On 2nd December, 181 people from 19 diverse community organisations gathered at Church of Christ the Cornerstone to hear MK’s parliamentary candidates introduce themselves and respond to the campaign interests of Citizens:mk alliance.
The event aimed to promoterespectful dialogue for more informed voting at the General Election on 12th December. All candidates were invited and co-chairs Kurshida Mirza of Truby’s Garden Tea Room and Neil Hutchinson of MK Academy (pictured above) expressed disappointment that the Conservative Party candidates for MK North and South, held by Conservative MPs since 2010, were unable to attend this Citizens:mk assembly because they were busy elsewhere.
A rap video was played, Planet Water by pupils from Orchard Academy primary school (see lyrics), and some attendees put on Greta Thunberg masks (pictured above) to show solidarity with the children and young people in MK and around the world who are campaigning for action on climate change.
After short welcome speeches from Rev George Mwaura and MK Mayor Sam Crooks (pictured below), the presentations from Citizens:mk’s campaign leaders (pictured below) got underway:
After everyone was asked to have a short one-to-one conversation with someone they didn’t know (pictured below) the six attending parliamentary candidates made their five-minute presentations, each strictly timed by Boyzie Morse of MK Quaker Meeting.
The candidates were asked to respond to the following questions:
why are you standing for election? (one minute)
response to one question selected by Citizens:mk Leadership Group from questions emailed in advance by registered attendees: If elected, how would you make sure your priority is to Milton Keynes before your party, and how would you ensure the views of local residents aren’t ignored? (one minute)
response to Citizens:mk Asks below (two minutes).
The asks – If elected, will you…
Attend and contribute to our Annual Assembly
Convene meetings we arrange with local business and other leaders, in support of a local Campaign (one per year)
Call for and support in Parliament measures conducive to our local campaigns
Meet with our Leadership Team twice a year for one hour, either in MK or Westminster.
These were the candidates and their responses:
Alan Francis, The Green Party (MK South) – see video
Stephen Fulton, Independent (MK South) – see video
Hannah O’Neill, Labour Party (MK South) – see video
Aisha Mir, Liberal Democrats (MK North) – see video
Charlynne Pullen, Labour Party (MK North) – see video
Catherine Rose, The Green Party (MK North) – see video
In the absence of the Conservative candidates, the Leader of the Conservative group on MK Council was given the opportunity to read statements from them (pictured below). He pledged to organise a meeting between any Conservative MP(s) elected and members of Citizens:mk Leadership Group within three months of the election.
Saleyha Ahsan, Liberal Democrat candidate for MK South, sent her apologies for absence due to ill health.
In a group Evaluation immediately after, the event was scored 8 out of 10, with points being dropped for lower than target turnout and insufficient audibility of all speakers. As Headteacher Neil Hutchinson later pointed out, “this would be a very high grade in GCSE or A level!”
On 26th November, Dr. Fidele Mutwarisibo, leader of Citizens:mk’s First Against Hate campaign, and Julie Upton, High Sheriff of Buckinghamshire, welcomed Citizens:mk and other community leaders to a light lunch with Anthony Stansfeld, Police & Crime Commissioner (PCC) for Thames Valley, at Church of Christ the Cornerstone.
The purpose of the lunch was to find out more about the role and responsibilities of the PCC, and what it’s really like to do the job, from someone who’s done it for nearly 8 years and will be succeeded by a newly elected PCC in May. Citizens:mk leaders want to be better informed, understand the issues and share their own views to inform and influence the PCC agenda.
This was part of Citizens:mk’s research towards negotiation with candidates for the post at a special assembly for Thames Valley Citizens in Milton Keynes on 29th April (click here for information and to book a place).
It follows the table-top workshop being hosted by MK Police Commander Tim Metcalfe on 17th October (see news story).
“it was a very valuable thing to create space for dialogue helping the Citizens:mk Alliance to work with a broad range of service providers,” said Citizens:mk Co-Chair Kurshida Mirza.
To find out more about how you can contribute to the agenda for PCC candidates at the 29th April Assembly, see this campaign briefing document and/or contact Community Organiser Tom Bulman, tel 07962 838685.
22 people from 11 institutions attended a Syrian lunch for Refugee Welcome Schools & Launch of Community Sponsorship.
After a delicious lunch prepared by the ladies of Syrian Kitchen, guests were welcomed by Ayser Al Jawad of Middle Eastern Cultural Group and Mayor Sam Crooks.
Syrian refugee Bassem Al Haj and his daughter Tasnim gave powerful testimonies of their experiences settling, as a parent and a teenager respectively, since arriving in Milton Keynes four years ago after four years in a refugee camp in Lebanon.
Following presentation of a new ‘Ideas For Action’ resource pack by Jess Maddocks of Citizens UK and Steve Sondhi of NASUWT Birmingham (Refugees Welcome Partner), senior leaders Gill Molloy of Denbigh School and Debbie Gockelen of Milton Keynes Academy pledged their schools’ commitment to attaining Refugee Welcome Schools accreditation. This will take the total number of accredited schools in Milton Keynes to 10, including The Radcliffe School, most recently accredited.
