Hello all,

As of December the first it’s christmas season as far as I’m concerned. I’m already listening to the christmas songs but I wanted to let you know about a couple of local Christmas related things that may be of interest.

Firstly I wanted to publicise the Wesley Halls Panto, ‘Carry on Christmas Robin’ on the 18th December.

This is a joint venture between Wesley Halls and Naborhood Day Centres for Adults with Learning Disabilities.

Friday 18th December 2009 at 1pm
Wesley Halls Community Centre
2 Shroffold Rd
Downham
BR1 5PE

And for all those of you who will be getting a real Christmas Tree if you can please bear this project in mind: http://www.caringchristmastrees.com/

Every Caring Christmas Tree bought helps a homeless person receive shelter and support through the work of The Jericho Road Project which is run as part of King’s Church Catford (charity no.1082666). The Project began in 2001 and currently provides housing for 26 people whilst also working to reduce rough sleeping and helping ex-offenders to reintegrate into society, the mentally ill to maintain stability and former addicts to stay clean.

If you’d like to help by buying your Christmas tree with us, please go to their website and place your order now. Please see the website for the opportunities to be involved by volunteering on the distribution days.

- You can pick them up locally, I’m picking mine up on the 11th at the Bromley Road Industrial Park.

I hope everyone is having a fantastic December.

I wanted to let you all know about The Wave campaign that we are currently supporting.

WHATS IT ALL ABOUT?

In early December, world leaders will gather in Denmark for a crucial conference on climate change. Their challenge will be to agree radical measures to tackle global warming. Our challenge is to demand they do so.

That’s why thousands of concerned citizens, will be joining The Wave on December 5th in central London. The Wave is a mass demonstration to show our support for a safe climate future for all. We will march through London in a wave of blue, and finish by circling Parliament.

My Colleague Pete Pattison is organising a group of local cyclists to cycle to The Wave, leaving from the Clock Tower in Lewisham Town Centre at 11am on December 5th. It will be a fun, safe and meaningful way to take part. Everyone is welcome, so if you would like to come along, just drop me a line to tell me you’re coming by filling in the form below. To find out more, click HERE.

My colleague Cllr Chris Maines has put together a petition against changes to passenger tax which will have a dramatic effect on those travelling to the Caribbean. If you too are concerned about this please sign the petition here:

The text of the petition reads:

“We, the undersigned call on Alistair Darling, Chancellor of the Exchequer not to proceed with his proposed taxes increases on flights to the Caribbean.

Tax on flights should be based on distance and carbon dioxide emissions, not on arbitrary and unfair boundaries drawn up by a government minister.

Labour’s plans don’t protect the environment, they just protect American business interests.”

Thank you for your help!

I wanted to share with you all a letter I wrote yesterday about the Young Mayor of Lewisham.  I also did a quick video when the result was announced that you might want to see!  You can watch it here: http://www.flickr.com/photos/cllrjc/4029412336/

“I want to express my heartfelt congratulation to Jacob Sakil winner of this years Lewisham Young Mayor election and Lola Mustapha the new Deputy Young Mayor.  It was a fantastic experience to watch from the public gallery as a packed council chamber waited nervously to hear the results.  Anything that gets young people as animated as they were last Thursday can only be a good thing for our borough where happiness and joy prevailed at the council.  I think it is an exciting indication of the amazing things that young people can do and are capable of that should make us all feel positive about the future.  It is interesting to note that over 52% of young people in the borough voted, this is more than those who voted at the 2006 local election and only confirms to me that young people can be as responsible if not more so than adults.  These young people prove that the vote should be extended to those who are 16 so that they can have more influence on decisions that directly affect them.  We must  trust our young people who have already proved that they understand the importance of how individuals can make a difference in their community and are not only willing to vote but also to stand up and be counted.  Many thanks to all those who stood, I look forward to working with all of you to make Lewisham a better place now and in the future.” 

Cllr Jenni Clutten
Downham Ward

I rushed across London very early this morning to help run a careers session on Politics at Kingston College. It was a really fascinating day with lots of people from different careers coming to talk to young people about the jobs that are out there and the personal experiences of how to get there and why.

So many of the people that came to our sessions already seemed clued in but I’m hoping we gave them a few personal insights into the huge variety of jobs that ‘Politics’ has to offer. Studying politics and being a councillor for me requires a huge variety of skills, some that over lap and others that don’t.

I think the highlight for me has to be meeting and speaking with Christine Ohuruogu Gold Medallist for the 400meters at the Beijing Olympics. In the speech she gave to the whole group of students she spoke about the hard work and dedication she has needed to get where she is. I have never had the opportunity to be in the company of any one so dedicated and it was really humbling to hear about her life as an ordinary person especially as she is one of 8 children!

I’ve posted a picture of her speaking below but sorry for the poor quality!

Anyway I think it’s time for me to relax for this evening!

It has been such a long time since I wrote anything on here.  I cannot believe how long it has been but I suppose that’s what happens when you become very busy!

I am off to Liberal Democrat conference in Bournemouth tomorrow so I thought I would try and tie up all loose ends before I head off until wednesday.  It seems like such a long time to be in one place but I’m sure it will go quicker than I think!

I have recently been canvassing Churchdown and Downderry and from that I have received a number of pieces of casework.  On Churchdown for example a number of people have commented to me about the high curbs and the difficulty for people to drive on to them (which they must do because of the bus route) without damage to their cars. Last week I sent an email to the council asking them to look in to this as I know that in other areas ramps have been created to stop this problem.

I was also very concerend to hear that there has recently been a number of problems on Downderry Road where paint has been thrown over a number of cars and some residents car tyres were also slashed. I have sent an email today to the Downham Safer Neighbourhoods team to try and find out more information about this and to make sure that action has been taken to make sure this does not happen again.

