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.
RAG-rated updates on 2018-19 campaign goals were presented including a video message from Dr. Fidele Mutwarisibo, leader of the Fight Against Hate campaign.
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.