Following presentations from Bekele Woyecha of Citizens UK, and Rev Gill Barrow-Jones of St. George’s & Holy Trinity Church (pictured), Azim and Shelina Maghji pledged commitment to helping their organisation, Building Bridges, to lead MK’s second Sponsor Refugee project.
Mayor Sam Crooks announced the winners of the Refill Poster Competition at a special event hosted by Central Milton Keynes Library. click here to see winners
The bit.do/refillposter webpage also provides you with access to the event slides and a PDF documenting the final group reflections about ideas for where we can take the campaign next. These suggestions will be discussed further with the children and other members of Citizens:MK for us to decide together what we prioritise for worthwhile and winnable action over the coming months.
30 people from six member and 4 non-member institutions attended the Fair Work Round Table at St. Augustine’s Catholic Church in Heelands.
The aim was to share issues of inequality at work, build relationships with parliamentary candidates for MK North and, through open dialogue, develop ideas for common goals to which candidates will be asked to pledge commitment at a Parliamentary Candidates Assembly on Monday 2nd December.
After a welcome from Debbie Wilson of MK Quakers and Fr Francis Higgins of St. Augustine’s, and special addresses from Mayor Sam Crooks (pictured) and Ian Revell of MK Community Foundation, who presented latest Vital Signs findings on work and the economy), various testimonies of unfair working practices were heard:
Hala Alify of Trubys Garden Tea Room talked about a lack of transparency of contract and termination processes when she was fired from a zero-hours contract, after more than two years of continuous service, by email.
Marion Cole of Works4Us talked about how her organisation supports workers in this situation.
Rukhsana Malik of MK Muslim Association announced the results of an online survey conducted by Citizens:mk between September and November.
Nick Peacock, Managing Director of Ascendant Recruitment, spoke from a recruitment employer’s perspective. He explained his feelings of discomfort at watching workers being unfairly treated in zero hours contracts.
Wider research on fair work policies was presented by Jane Whild of The Open University and Professor Susan Edwards of University of Buckingham.
Jess Goble of the national Living Wage Foundation talked about the Real Living Wage and a new national Living Hours campaign.
David Chapman of Church of Christ the Cornerstone and Hala Afify of Truby’s Garden Tea Room asked for reactions from guest parliamentary candidates, Charlynne Pullen of the Labour Party and Aisha Mir of the Liberal Democrats (The Conservative Party was invited).
Each was asked to agree to include a statement of support for Fair Work in Milton Keynes. Aisha Mir, the Liberal Democrat candidate, agreed that she would include the Fair Work Team’s recommended statement in her maiden speech:
“Milton Keynes is proud to be a place with good employment
opportunities for all, and I will be working with local employers, community
groups and Citizens:MK to further strengthen fair work practices in the city.
Milton Keynes is committed to ensuring that all workers receive a fair day’s
pay for a fair day’s work and intends to lead the way with best practice fair
employment contracts.”
Charlynne Pullen, the Labour Party candidate also agreed to include these words her maiden speech, with the proviso that she would add ‘trade unions’ to the list of people she would work with in order to strengthen fair work practices,
Other parliamentary candidates will be asked to make a similar Fair Work pledge, as well as pledges for action on other Citizens:mk campaigns, at the Parliamentary Candidates Assembly on 2nd December.
10 leaders from six member institutions attended a workshop led by Supt Tim Metcalfe, supported by four police officers, at MK Police Station.
The aim was for leaders of Citizens:mk to understand better the aims, operations and constraints of MK Police, to help their research in planning an agenda for the election of the Police & Crime Commissioner in May 2020; also to help MK Police understand better the experiences of diverse MK community groups and get feedback on ways MK Police can improve its service.
As part of this process, five Citizens:mk leaders signed up to ‘ride-along’ with MK Police on duty, experiencing it from the back of a police car.
The workshop centred on a ‘table-top’ experience reflecting ‘a day in the life of’ from the perspective of Supt Metcalfe and some of the day to day operational decisions that have to be made regarding professional standards and the deployment of limited resources against assessments of threat, harm and risk.
This included anonymised details from a typical daily management meeting where decisions have to be made regarding missing persons and the prioritisation of activity in response to the previous 24hrs’ events. Also a discussion about use of taser guns.
The workshop ended with ideas for improvement and initial discussion about ways Citizens:mk leaders can involve their institutions in supporting the Police effort.
In closing feedback, participants said they found the workshop illuminating and helpful, they’d have liked it to be longer. Supt Metcalfe said he would be happy to welcome a wide range of citizens to attend a similar worksho to help more people understand how the Police operate.
Hala Afify’s team of Fair Work campaigners were disappointed not to see their MP, Rt Hon Mark Lancaster, at the end of their day with Citizens UK in London.
Mark’s PA had explained he was too busy with work at the Ministry of Defence, but campaigners hoped their gift of fresh cookies would give him a break for a few minutes!
