Thursday, November 29, 2007

Kensington Regeneration Community Team

I had an interview with Tim Slack on Thursday to talk about the work of Kensington Regeneration Community Team.

It is part of the work he is doing as a consultant to assess the work of the community team.

I was very pleased to tell him that as an elected representative covering three of the five neighbourhoods, it is my professional opinion that the work of the community team is probably the most important work that the New Deal organisation delivers.

There are the two great task groups I attend, Community Safety and Neighbourhood Services where residents are predominant and where agencies and partners join together to work on community issues.

There is the wonderful work done by the community cohesion staff - Martin and Clare and Mark - working to promote all the different communities in the New Deal area - African, Polish, Irish, Welsh, Italian, whatever it may be.

There is the supportive work that the staff and the wardens they help pay for, give to all the TRA groups to help their meetings and their actions to be successful. The Neighbourhood Assemblies too.

Maria, Karen and their colleagues are such great support to the local people. I knew I shouldnt have started naming names, inevitably it will end in people being missed out. Forgive me. I shall stop now and simply say if you are in Alan's community team I think you are doing a fantastic job and that is what I told Tim. Plus I gave him some of my views on how the service might be taken forward. Too many to go into here.

Well done all of you

5 comments:

Anonymous said...

http://www.guardian.co.uk/society/2002/oct/09/regeneration.communities

Louise Baldock said...

Ummmm.....unfortunate and difficult reading.

But perhaps it is one-sided and there is more to it than we know?

People who have been forced out of their jobs deserve a pay-off if it is not their fault. Does anyone know any more about this?

I found the man interesting, engaging and thoughtful and prepared to say some quite controversial things to me privately.

I wouldnt want to be critical without the full facts, would you?

Anonymous said...

This whole affair in Braunstone was heavily discussed reported at the time on various local community websites,there seemd to be a great deal of deals on smokey rooms going on, it sounded a lot like Kenny

I first met Tim in 1999 when he was on the Wirralwhen I produced a CD Rom project recording some of the Pathways and SRB projects, he was head hunted for Braunstone in much the same way as Stephen Boyle was for KNDC, and lasted about the same time, both examples of parachutees (we all remember how mr Boyle used to travel from Bradford so we could benefit from his skills and knowledge and arrogance).

I'm sure I can dig the CD out, what's he been doing in the meantime

Although the reports below do hint that Tim didnt really want any of the public involved in the decision making processes, maybe he is born again!

http://www.guardian.co.uk/society/2001/nov/15/regeneration.socialexclusion

http://www.mysiteboard.com/boards/viewtopic.php?t=350&user=thebraunstonevo&sid=2b1903eaf1acf903c905f9c15416f31d

http://www.mysiteboard.com/boards/viewtopic.php?p=1094&user=thebraunstonevo&sid=44a1dfe403141cf921cf4e9245c9d15c

http://the-braunstone-bugle.g2gm.com/about.html

There's lots more than this on t'intenet

Louise Baldock said...

Hi Steve

I am rather uncomfortable about this dicussion. I guess you can link on a public website to other public websites in a blog comment if you want to. What is in the public eye is obviously already available for people to read.

Anything controversial is the responsibility of the original author, not the responsibility of anyone reproducing them here by linking to them.

My discomfort lies in the fact that I am a member of Kensington Regeneration Board, I have therefore indirectly hired this organisation to carry out this consultation.

Furthermore there is nothing to suggest that this consultation has been done in any other than a good, positive and constructive way. I have certainly enjoyed engaging with them on the occasions I have been interviewed or consulted on my views on future plans for Kensington Regeneration.

I must therefore distance myself from your comments. I should formally state that I take no responsibility for the comments of those who post on this site, nor should their publication be deemed to constitute any support for their views on my part.

However, in the interests of free speech and because it is relevant to the area, I will include them.

Cheers, Louise

Anonymous said...

Me and Marek have set ourselves up as one of those consultants everyone is going on about,

I recently went on an inspirational workshop lead by the inspirational american Guru John D. Boomerang of the "California institute for Bold and exciting thouhgts which make money", he has told me several words I need to use when I trying to get organisations to "buy-in" to what me and Marek will be floggin to them in the very near future.

1.Facilitattion
2.Consultation
3.Use the same letter at the start of each concept (didnt work with faciltiation and consultation though)
3.Carl Rogers & Trigger statments (brother of Roy)
4.Transformational Approach(nothing to do with robots turning into lorries)

I will be holding classes shortly at wetherspoons for indigenous kensington clan memebers to partake and be delivered forth from their ignorance.

The first organosation whcih has singed us up is the Kensington & Fairfield Lib Demogog party who have told us they are likely to get a "good kickin?" in MAy and need some origianl and insirational strategies. Me and MArek will be in there like a friggin shot.

Our company name is "Engaging Idiots Consrtructivly" our mission statement "we value your values because they're so valuable"