Mar 12, 2012 | News & Press
On Thursday 1st of March at the Islamic Cultural Centre, the Cordoba Foundation (TCF) Launched their second in a trilogy of toolkits for community groups titled ‘ Effective Guide to Lobbying and Campaigning’.
The toolkit is designed to build confidence amongst BME community groups to help political engagement. It will serve as a go-to guide for practitioners whereby they can gain benefit from the balance of theory, practical advice and case studies that the guide offers. The toolkit can be the main resource for future training and workshops given by TCF to help cement the points in the guide. Speakers at the launch included Neil Jameson, Moazzam Begg, Aisha Alvi and Jeremy Corbyn, MP. Each spoke from their own experience about the need for people and civil society to be continuously involved in applying pressure collectively.
TCF hopes that the toolkit on ‘Effective Lobbying and Campaigning’ and the one on ‘Engaging with the Media’ will serve as key reference points in the future for practitioners on the ground.
For more information, please click here
Mar 7, 2012 | News & Press
A former bishop to HM Prisons told a forum held in London that custodial sentences and bail provisions for some of the rioters of last August have been too harsh. Dr Peter Selby, formerly Bishop of Worcester and Bishop to HM Prisons, criticised a ‘system of disregard’ for the wellbeing of disenfranchised young people, which had led to the riots. ‘I am seriously worried that you blight somebody’s whole life for one night of foolishness’ by handing down prison sentences for minor crimes, said Bishop Selby. With 1,400 people in the system still awaiting prosecution and sentencing, ‘there are real grounds for concern. The punitive response to individual rioters, resort to constraint and control and the use of prison disproportionately for the poorest add to up a system of disregard’ for their and society’s welfare, he said.
He was speaking at a conference on ‘After the riots: from blame to positive action’, held at the Initiatives of Change centre in London on 1 February. The forum was organised jointly by Burning2Learn leadership training programme for young people, the Civil Society Forum, The Cordoba Foundation, and Initiatives of Change. It brought together some 100 community and faith leaders and representatives of non-governmental organisations from London, Nottingham, Manchester, Wolverhampton, Glasgow, Ipswich and Norwich.
Welcoming participants on behalf of the organising committee, Don de Silva, Head of Programmes at IofC UK, said the event would be a listening forum. He continued: ‘Many of the individuals here have hands on experience in dealing with critical issues, such as social exclusion, family life, youth offending and community cohesion. The forum aims to bring the values dimension into the riots debate. It will provide a space for dialogue. We will avoid any points scoring. We hope that the forum will encourage everyone to start with themselves, look at their own responsibilities, not just that of the others. We need both personal and systemic change to make a lasting difference.’
The event was kick-started with a short presentation by a group of young people from Croydon, Wolverhampton and Kent. Seventeen-year old Maria said: ‘It is fairly obvious that what has happened has had some really damaging and lasting effects on the persons involved; those who took upon themselves to vandalise and steal and shouldn’t be allowed to get away with it. Do we really have the time to be processing each and every case? Surely, our time would be more productively used ensuring that it doesn’t happen again.’
Clasford Stirling, a community leader from the Broadwater Farm estate in Tottenham, told the conference that ‘the system doesn’t provide for young people. We have four youth groups to deal with 100,000 people. It can’t happen. We need 20 youth clubs.’
The rioters had come together in protest against the police following the shooting of 29-year-old Mark Duggan in Tottenham on 4 August. At first the rioters found it ‘a sense of fun. The looting came afterwards. When you are having fun you don’t care.’ That fun had criminalised them. Politicians hadn’t always obeyed the law either and ‘the rich get richer because they steal’. Describing himself as a disciplinarian and ‘a serious dude’ loved by his children, Stirling admitted that some parents didn’t impose enough discipline.
Dr Selby criticised ‘a system of punitive attitudes’ that disregarded what effect this would have on the welfare of young people and the future of society. He contrasted this with ‘individual acts of over-indulgence at the top’ by some bankers and politicians who ‘bent the rules to their own interests’ and were resistant to regulation and control, and which ultimately led to ‘attacks on the lives of the poor’.
Emphasising that he was never in favour of rioting, Dr Selby said the riots were ‘the result of the economics of disregard that we have all created’. There was a need for systemic changes. ‘I don’t believe that the world will become a better place only by people becoming better people,’ even though this was essential from a Christian perspective. ‘I incline to a systemic view of things.’