In the end Hala and the cookies didn’t get past Reception.
David Chapman of Church of Christ the Cornerstone said: “I know MPs are busy but it is disappointing that my MP seems so hard to get to speak to. We are quite a friendly bunch and would have enjoyed sharing our cookies with him! But it was an enjoyable outing all the same, and hopefully we’ll get to speak to Mark back in Milton Keynes sooner rather than later.”
The team is determined to see Mr. Lancaster, to ask him for advice and support in their campaign to address the issus of unfair dismissal from zero hours contracts and termination of contract by email, and look forward to meeting with him soon.
In photos below, Hala and the team with the cookies and a card outside the MoD. (Note in the photo above BBC reporter Laura Kuenssberg also out and about in Westminster at that time – yes that’s her!)
Of the Citizens UK Delegates Assembly which the team attended during the day, Rob Paton of MK Quaker Meeting said: “It was another uplifting day with Citizens. The agenda we all came up with is quite distinctive. Its politics, Jim, but not as we know it…’
School councillors from the following schools attended: Jubilee Wood Primary, Orchard Primary, St. Monica’s Primary, St. Paul’s Secondary and Southwood Primary, who hosted the initial training at the start of the day.
Following a welcome from Southwood Headteacher Kate Mathews, the pupils talked in a series of 1-2-1s about their individual and institutions’ actions on climate change, then saw Greta’s video.
Three leaders of MK Green Alliance – Kirsty Forshaw ( Research Fellow for DeMontfort University on ‘POWER’ project & Refill Champion for MK ), Craign Broadbent (MK Cycle Forum) and Sharon Ghouila (Green Steps Consulting), presented testimonies on the impact of single use water bottles, cycling and recycling in/around thecentre:mk shopping centre.
The pupils then moved into three mixed groups to focus on one of the three issues, created SMART research questions and designed a questionnaire for their listening campaign in thecentre:mk:
After a break, students set off for the research action in thecentre:mk, splitting into four zones for thecentremk research), then moving to the Council Chamber in Civic Offices for squash, biscuits and packed lunch.
pupils presented their research findings by school group and heard from Cllr Jennifer Marklew, Cabinet Member for Sustainability and Climate Action, about MK Council’s pledge to be carbon-neutral by 2030.
Students then prioritised the issues for action, identifying power holders, and created the following SMART campaign goals:
75% of businesses in thecentre:mk sign up for the Refill scheme by 1st April 2020.
At least three new Refill stations are created in big anchor stores (M&S, John Lewis or Intu) by July 2020.
Clean and accessible public water fountains are created (up to 8) by July 2020.
Some schools also created goals for action on themselves:
Halve food wasted at Jubilee Wood Primary School by July 2020.
Reduce plastic water bottle use at Orchard Primary Academy by 85% by Easter 2020.
Provide Year 7 pupils at St. Paul’s Catholic School with school-branded water bottles by December 2019.
Pupils then took the five-minute walk to Church of Christ the Cornerstone – the fourth and last institution they visited during the day – to present their campaign goals to members of Citizens:’mk’s Leadership Group.
David Chapman, a member of Cornerstone Church, welcomed the pupils and talked about his own campaign to persuade the church to require its room hirers to complete a short environmental audit.
The pupils presented their campaign goals to eight leaders of Citizens:mk member institutions , including co-chair Kurshida Mirza, and received their formal consent.
In post-event evaluation, pupils gave this internal action – which was intended to create in pupils a positive reaction to opportunities for action on climate change – a score of 8 out of 10.
One pupil said: “I feel proud of what I did today.” Another said: “I’ve never spoken to a group like that before.”
Jo Cayley, Assistant Headteacher of Jubilee Wood Primary School, said: “The children were really inspired by the day. They have come back to school and shared information about the refill scheme and the school’s mission to reduce food waste at lunchtimes!”
As a young person in Milton Keynes, it is often hard to feel your voice is being heard, especially in the current political climate. that’s why organisations like Citizens MK are so important when it comes to the opinions and concerns of young people, being respected by powerholders in the community.
11 students from The Radcliffe School Sixth Form took part in a one-term ‘Anger to Action’ course organised by Citizens:mk and funded by MK Community Foundation.
With the help of Tom, the Community Organiser, a small group of us shared our thoughts and ideas about what angered us, issues such as part time jobs and school facilities were topics everyone agreed needed to be explored, but after further discussion, it became clear that there was a more pressing social issue that affected all schools across Milton Keynes. Single use plastics.
Tom assisted us in putting pressure onto our headteacher and other positions of power within the school, to try and get a response from them, in regards to the excessive amounts of single use plastics used in our canteen. Every member of staff we spoke to was extremely cooperative and after weeks of negotiating, research and bargaining, we took the issue to the student council.
This platform gave us yet a louder voice and through them we were finally able to create enough of a stir to be acknowledged and real steps to be taken in the direction of reducing our single use plastics.
We all enjoyed the project and ultimately learned a lot from Tom and the other inspiring leaders we mingled with over the months, many of which, gave us the opportunity to get our voice heard and make a change for good.