Lots of other things have also been going on, on Wednesday I went to an exhibition of Network Arts in Lee Green.  Having previously seen the work they produce on their website.  I supported their work previously on the Healthier Communities Select Committee I really enjoyed seeing the exhibition and those exhibiting along with my colleagues Cllr Chris Maines and Cllr Pete Pattisson. You can see in the Photo below Chris on the left and Pete on the right.

Last weekend Duwayne and I were away in Warrick for the first weekend of our IDeA Leadership Academy.  I wanted to take some photos whilst I was there but I couldnt think of anything interesting to take a picture of other than the lovely food we had!  I had such a brilliant time despite being slightly nervous about going away.  I think both of us can’t wait to go back even though as we edge closer and closer to the next election we will need to be out campaigning as much as possible.  I feel like having time to focus on the challenges that lie ahead made both of us even more determined for us to work towards winning control of the council at the next election.  It’s not going to be easy but I’m so excited about changing Lewisham for the better.

I had a really good time out canvassing Launcelot Road, Downham Way and Woodbury Gardens on Thursday. A number of issues have come up that I wanted to raise to make sure that anyone else with similar problems knows to get in touch.

First of all, there have been a number of problems with the work that is being carried out updating properties by Phoenix. The issues that came up have been varied but I was particularly concerned about one lady who’s door has been hung the wrong way which means that it is no longer possible to open the door without taking the safety chain off. This is an important issue as it seriously compromises the safety of residents when opening the door to unexpected visitors. Thankfully this is something that can hopefully be fixed quickly by Phoenix by getting in touch with them via their website. or calling them on their repair line 0844 264 2844. This is clearly just one of many problems that have come up but do get in touch if you are worried.

A concern that was raised by a resident in Launcelot road was the appearance of what seems to be a bogus caller. Two men called at a house the day after new windows had been fitted, flashed an unidentifiable ID card and made their way in to the property proceeding to go in two completely different directions once inside, working their way through the house. We must all be on the look out for suspicious activity and don’t forget to report any concerns you have to the police.

If you are ever suspicious about anyone calling at your door, do remember to thoroughly check their identity details. If you are still unsure, double check those calling on you are who they say they are by phoning the company/organisation to check up. Anything you can do to put your mind at rest and make you feel safer is best and please dont worry about asking lots of questions. Anyone who is who they say they are will be used to proving their identity and should do so willingly.

I hope everyone is having a good summer, I look forward to seeing some more of you very soon as I continue to knock on doors across Downham.

 It’s been a while since I first commented on this website so I’m going to try and get back in to the swing.  I apologise for the lack of website service, I have been rather caught up with house moving but I’m now fully settled and have full access to the internet which makes a nice change.  What gives me a better opportunity to write a little something than Lewisham Peoples Day, Saturday 11th July!

I’ve never had an opportunity to go to Peoples Day before and despite some very dodgy weather I had a great time manning the Lewisham Liberal Democrat book stall whilst having time to sample some great entertainment. I think we were all really pleased with how well the ‘Politicians in the stocks’ event went on our stall.  I get the impression that some people felt sorry for those who had to sit sopping wet in the rain but not everybody took pity!  I distinctly recall some very hard blows to the face for my colleague Julia Fletcher, fellow Downham councillor but I think she took it very well! 

As I spent all day on the book stall I miraculously managed to wiggle out of having to go in the stocks myself, although if we do it again I think it will certainly be my time to take some punishment from the general public.  Especially as Duwayne has now put himself in the stocks twice!

It was fantastic that so many local residents came up to talk to us all.  Knocking on doors and delivering our Focus leaflets is clearly making a difference and making sure that people can recognise us and feel happy talking to us about their council problems.

I hope everyone who went had a good time despite the weather and had a chance to sample some of the food and drink that was available as well as browsing the stalls of the multitude of organisations who were there. Please enjoy the photos posted

Yesterday I attended a conference hosted by Lewisham and Southwark aimed at sharing information across councils for how best to engage and empower local communities.

After listening to some speeches in the morning, we attended two workshops.  The first workshop I went to talked about the ways in which Councillors can get directly involved with communities.  It appears that a key way to get involved is through Local Assemblies like we have in Lewisham.  The presentations we were given by elected members from Southwark and East Riding identified the best ways in which they had found to work with local communities and best provide for their needs.  I was surprised to hear that most councils have not taken this process as far as Lewisham by providing individual Assemblies with their own money to spend as they see fit.  To me decision making in communities is weakened by this lack of monetary support which is vitally important to the concept of community engagement.  How can we engage and empower if decisions made are advisory rather than binding.

My second workshop was on Youth Engagement hosted by Portsmouth City Council.  I really enjoyed this discussion about the different ways a variety of councils are going about getting young people involved with the council.  This is one of my particular areas of interest so it was pleasing to hear young people speak about the ways in which they have been involved in a variety of ways in Portsmouth.  One scheme I wasn’t previously aware of was ‘Youth Advisors’ http://www.youngadvisors.org.uk/index.html.  I think this is a really useful way of making sure that young people are involved in their communities on an equal level to adults.

An interesting question that was raised throughout the day was the idea that by allowing individuals to make decisions on their own behalf this means that both the council staff and elected members have to let go of decision making control.  Is it right for us to empower individuals to make choices which we do not believe are right for them?  I would say that it is up to local communities to make community decisions, if they are the ones who choose who represent them and they are able to do that, why not empower them to make the choices about where money is spent locally.

At this end of the day we listened to the Koruso Multifaith Choir. A wonderful end to a useful day, please click the link to see them in action.