city at night

 

London's great allure is the promise it gives - the sense of possibility.

Make London part of Britain again | Dt Opinion | Opinion | Telegraph

With the exception of Rome, no city has been so prominent in the history of the world for so long, but in the past 20 years something new has happened. The capital has become more important than the country. As far as the rest of the world is concerned, London is the greatest city on the planet, with a fairly unimportant country attached.

One watches all of this and wonders: Where are the grown-ups?

OpinionJournal - Peggy Noonan

The literally white-bearded academic who was head of the campus counseling center was on Paula Zahn Wednesday night suggesting the utter incompetence of officials to stop a man who had stalked two women, set a fire in his room, written morbid and violent plays and poems, been expelled from one class, and been declared by a judge to be "mentally ill" was due to the lack of a government "safety net." In a news conference, he decried inadequate "funding for mental health services in the United States." Way to take responsibility. Way to show the kids how to dodge.

The Simon Community

Simon News: PRESS RELEASE: Numbers of people sleeping rough in London rises again

Numbers of people sleeping rough in London rises again

The count was undertaken by more than 40 Simon Community volunteers, including present and former rough sleepers, who carried out the extensive 3-5 hour search in the streets of Camden, Islington, Tower Hamlets, City of London, Westminster, Kensington and Chelsea, Southwark and Lambeth. The Simon Community carries out headcounts twice a year to help it to plan its outreach support programmes for those sleeping on the streets. It also enables the charity to act as an independent monitor of the figures presented by local authorities.

The Simon Community is one of the oldest homelessness charities and has been operating for 44 years. It remains entirely free of government or local authority funding, so as to offer an independent voice for the homeless and rootless on all aspects of government policy relating to homelessness and social exclusion.

Tim Nicholls, Director of the Simon Community said, “Whilst the government has achieved much in reducing the numbers sleeping rough from the particularly high figures of the mid 1990s, we are saddened to see that there are still so many people sleeping out on London’s streets, including a high proportion from the new accession countries of Eastern Europe. We have been calling for a regional strategy for a number of years and are pleased that the Mayor of London has created a London Housing Strategy. We urge him to place issues of rough sleeping, homelessness and appropriate support for those who are socially excluded at the heart of this strategy. The Simon Community hopes that this will lead to a more co-ordinated regional approach and be better than the piecemeal and parochial attitudes adopted, in recent years, by some local authorities, so that the hard to reach homeless can finally be fully supported to re-integrate and rebuild their lives.”

The Simon Community’s detailed headcount figures are as follows:

Westminster. 196 people; Camden 29 people; Kensington and Chelsea 7 people; Lambeth 16 people; Southwark 11 people; City of London 29 people; Islington 10 people; Tower Hamlets 3 people

NOTES TO THE EDITOR.

1. In November 2006, the Simon Community counted 332 people sleeping rough. In April (?) 2006, the Simon Community counted 276 people. Historically there are often higher numbers sleeping rough in the city at the beginning of the winter as the agricultural season ends.

2. On the same night that the Simon Community carried out its headcount it phoned round 66 hostels in central London to discover the number of vacant emergency bed spaces. Of the 3072 beds in these 66 hostels, 42 bed spaces were free that night.

an "overwhelming consciousness to spend money wisely"

RecruiterMagazine.co.uk - Clients need contractual relationships with agents

Clients need contractual relationships with agents

Published: 18 April 2007 Author: Ben Jones
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Recruiters and clients need a clear contractual relationship to work well together, according to a representative from a charity for the homeless.

Pete Jeffery, executive director of HR, audit and facilities at St Mungo's, said that the organisation was evaluating the way it used agency staff in order to keep tabs on spending. Jeffery revealed that up to 10% of his staff budget each year went on agency staff.

"I think the thing which has become most apparent to us, when dealing with agencies, is the need for a very clear contractual relationship," Jeffery told Recruiter.

"Agencies need to know what we expect from them, not just in terms of cost but also on an output basis."

Jeffery said that, although relations between his organisation and agencies had improved, St Mungo's had experienced problems in the past with the standard of some agency staff. A number, for example, had not been background checked with the Criminal Records Bureau — mandatory for anyone who wants to work with vulnerable people.

Jeffery said that, because St Mungo's relied on irregular funding streams from others, there was an "overwhelming consciousness to spend money wisely". It was this desire to be prudent which had led the charity to look at its use of agency staff.

Jeffery was speaking at a Chartered Institute of Personnel and Development forum on 2 April on the challenges of managing agency and temporary workers.

Cally Park Islington

Bechtel engineers support for homeless young people

24dash : Printable version: "Bechtel engineers support for homeless young people


Publisher: Ian Morgan
Published: 10/04/2007"

Global engineering firm has donated £25,000 in support of Foyer's work with homeless young people in London.

Thanks to the support of Bechtel, Foyer aims to increase the participation of young people in learning by working with young people living in London Foyers to develop their communication skills and act as Ambassadors for the Foyer Network.

Foyer Chief Executive, Jane Slowey, said: "Foyer recognises the powerful effect on young people of hearing inspiring stories from their peers about overcoming barriers to learning, and achieving success on a learning programme.

"This support from Bechtel will enable us to work with young people to encourage their peers to take up learning and make a positive transition into independence."

Foyer gives a voice to over 130 local Foyers across the UK, and to the 10,000 disadvantaged young people with whom they work each year. It provides a forum for sharing best practice and accessing funding, training and a range of support, while the Foyer Accreditation Scheme ensures the quality and consistency of Foyer services.