12 people from 7 member and 4 non-member institutions attended Citizens:mk’s first One-Day Training at MK Quaker Meeting House. Participants included guests from Hong Kong Citizens.
Co-led by Jonathan Cox, Deputy-Director of Citizens UK, the training included a simulation of planning for action on climate change in MK city centre as well as the concepts and tools of community organising for change in local communities.
Leaders in negotiation role play
In post-training comments, trainees said:
“The training helped me learn about power analysis and 1-2-1s”
“It was very informative. Managed to fit a lot into a short period of time, without it feeling rushed.”
“Good opportunity to meet other Citizens:mk members and disucss possibilities.”
“The time was just right.”
Trainees will now unertake action for social change in their communities, with the support of mentoring from members of Citizens:mk’s Leadership Group. School leaders will participate in a shared research action to reduce carbon footprint in MK’s city centre.
22 people from 8 member and 4 non-member institutions attended the Annual General Meeting on 17th September. The meeting included presentations from:
Rob Paton, Citizens:mk Ambassador (fomer Chair) – reflections on progress of Citizens:mk
Ian Revell, CEO MK Community Foundation – initial findings of Vital Signs 2019 research
Jess Maddocks, Development Organiser for Reading Citizens – growth of new Thames Valley Citizens chapter.
Other guests included representatives of MK Welfare Association and the University of Buckingham.
11 leaders were nominated and agreed to serve on the Leadership Group in 2019-20, as follows:
Kurshida Mirza, Truby’s Garden Tea Room
Tim Norwood, MK Deanery
Sheila Bacon, MK Quaker Meeting
Linda McComie, Truby’s Garden Tea Room
Sharon Ghoulia, MK Green Alliance
Jane Whild, The Open University
Rukhsana Malik, MK Muslim Association
Hala Afify, Truby’s Garden Tea Room
Kirsten Jeffery, MK Green Alliance
David Chapman, Church of Christ the Cornerstone
Michael Sheppard, MK Green Alliance.
Kurshida Mirza and Tim Norwood resigned as Co-Chairs. Kurshida agreed to stand in as Co-Chair until two other members of the Group were nominated and trained to take over.
Jane Whild volunteered to represent the MK Group on Citizens UK’s national Leadership Group.
Following a presentation from Hala Afify, leader of the Fair Work campaign, the Fair Work Listening Campaign was launched with attendees agreeing to promote the new online survey within their institutions, https://www.surveymonkey.co.uk/r/QRRCS79.
Evaluation of the AGM, as an internal action, concluded a score of 8 out of 10.
David Chapman, who attended the AGM representing Church of Christ the Cornerstone, said: “It was frustrating that I was only able to stay for a short while because the mix of people present, from diverse backgrounds and a wide range of different organisations, is so inspiring. I really wanted to hear what everyone had to say. At a time of national stress and conflict, all Citizens:MK events are local oases of hope.”
Eight community leaders graduated formally from Citizens:mk’s Two-Day Training courses, which ran in September 2018 and March 2019.
At a Learning Exchange event hosted by MK Academy, eight leaders from five institutions gave short presentations on what they had learned on the course and how they had applied it in their community leadership.
“Presenting back to the group was a memorable moment of my life,” said Sagarika Chakravarti of Jubilee Wood Primary School. “The training has made a big difference to my passion for making impact in my community.”
“I found this event very encouraging,” said Gill Bradley of St. Frideswide’s Church. “It was good to hear from others how they had applied what they had learnt from the 2-day training, and what had been achieved. Even those who didn’t think they had achieved much, were able to articulate how what they had learnt had inspired them to do something specific. I was also encouraged by the affirmation I received from one of the guests regarding my presentation.”
“Hearing others’ stories helped me learn new strategies,” said Tom Bartlett of Aspire Oxford. “Hearing about the range of complex community-organising scenarios set foundations for useful steps I can take in making positive changes within Milton Keynes.’
Graduation certificates were awarded by Citizens:mk Co-Chair, Kurshida Mirza (photos below, with apologies to Craig Broadbent for neglecting to snap him).
Guests at the event included representatives from MK Community Foundation, who funded the training, MK Welfare Association and the University of Buckingham.
Assembly before or after the strike – inform students about likely costs and benefits of different types of action, e.g. strikes, petitions, relational power-building for negotiation with power-holders. Your Citizens:mk Community Organiser and leaders of member institutions can lead an assembly presentation.
Conversations– each student could have a one-to-one conversation with three other students – within or between year groups, indoors or outside – to discuss global warming. They could talk about:
Your global warming habits
what you do that contributes most to it?
what do you do that contributes most to reducing it?
what more would you like to do to reduce it?
Who has most power to reduce global warming?
who are the main power holders?
which of these are most accessible to you?
what can you do to help him/her/them?
Your family and friends
what’s the worst habit of someone you know
realistically, what could s/he do differently?
what would you say to them?
