Musical face of youth in Kennington: defying the stereotypes

This Friday (19th August) at 7pm at St Anselm's Church, there will be a performance of music, written by young local community members.  If you want to attend, email luke@musicinprisons.org.uk 

The event is organised by Pathways SE11, whose mission is to divert Kennington youth away from crime.  More info here on Pathways SE11.  Click on poster above for more details.

Heart of Kennington Cross: St Anselm's Pathways Project submitted

(Photo taken from Planning Application shown below)

Last week, St Anselm's Church finally submitted their Pathways project to Lambeth Council for planning consent- reference 11/01826/FUL.  Revd Angus Aagaard of St Anselm's welcomes comments, so as usual, go and click the "submit comments" link to submit your views to Lambeth.  I've documented the Pathways project very thoroughly in the past, procuring videos here and then publicising full .pdfs of the the plans from the second wave of consultation.  The proposal involves converting the underused church into a focal community building at the heart of Kennington Cross.  It which will house a nursery, a restaurant partly run by ex-offenders (similar to The Clink, as run in HMP Highdown), a project to provide access to university for people that might not consider attending, a new community hall, business units, residential units and a church. If you've not read the previous posts, take a look at the posters below prior to submitting comments. I've uploaded the full planning application site plans below the poster.

New Foodbank in Vauxhall

It depends on one's politics as to whether the appearance of food banks in the UK is to be, in and of itself, commended.  Some will not celebrate the arrival of a food bank in Vauxhall because they believe the State should ensure that food is plentiful for all in the UK.  Others, perhaps with Big Society or mutualist views would see that charitable-sector provision of services for people in need is preferable, as it removes costs and bureaucracy.  I'd argue that services that cater for those the wrong side of the UK's income-gap, whatever your view on how such services are provided, are an important indicator that one lives in a shared society, rather than a free-for-all market.  So... last week I requested more information from a group who have set up a food bank in Vauxhall.

Vauxhall Foodbank is part of the Foodbank Network started by the Trussel Trust, a Christian Charity.  They've rented a room from London City Mission's Vauxhall Christian Centre to run a food bank / cafe for the redemption of food vouchers.  "Clients" can redeem vouchers (given out by children's centre workers, GPs, housing association officers, religious workers and school outreach officers) for 3 days worth of free, non-perishable food.  Food is collected from local churches, businesses, schools and individuals.  Also, the Vauxhall Foodbank team gain donations by by standing outside local supermarkets asking their customers to buy one extra item from the foodbank shopping list.  Sainsbury's customers reportedly thanked Customer Services for the collection and wanted to know if there would be another (as reported to me by a Vauxhall food bank volunteer), but I'd be interested in the views of locals.  Have any of you been asked to donate?  Do you welcome the initiative?  Have you received food vouchers or parcels?  Do you know of anybody that might benefit?

All of the food bank workers are volunteers (about 40 people are involved assembling food parcels and chatting with clients etc.), and the cafe is open on Saturdays between 11:30am - 1:30pm.  The volunteers eventually intend to open on Wednesdays as well (same time).  The first client (surely "guest" might be better?)  arrived on 25th June, and 69 people have been fed to date. 

According to Lambeth's draft Poverty Reduction Strategy (p16), 37.5% (18,615) of children in the Borough are classified as living "in poverty".  (This is the percentage of children who live in families in receipt of out of work benefits where reported income is 60% below the median national average. That is classified at £294 per week for a couple with two children under 14 or £225 per week for a lone parent with 2 children under 14.  All figures calculated before taking housing costs into account.)  In Princes' ward, approximately 43% of children live in poverty, Oval has approx 41% of children in poverty, and Bishops' has 40% of children in poverty (p36).  About 21% of children Lambeth (p32) (12,000) could be living in severe poverty, which means that income is below £134 for a lone parent with one child, and below £240 per week for a couple with two children).  At the current rate of inflation, the need for extra food help to supplement household income is evident.