‘Individual acts of looting and robbery, resistance to authority and, ultimately, violence against persons add up to a system of disregard,’ which had marginalised too many young people, he said. It was important that we attune our consciences to ‘a moral universe’. ‘If you propagate a system of disregard you are acting outside the guarantees of a moral universe. Last August was a call to live for a system of regard.’ Charlie Ryder, a musician, actor and former prisoner, told how he had served eight months in jail for taking part in a violent demonstration outside a BNP bookshop in 1993. His father’s drinking had had a bad effect on his upbringing, he said. He told the forum that young people needed a sense of forgiveness and healing to retain their sense of self-worth. He now works with the chaplaincy at Wormwood Scrubs Community Chaplaincy, and has collaborated with the Forgiveness Project.
Maxine Cockett, a community leader from the St Ann’s district of inner-city Nottingham, told how she had been part of earlier riots in the 1980s. When the riots of last August reached Nottingham, she urged the rioters to go home before the police found them. ‘We can do something positively,’ said Cockett, one of the organisers of an annual ‘Holding Hands Around St Ann’s’ demonstration of community unity. Every generation needed opportunities. Too many young people leave school at 14 ‘with no stake in their communities’. Greg Davies: ‘The problem with youth clubs is that they are She wanted to work together with others in the community to ‘find solutions’ so that young people are not marginalised and don’t riot. ‘I hope there won’t be any more riots. But I wouldn’t be surprised if we have riots again,’ she said.
Greg Davis, founder of the United Estates in Wythenshawe, Manchester, spoke about the inner-city cultural community centre, which helps to ‘foster a sense of belonging, education and training’. The problem with youth clubs is that they are ‘nice places’ for ‘nice kids’, he said. ‘The kids who most need the support of a youth club are the ones least likely to go. There are issues of class, ethnicity and gender. They need youth clubs for kids who don’t go to youth clubs.’ In the previous generation, traditional figures of respect were teachers, parents, police and faith leaders. Now they faced abuse from kids. ‘Those who can relate and garner respect are now more likely to be sports coaches and dance teachers.’
Ian Montague from the grassroots Glasgow charity FARE (Family Action in Rotherfield and Easterhouse) told how he had grown up in the Gorbals slum area of Glasgow. It had ‘the worst housing project with razor gangs’ and there was a lack of hope and vision, he said. As a teenager he had thought, ‘I can’t change them but I have to do something. Am I my brother’s keeper? Yes!’ Going into education, he launched a community newspaper ‘to irritate those who should be doing something’. Twenty years ago, the Council gave six flats to use for a youth project. The young people took responsibility for this space.
Eighteen months ago the entrepreneur Duncan Bannatyne, of the Dragon’s Den TV series, contributed. They now had assets of £2 million. ‘There is money and there is room!’ commented Montague. ‘We have to find who has got it!’
Mason West, from Alabama, Tennessee, represented EYES (Engage Youth Empowerment Services) in Wolverhampton at the forum. Colour, caste and religion were used as reasons to divide, he said. ‘We need resources to pull together’ and invest in youth, ‘raising their expectations, empowering them, giving them confidence, helping them to find their voice and engage. Once they are plugged into the system they can change it. Then there’s no need to worry about them being radicalised or rebelling.’
Ann Edwards, from the Suffolk village of Wenhaston, said that Suffolk has many of the most deprived areas of the country. ‘Regardless of whether you live in the town or the countryside, how can you engage to make a difference?’ she posed. The villagers had safety concerns about children skateboarding on the main road through the village. Residents located an unused area where they created a skateboard park for the children. This gradually developed to accommodate the needs of the community. £144,000 was raised for a new sports complex, which has tennis and skateboarding facilities integrated for all ages and backgrounds. They also revived a youth club. There has been almost no vandalism as it was very much a community generated project in which everyone took pride. ‘Small, simple ideas can have a big impact on the community,’ she said. Her personal inspiration had come from ‘taking time for quiet reflection every morning, listening for direction and seeking inner peace’.
Closing the forum, Anas Altikriti, Chief Executive of The Cordoba Foundation remarked: ‘What we have learnt today is that the greatest resource and asset we have is people. Society leads us to believe that it is money – stuff – that matters but what really succeeds is a project that places its worth on people and their work. This is the message that we give to the young people today. All of us can make a change. All over the world, we see the resurgence of the youth as a force to transform society. In the Middle East, we were told that young people were lazy and indolent, yet they have been at the forefront of the Arab Spring. Likewise, we tell people here that it is the spirit, endeavours and courage of the youth, that can shift paradigms, and they need to be supported’.
A young rioter commented afterwards: ‘I did not know that there were many people who cared and listened to people like us. This event is a rebirth for me.’