Survey Action – students could collect data to answer some or all of the questions below, and feed the results back to Citizens:mk who will collate the data from all MK schools and produce a report which you can present back to all participants:
Why are you taking part in this survey?
I care passionately about reducing global warming and feed driven to take action
I think it’s important and want to play my part
I like getting out of normal lessons
I didn’t want to take part, but was forced to.
If you think global warming is an importan issue, which power holders do you think have most power to reduce it (rank them 1-8 where 1=most powerful and 8=least powerful)
United Nations
UK government
Milton Keynes Council
My neighbourhood
My school
My family
Me
Other (please state).
For further information, or to express interest in taking part, contact Tom Bulman, Community Organiser, tel 07962 838685.
Citizens:mk hosted the first of a new series of ‘Weaving Trust’ events aimed at bringing Leave and Remain voters together.
The event was attended by representatives of the City Church, MK Muslim Association, MK Peace & Justice Network and three political parties, including Cllr Walker, Leader of MK Conservative Party.
The event involved a carousel of short one-to-one conversations between people who voted opposite in the EU Referendum of 2016.
“We wanted to listen to each other,” said Fidele Mutwarisibo, Leader of Citizens:mk’s Fight Against Hate campaign, “and build relationships at a time of division and conflict.”
“It is so easy to live in an echo chamber and to not challenge our views,” said Cllr Walker. “We all have a responsibility to challenge our positions on Brexit, otherwise there will never be a consensus or a way forward.”
“It was useful to be able to hear from Leave voters because there are so many different views,” said Hilarie Bowman of MK Green Alliance. “and the press and TV are rather stereotypical.”
“As a Leave voter, it has been so important for me to have a safe space to debate opinions, challenge existing stereotypes and understand how we have similar views as well as different ones,” said Jennifer Parsons of MK Muslim Association. “Deep questions here have left me thinking more about the issues, motivating me to compromise and work toward our future.”
“Leave/Remain is closer to Labour/Tory than I had thought,” said Malcolm Harper.
158 people attended Citizens:mk’s annual Accountability Assembly at the City Church on 25th April 2019, representing 17 member institutions and many other MK organisations.
After welcomes from Rev George Mwaura and Mayor Martin Petchey (pictured above) , a 50th birthday cake was presented to The Open University to mark its 50th birthday. Receiving the cake, Pro-Vice-Chancellor Keith Hetherington (pictured below) said: “The Open University is a social justice organisation. It is our mission to be open to people, places, methods and ideas. We are proud of our membership in Citizens:mk.”
Then Fidele Mutwarisibo of Cornerstone Church led a review of the progress of last year’s campaigns (Mental Health, Life Skills for Young People, House the Homeless and Fight Against Hate) and a minute of silence for the victims of recent hate atrocities around the world.
Alan Bainbridge of MK Quaker Meeting (pictured below left) organised attendees to send by text their ideas about ‘how can we reduce hatred and build a more caring and friendly society in MK’. While this was happening, Papa Huite of MK Congolese Community (pictured below right) sang a spiritual song.
Ian Revell, CEO of MK Community Foundation, presented teenagers and adults with certificates for attending Community Leadership training (‘‘Anger to Action’ and Two-Day Training) and 9-year-old pupil councillor Zoya (pictured below), from Jubilee Wood Primary School, gave testimony of her own training experience of the One-Day Schools Training.
Zoya said: “I am proud to have attended the training and I learned a lot about refugees who are trying to escape problems in their country and how we can help them and make our country a safe haven.”
Headteacher Kate Mathews and Southwood Primary School pupils (pictured below) read a poem about their successful campaign to get their broken steps fixed.
Then this year’s campaign goals were presented:
Police & Primaries Together
Refugees Welcome
Fair Work.
Campaign 1: Police & Primaries Together
Led by headteachers Tony Berwick and Kate Matthews, pupils presented their survey findings and told stories about feeling safer with ‘Police and Primaries Together’ (pictured above). They called on Police Commander Yvette Hitch (pictured below) to pledge more police officer time visiting their schools, which she did. With her colleague Tim Metcalfe, she agreed to implement, monitor, evaluate and report on increased Police presence in Jubilee Wood and Southwood primary schools in Summer and Autumn Terms 2019.
Campaign 2: Refugees Welcome
Following an introduction to Refugees Welcome MK from Area Dean and Co-chair Tim Norwood, Zvi Friedman of MK & District Reform Synagogue (pictured below left) gave testimony of his family’s experiences as refugees nearly 100 years ago. Debbie Brock of MK Cenotaph Trust (pictured below right)outlined the formal process required for creation of a pillar at MK Rose to mark World Refugee Day.
Then Jess Maddocks of Citizens UK and Fred Grindrod of NASUWT teachers’ union awarded Refugee Welcome Schools certificates to three schools and MK College who have recently been accredited (Jubilee Wood, St. Paul’s Catholic School, MK College and Lord Grey School – pictured below). “This puts MK in the lead nationally,” said Jess Maddocks.