At present, most volunteers attend ChristChurch London in Blackfriars, but the services of the foodbank are offered to those of all faiths and none and they welcome support, donations and volunteering from everybody.  There will be a launch later this summer, which will receive mention here.

St Anselm's Church Project - an exciting adventure or a questionable risk?

I'm aware that I'm a month or so late with this one, but it has taken a while to get hold of the video files.  St Anselm's Church (in the heart of Kennington, SE11) offered a short consultation to local residents in January about the possibility of turning the church into a large local hub that would contain a variety of extra organisations, whilst still retaining space for the church.

I've finally obtained the videos, the first, a walkthrough of the proposed site, and the second, a kind of local commentary on the project.





The proposal is that the site would be developed so that it could contain several organisations:

1.  Into University - Organisation that works with local young people to encourage them in their studies.  It targets those who might not otherwise consider higher education or know how to access it.

2.  A restaurant and deli, to be staffed by ex-offenders, who would receive training and accommodation on the site.

3.  Small offices for local businesses that could offer basic facilities and would be hired out for an initially low rent to both those who had developed business plans from inside prison, and to local disadvantaged people who wanted to start an enterprise that could not otherwise afford the space.

4.  The Pelican Nursery - they are already on site, but their presence would complement the work being performed by the local organisations, and they offer a number of subsidised spaces.

5.  Community Hall - This would replace the Centenary Hall, which is in Cottington Street.

6.  Church - the top of the building would still contain a church, suitable for several hundred people.  Also, there would be space for a separate lady chapel and a prayer garden

7.  Accomodation - for ex offenders, ex-offender's live-in supervisor, assistant priest and caretaker

I'm generally in favour of the project.  I know there have been some mutterings about ex-offenders being accommodated on site, but actually I tend to think that the difference with this project is that there will be good supervision and training on offer as well.  I understand that it would be supervised accommodation, rather than people just left to their own devices.  I'd also hope that the into-university and young offender projects would benefit and offer a renewed lease of life to the church building.  It would certainly offer a kind of "centre" to Kennington where the community and the church could meet, with restaurant, deli etc. and there's nothing else like it around here.  Certainly, the project promises to be hugely more viable and uplifting than a more questionable unsupervised arrangement, such as the alcohol drop-in centre, currently disliked by residents on Brook Drive.

Anyhow, that's my take... But, the person that put together the video etc. has said that they would welcome comments from blog readers, and local people, so that they have information that they can feed back and further develop plans for the site...

Nine Elms Mayor's Plan - Public Meeting Tonight

Just wanted to send out a quick reminder that there is a public meeting tonight at St Peter's Church (Vauxhall) - 310 Kennington Lane, which begins at 18:30 for a 19:00 start to discuss the Mayor's Plan for Nine Elms. At the last meeting, there were representatives from the Mayor's office to present the plans, and I imagine a similar presentation will take place. It's organised by Kennington Oval Vauxhall forum.

The last meeting was huge (and I suspect this one will be quite large) since there are a lot of positive and negative comments that people wish to make about the development.

Do Not Allow The Singing of Happy Birthday in church

Dear Priests and Laypeople of the Diocese of Southwark[1],

Please, please, please could you refuse to sing "Happy Birthday" at the end of Sunday morning church services? Do it during your own personal devotions for all I care, but don't inflict it on the rest of us.

It's bad theology (baptism, not birth), bad liturgy (liturgy should be joyful/solemn play, not showtunes), bad music (need I say more?) and it's, like, really embarrassing to be a Christian when you insist on ruining things. So just stop it. OK? Or I'll have to be forced to name offenders.

I'm not going to say it again.

The annoyed Three Wheeled One[2]

[1] SE11 is all in the Diocese of Southwark, and this habit needs to be stamped on before it escapes. It has now happened in at least 8 of the churches I've attended recently.

[2] And I reserve the right to be as spiky as I like because it's my blog.