leader of the Cabinet, Councillor Keith Prince and Cabinet Member for Highways, Councillor Mrs Michelle Dunn responsible for this budget cut to please think again and to consider how children, senior citizens, families, sports men and women can be deprived of the use of this much needed public convenience. With the Olympics not so far away and obesity levels rising in children and the population at large, it seems unthinkable that the Council are sending out the message that they are discouraging people from using the park and taking exercise by cutting the use of this public toilet facility.

SKNPRA will be staging a protest and collecting petition signatures at the entrance to the park next to the toilets in Seven Kings Park, Aldborough Road South on Saturday 26th February at 10.30am.

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King Crimson - Epitaph.

Saving Goodmayes Library

TASK has been active over the past month in generating a community campaign which has resulted in Redbridge Council withdrawing its controversial plan to close Goodmayes Library. This is how the story was reported by Sarah Cosgrove of the Ilford Recorder:

'Cabinet Member for Leisure, Sue Nolan told The Recorder she has decided to withdraw the budget option to close Goodmayes Library, in Goodmayes Lane.

"I have attended a number of meetings to discuss our budget proposals and as with last year I have listened to the community, I believe that there are alternative ways of providing the services in Goodmayes Library and I now look to the community to help deliver this valued service," she said.

"There has been much talk about how we should provide the service in a different way and we are talking to other neighbouring Boroughs in relation to shared services but would welcome any initiatives that the community would also like me to consider."'

The fact that Cllr Sue Nolan has withdrawn her proposal to close Goodmayes Library is important but it was also important not count our chickens yet, so a group opposing the closure still handed in to tonight's Cabinet meeting a massive petition, tallying nearly 6,000 signatures as a record of our strength of opposition. Speeches made by our group covered the personal and community benefits of the current services, inadequacies in the closure case, and, in my remarks, proposals for a more strategic and engaged approach to involving the voluntary and community sector in future.

I said:

"It is excellent news that the proposal to close Goodmayes Library has been withdrawn and that Councillor Nolan is now looking to look to the community to help deliver this valued service. However, that, by itself, is not sufficient if we are to learn lessons from the way in which the process of reviewing the budget proposals has been handled to date. Simply to wait for community proposals and initiatives is insufficient because it results in a piecemeal approach to the issues and their solutions.


What is needed is a strategic approach to engaging with and involving the voluntary and community sector as part of a positive approach to the Government’s Big Society agenda, which can also encompass the immediate issue of how to find savings in the Council’s overall budget.

I suggest that taking a strategic approach to the issue would involve a comprehensive and detailed consultation with all voluntary and community sector organisations in the borough to audit their facilities and services and to seek ideas on the types and forms of community involvement which could preserve services and deliver cost savings. In addition to the possibility of services run by voluntary and community organisations, options could also include location of services in existing community building and increased use of volunteers, among other options. To undertake this kind of consultation would result in far more useful outcomes for addressing the current budget challenges than the pseudo-consultation which is the Redbridge Conversation and which tells the Council nothing substantial in terms of how to address the issue practically and creatively.

Such a strategic approach would also identify the real impacts of the cuts proposed. Cuts proposed by one Council department regularly impact on the work of other departments without these effects being identified and the real cost of the proposals is therefore not considered in decisions made. One example is the decision to close the Aldborough Road South toilets which impact on the playscheme in Seven Kings Park and on use of the playscheme by children from Downshall Primary School. The playscheme is a wonderful addition to the Park and the children at Downshall School have been consulted in its design but if the toilets are closed Downshall School will be unable to take groups of children to the Park and playscheme. This is a hidden impact as far as the paper assessing the budget proposals has been concerned because the proposals have not been developed or assessed strategically.

The strategic review, for which I am calling, will result in a more informed set of proposals and should become a standard part of the proposal development process in future."

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The Style Council - Walls Come Tumbling Down!