A Special Contribution award was made to Janan Abdulbake, headteacher of Al Ajyal Supplementary School (pictured below) for encouraging mainstream schools to achieve Refugees Welcome School accreditation.
Then students from St. Paul’s Catholic School (main picture at top) asked to the front the secondary headteachers of MK Academy, Walton High and The Radcliffe School (pictured below), who were asked and agreed that their school would pursue Refugee Welcome accreditation.
The final goal of Citizens:mk’s new Refugees Welcome campaign is to launch MK’s first Sponsor Refugees scheme, in which a community group raises £9,000, secures accommodation and commits to helping a newly arrived Syrian refugee family to settle in. Rev Gill Barrow-Jones (pictured below) of St. George’s Church, Wolverton, asked party leaders to pledge that MK Council would formally approve the launch of the scheme, as legally required.
Campaign 3: Fair Work
The ‘Fair Work’ campaign presentation began with Fr Francis Higgins of St. Augustine’s Catholic Church (pictured below) talking about how unfair employment practices are criticised in the Bible.
When campaign leader Hala Afify began speaking, she was dramatically interrupted by testimonies shouted from around the hall (pictured below left): “People on zero-hours contracts are more likely to be young, part-time and women”, “I had to change my name to Agnes as my Polish name was a barrier to me getting a job”, “I worked four years as a System Analyst on a zero hours contract and never knew if I was an employee or self-employed”.
Hala gave her own testimony and explained that law firm Dentons had helped to draft the new ‘Fair Work Charter‘ which local employers were to be asked to sign up to, starting with MK Council. Anna DeLiddo of The Open University (pictured above right) explained that she has been involved in a bid for a research grant to help the Fair Work campaign understand the impact of being fired by email.
It was then the turn of the leaders of MK’s main political parties (pictured below – Cllr Peter Marland (Labour), Cllr Alex Walker (Conservative) and Cllr Douglas McCall (Lib Dems) – to respond in turn to the three Asks.
The Asks were:
read and consider all the text messages gathered at this Assembly, circulate to other Councillors, discuss at full Council meeting, and report back to Leadership Group members within three months?
commit MK Council to formally approving a Community-led Sponsor Refugees scheme in Wolverton?
commit MK Council to Level one Fair Work Charter status, committing the Council to maintaining a fair job application process and talking with contracting agencies about fair transparency and termination processes as outlined in the Fair Work Charter?
All three party leaders agreed to all three asks above apart from Cllr Walker (pictured below)who said he couldn’t commit to Ask 3, but would discuss it further with Citizens:mk campaign leaders.
Cllr Douglas McCall (pictured below), pledged commitment to all of the Asks.
Special event: Weaving Trust Between Leave and Remain
Then a special event was announced, ‘Weaving Trust Between Leave and Remain’, intended to promote dialogue and trust between MK people who have opposing views on Brexit. Volunteers were asked to stand if they could commit to attending on 16th May and bringing to the event one person who voted differently to them in the EU Referendum. Nine people, including Cllr Walker, stood. Click here to sign up.
Finally the Assembly was informed by Rev Alison Webster, Deputy Director of Mission (Social Responsibility) for the Diocese of Oxford (pictured above), of plans to grow the Citizens:mk alliance and create the newest chapter of Citizens UK, Thames Valley Citizens.
In post-event evaluation, the Assembly was scored 8 out of 10 and participants in the evaluation pledged to help to double the turnout (to more than 300) at next year’s Accountability Assembly.
10 leaders from 8 institutions, including four member institutions, attended our first ever Spring Two-Day Training in Community Leadership which took place at MK Quaker Centre on Fri-Sat 22nd-23rd March.
Funded by MK Community Foundation, the training taught the universal concepts of Power and Self-interest and the tools of Community Organising.
Trainees came with a range of motivations including: to understand a methodology to drive change, strengthen my institution, engage with the wider school community, organise diverse communities, develop my own and my students’ leadership, find out more about power, help parents set up a PTA in my school, get rid of the prejudice in society.
A short questionnaire after the course, asking about self-perception Before and After, yielded the following results:
110% average increase in ‘My awareness of tools for building relational power (3.9 to 8.2 out of 10)
98% average increase in ‘My confidence in my community leadership’ (3.3 to 6.8 out of 10)
32% increase in ‘My motivation to make positive change in my community’ (6.9 to 9.1 out of 10).
After the course, participants said they’d benefited most from: the techniques and strategies, practical tools, feeling empowered, feeling more useful to society.
Kirsty Forshaw of MK Green Alliance said: “Thanks for all your support on the course. I found it really worthwhile and will be encouraging others to do it too. It’s given me the kick-start I needed to have a more focused approach to how I can make positive change in my community. “
“I intend now to mobilise the community and start dreaming big about using some of the other green spaces in Conniburrow,” said Kirsten Jeffery of Big Local Conniburrow.
“I will now start gathering information from the children and what they’d like to change,” said Deborah Griffiths of Jubilee Wood Primary School. Her school colleague, Sagarika Chakravarti, said: “I’ll definitely that each and every member of staff (at my school) should join this course.”