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(Photos courtesy of: John Leggat)
For more information, please click here
For The Cordoba Foundation thoughts on this issue, please click here
To read the conference report and recommendations, please click here
Feb 10, 2012 | Events
Following ongoing demand, internationally reknowned spoken word artist Mark Gonzales will make his UK debut with this poetry masterclass and performance in London, exclusively with Muslim Writers Awards.
Date: 18th January
Masterclass: 10am – 4pm (Senate House, Malet Street, WC1E)
Performance: 7pm – 9.30pm (D’Gaf, Stratford, E15)
Tickets: £25 (for masterclass and performance) / £10 (for performance)
Places are limited. Booking essential at muslimwritersawards.org.uk
This event is supported by The Cordoba Foundation
Jan 30, 2012 | Events
Organised by Initiatives of Change (IofC) UK, the Civil Society Forum and The Cordoba Foundation,
How best to understand and respond to the recent riots in England has been the cause of much debate and concern both with decision-makers and the media. The situation challenges us to consider what can be done to reverse the trends that cause such unrest and lead to a breakdown in ‘civil behaviour’ and also to recognise the positive response of those who came forward to mitigate the impact of the riots.
Initiatives of Change (IofC) UK, together with the recently established Civil Society Forum and The Cordoba Foundation, plan to hold a one day forum to understand different perspectives on the underlying civic, moral, political and social challenges and explore what we can do individually and collectively in response.
The keynote address will be given by Dr Peter Selby, President of the National Council for Independent Monitoring Boards. He was previously Bishop of Worcester, Bishop to HM Prisons and a Church Commissioner. His book, Grace and Mortgage, opens people’s eyes to the corrosive effect of debt on the poor and the environment.
The Forum will be held at the IofC UK centre at 24 Greencoat Place, London SW1P 1RD on 1 February 2012. As individual citizens, communities, and NGOs and government organisations have been collecting thoughts and gathering together in and towards action, the event will bring people together to take the thinking further, share understanding and look at what can be done.
We will explore the underlying issues, particularly the challenge of re-engagement both practically and morally, approaches to tackling the main challenges, identify specific ways forward, and consider how all participants can make a contribution, individually and collectively.
The day will be a combination of inter-active presentations, and large and small group dialogue. It will create space to reflect and explore ways to tackle dis-enfranchisement and dis-engagement in civil society and include consideration of what stopped the violence starting and spreading in different areas
The forum will focus on seeing where we may need to build and adapt our approaches, and to find action that we can take in our own communities, and organisations.
The organisers are inviting individuals and groups including community and faith-based groups, NGOs and government organisations, who can make a particular contribution.
To ensure workable numbers for the venue and the participatory nature of the event, attendance will be by application. Notification will be given at least four weeks before the event.
If you wish to attend, download the application form and send to either Esther Risdale or Don de Silva
For more information about the event, please click here
Please click here for a briefing note on the riots
Jan 20, 2012 | News & Press
On 11 January 2002, the first of nearly 800 prisoners was sent to the US military prison camp at Guantanamo Bay. Images of these men kneeling and shackled, wearing orange boiler suits, goggled and masked, shocked the world. Ten years on, 171 prisoners still remain in captivity – all without due process and without a feasible end to their suffering in sight.
The Cordoba Foundation (TCF) strongly believes that ten years on, the presence of such a prison is a shameful blot on the annals of international justice and human rights.History will read that we stripped innocent men and women of their dignity, imprisoned children and practiced torture.
Remarking on this, the CEO of TCF, Anas Altikriti stated: “At a time when the world is witnessing a sea of uplifting change throughout some of the darkest spots in living memory in what has come to be known as the Arab Spring, it is disgraceful that Guantanamo and all that it symbolises continues to exist under our very noses and with our consent.”
The Cordoba Foundation calls on the United States Government to bring an immediate, unequivocal and unconditional end to this shameful episode, and calls on all peoples and nations of the world to assume a solid stand against such practices, wherever they occur, for whatever reason and by whomsoever.
[End]
The Cordoba Foundation is supporting a conference to commemorate this issue. Please click here for more details
Jan 11, 2012 | Events
On 11 January 2002, the first of nearly 800 prisoners was sent to the US military prison camp at Guantanamo Bay. Images of these men kneeling and shackled, wearing orange boiler suits, goggled and masked, shocked the world. Ten years on, 171 prisoners remain in captivity – all without due process.
Cageprioners, Reprieve and the Islamic Human Rights Commission would like to invite you to join an historic gathering to mark a decade of Guantanamo.
This event is supported by The Cordoba Foundation.
For more information or to book a place, please contact 0203 167 4416 or www.cageprisoners.com
www.thecordobafoundation.com