In post-session evaluation, participants gave an aggregate score of 8.5/10.
A month later, three trainees participated in Action Learning Set. Craig Warne said: “This Action Learning set provided an essential space to reinvigorate my momentum and motivation. Talking with the group helped to refocus and realign my thinking to my vision. To think I nearly had not attended due to other commitments! I now have the conviction to revisit my priorities.”
30 members of St. George’s Church and the wider Wolverton community turned out to hear about a proposed Sponsor Refugees initiative. This has grown from a local resident’s offer of a house specifically to be a home for a family fleeing war-torn Syria and would be the first of its kind in Milton Keynes, following other successful initiatives in Canada and elsewhere in the UK.
The initiative follows a Citizens:mk campaign which began in 2015 and, having secured pledges from MK Council, became an independent charity, Refugees Welcome, in 2016.
The meeting was co-chaired by Michael and Tori Snell and heard from a Syrian family who have lived in Wolverton for more than two years following settlement under the government’s Vulnerable Person’s Resettlement Scheme (supported by a previous Citizens:mk campaign).
Rev Gill Barrow-Jones gave background to the initiative and researcher Sarah Dolphin gave the results of a recent survey of Wolverton people which showed 75% were in favour of the initiative. Rev Tim Norwood, co-chair of Citizens:mk, talked about how the scheme has worked elsewhere, the challenges – including the need to raise £9,000 for a two-parent refugee family – and the personal and community benefits of sponsoring a family in this way. Local social entrepreneur Marie Osborne also spoke about what it takes go make social initiatives successful.
It was decided to go ahead with a Sponsor Refugees initiative in Wolverton.
The evening ended with individuals signing up to provide active support, e.g. help a refugee family learn English, access schools, etc.
Rev Barrow-Jones said: “I was really pleased with how it went, how engaged everyone was, and how everyone was hanging around at the end chatting! It was also very powerful to hear from the Syrian family who already live within our parish too.”
In January Fraser Sones (pictured right), a sixth form student at Stantonbury International, joined other students from Stantonbury and The Radcliffe School in a new ‘Anger to Action’ leadership training course run by Citizens:mk with funding from MK Community Foundation.
When prompted to think about what made him angry about unfairness in his community, Fraser said it was the lack of conversation between students in the sixth form. “I want there to be more meaningful conversations,” he said, “and I’m worried that this isn’t happening due to a lack of social skills relating to greater risk of mental health problems.”
With help from Citizens:mk’s Community Organiser, Fraser conducted research to show that many Stantonbury students had a low number of conversations which students outside their immediate friendship groups…and decided to take action.
He organised a series of meeting with power holders within the Stantonbury Sixth Form, primarily the teachers and managers, for permission to advertise and run a half-hour session of conversation circles. This involved pairs of students talking to one another in a carousel of five-minute conversations about topics they were interested in, including current stresses and future plans.
On the day, 22 students participated and 20 completed evaluation questionnaires which showed:
46% increase in ‘I feel self-confident’
41% increase in ‘I relate well to my fellow students’
30% increase in ‘I have a positive attitude to life’.
Not a bad set of data from just 30 minutes of activity!
Some of the participants’ comments afterwards were:
“Incredibly useful, I was able to talk to people I don’t usually talk with and form new relationships”
“This has really improved my social anxiety slight(ly) and has worked on how socially awkward I am.”
“I never realised how happy I was to meet other people, people were ready to open up”
“I met people I’ve wanted to talk to before but were too shy or felt that it would’ve been weird.”
Fraser is in discussion with the power-holders among Stantonbury International staff about which direction to take next with this exciting initiative.
Dave Smeath, Head of Year 12 at Stantonbury International, said: “This unique event was a great success, and a credit to Fraser. I hope that the students who took part will now feel confident to speak to others. I look forward to seeing this work grow”
109 delegates from 15 member institutions attended our annual Delegates Assembly at Church of Christ the Cornerstone on Tuesday 5th February 2019.
After an inspiring welcome address from Rev Ernesto Lozada-Uzuriaga, and a roll call of member institutions present, co-chairs Kurshida Mirza of Trubys Garden Tea Room and Greg Maw of St. Paul’s Catholic School introduced new member MK Council of Faiths with a short speech from Rev. John Robertson.
Citizens UK co-chair Tim Norwood, MK Area Dean, explained new plans to create a Thames Valley Citizens chapter supported by Citizens:mk. Yvonne Smith of Cornerstone said she welcomed the idea of having new neighbour alliances in Oxford and Reading.
Sixth form students Zainab Athumani from The Radcliffe School and Fraser Sones and Dylan from Stantonbury International School presented their recent experiences of Citizens:mk’s new ‘Anger to Action’ course, funded by MK Community Foundation. Headteacher Kate Matthews led Southwood Primary School students in presenting their experiences of meeting with the Leader of the Council to raise the issue of the broken steps outside the school main entrance.
The choir of Summerfield Primary School then gave a first ever public performance of their new Refugees Welcome song.
After a short break and 121s, three campaign proposals were put, each with SMART goals as follows:
Refugees Welcome – led by MK Deanery, St. Paul’s Catholic School, St. George’s Church:
Three new Refugee Welcome Schools – led by St. Paul’s Catholic School
First Community Sponsorship
A pillar at The Rose for World Refugee Day
Fair Work – led by Trubys Garden Tea Room, St. Augustine’s Catholic Church, Congolese Community:
Zero hours contracts to include clear clauses on Termination and Appeal processes after 12 months.
HR staff to receive Unconscious Bias training and policies for blind application processes’.
Develop a Charter mark for ‘Fair Work’ employers, including both of the above, and test it with 3 MK-based employers within 12 months.
To get a formal partnership with a legal firm, e.g. Dentons, to help draft the charter.
Police & Primaries Together – led by Jubilee Wood Primary School, Southwood Primary School and St. Paul’s Catholic School:
To increase children’s positive perception of The Police in the community, based on regular feedback and surveys organised through School Councils, by December 2019.
To log regular, informal lunchtime visits by TVP to our schools to mix and meet with children, at least once every 6 weeks.
Delegates gave full consent to these campaigns being given special attention at our Accountability Assembly with power-holders on Thursday 25th April 2019.
In post-event Evaluation, the Assembly was scored 8 out of 10, with two points being dropped due to non-attendance of some members and poor audibility of some speeches.
On the night of freezing 29th January, a small team of Citizens:mk leaders ventured to Stadium:mk, the home of MK Dons FC, for their game against Oldham Athletic.
The purpose of this research action was to find out from workers at Stadium:mk, including both security and catering staff, how they perceived their experiences of working there.
The action began at IKEA nearby, where workers there were asked about their experiences of working at IKEA. Three staff members were approached and all three said they were happy working for IKEA, highlighting the benefits of permanent contracts, flexible hours and progression opportunities. They felt cared for by the management team.
At Stadium:mk, seven workers were asked, and the responses were more mixed. Most felt loyal to the club, but raised a range of including free parking facilities and promotion opportunities, both of which seemed very limited. One security supervisor had been in role for seven years with no pay increase or progression.
One young security attendant was wearing just a fluorescent bib over her own clothes said the flourescent coats had run out. Others said that the 50p subsidy on hot drinks (sale price £2.20) was too low.
This first ‘Fair Work’ research action was deemed successful in terms testing the questions which can now be used in similar research actions with workers from other companies in MK.
Fortunately, because it was really cold, Dons won 2-1, though it was a bit of a scrape!
As part their fourth Citizens:mk training session this school year, school councillors and other pupils from St. Monica’s Catholic Primary School met with Hannah O’Meara from MK Community Foundation to brainstorm ideas for fundraising for the international charity, Missio.
“I loved visiting the school and working with the pupils,” said Hannah Meara, “especially their creativity and listening to each other.”
Teacher Eleanor Day said: “It was a great chance for our school council to understand the processes involved in organising fundraising events.”
14 students have commenced Citizens:mk’s first ever community leadership training course for school sixth formers, ‘Anger To Action’, funded by MK Community Foundation.
Nine students from The Radcliffe School joined five students at Stantonbury International for the first full-day of training on 11th January.
During the training day, students were taught the core concepts and tools of community organising, including: power, power analysis, self-interest, stick person, relationships and 121s, leadership and broad-based organisation, and the cycle of research, action and evaluation.
Students heard from two witnesses, Linda McComie and Hala Alify from Trubys Garden Tea Room, both members of Citizens:mk’s Leadership Group.
In post event evaluation discussion, participants gave the training day a score of 8/10.
In individual feedback questionnaires, students showed the following increase in confidence before/after the training day:
240% increase (from average 3.2 to 7.7 out of 10) for ‘I am aware of the tools needed for building relational power’
173% increase (from average 4.2 to 7.3 out of 10) for ‘I am confident in my community leadership’
171% increase (from average 4.9 to 8.3 out of 10) for ‘I am motivated to make positive change in my community’.
One student wrote: “I enjoyed the quick pace activities as it allowed us to get through multiple things and stopped us from getting distracted or bored. I learnt about how much I actually have an opinion on how to improve my community.”
Another student wrote: “I really enjoyed discussing issues in detail with people from a different but similar school.”
Another student wrote: “I liked learning about the process needed to make a change, finding out the things I’m passionate to change, and meeting new people who can help me do it.”
Nearly every student wrote about how they had enjoyed meeting and working with students from another school.
The students will meet weekly until the end of Spring Term to develop and deliver social action campaigns in their local community.
“It was a real privilege to observe the students from both schools having the courage to work together so openly and develop skills in 1:1 communication, identifying relational power, power analysis and leadership,” said Sarah Chapman, Assistant head of Sixth Form at The Radcliffe School. ” A great opportunity for our students – I’m very excited to see what they achieve in their projects.”
alliance of diverse community organisations acting together for a thriving, inclusive and fairer Milton Keynes
