West Leeds Debt Forum Meeting
Disrupting Poverty in Leeds
We have been running a project called ‘Disrupting Poverty in Leeds’ for the last few months. We have already held two large workshops where we aim to bring together the public, private and third sector to see how we can work together to disrupt poverty in the city. I would be delighted if you could help us by doing one or more of: Joining us on April 27th at Leeds University to plan how to Turn the Curve on Poverty in Leeds - http://dispov.eventbrite.co.uk/ Getting in touch to offer us any help or support (stationery, expertise, funding, energy…) Popping onto facebook page and giving us a like - http://www.facebook.com/Dispovleeds Spreading the word wherever you can...email, social media, pigeon post Many thanks in anticipation of your help.... … [Read more...]
Results Factory Slides
Here is the slide show that friends at Logistik helped to put together based to a large degree on the work of Mark Friedman on Results Based Accountability... http://www.slideshare.net/mikechitty1/rba-results-factory-slides … [Read more...]
Citizen Architect Sam Mockbee
http://vimeo.com/9182260 … [Read more...]
Disrupting Poverty in Leeds – The Results Factory
Leeds aspires to be The Best City in the UK. But to the 23% of Leeds’ children who live in poverty, rising to almost 50% in some communities, this must seem a very distant goal. What can we do about it? The Results Factory is about generating ideas and making them happen. In under 3 hours, we will come together, develop ideas and leave with action plans. Whether you need people to help get a project up and running, or whether you have time you want to use, we’ll find practical ways to start disrupting poverty in our city. Our aim is to leave with clear actions that will make a difference. You don’t need to be a professional in the field or have particular expertise. All we need from you is an open mind and a desire to change things. So, join us on Friday 27th April to help us to Disrupt Poverty in Leeds. http://dispov.eventbrite.co.uk/ … [Read more...]
Poverty in Leeds
How does poverty play out in the economic powerhouse of Yorkshire, the retail and tourist success story, the regenerated and rebuilt city, that is Leeds? Well, here are some figures, collated by the Leeds Initiative and published on their website. In Leeds there are 29,695 children aged under 16 who are living in poverty – 22.9% of all children in this age range There are 33,295 dependent children aged under 20 who are living in poverty (22.1% of the children / young people in this age range) 33000 children, 1 in 5 of our children, living in poverty. Poverty is not distributed evenly across the City, and these averages hide pockets of child poverty that are as high as anywhere in the UK. On October 14th we are holding an Innovation Lab where the people of Leeds are invited to come and think about how poverty works in the city and what we can do to disrupt it, personally and collectively. We would love for you to join us....http://povertyinleeds.eventbrite.com/ … [Read more...]
Ferraris for All – in defence of economic progress
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=cG3AtQ_SBaw Is economic growth associated with more and better technology the root to disrupting poverty? And if you want to learn about the choices between pursuing prosperity or living in caves.... http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=1iEmZkZhvo0&NR=1 … [Read more...]
Poverty and Income Differentials
I have been doing a bit of digging around looking at issues of pay differentials in and around Leeds. A top professional footballer in the UK can expect to earn in the region of £140 000 every week. It might take an average Leeds United player about 6 months to earn this much. The post of Leeds City Development Director is advertised at £140 000 per year (you would think we would attract a decent candidate willing to work for that) A Teacher on an average salary in Leeds would take 4.5 years to earn £140k. A Registered Nurse would take nearly 6 years, as would a Police Constable. A Healthcare Assistant almost 9 years. A Teaching Assistant just over 10 years. A Qualified Playworker (L2) would need more than 15 years. The poor kids dad would take almost 30 years to get this income on current benefits. A young person on the Job Seekers Allowance would be an old person - at least 72 - before they accrued JSA payments worth £140k, if it were possible. Health Warning All of these calculations should be treated with care. They are based on current wages as researched on the web. In most cases, but not footballers, these are average wages. I have done my best to check the maths but no guarantees! I … [Read more...]
What Can We do About Child Poverty in Leeds?
Since I posted my blog on Poor Kids in Leeds I have been asked again and again what can we do about it? Seems that people aren't satisfied by the platitudes of writing to councillors and MPs or throwing a fiver at the usual charities - they want to do something. One of the things that we can do is get a group together, get more informed about what is already being done in the city, and come up with innovative ideas and suggestions for more things that we can do. So if you can offer a little time to help please leave a comment below. If you have any specific skills or knowledge that you can offer, or other resources that might be useful, like meeting rooms for example, then please do mention that too. Everyone can help with this. We are not necessarily looking for specialist knowledge and skills (lets face it 'the professionals' have hardly got this one covered), we are just looking for people that give a damn and can offer time and imagination. So please sign up using the comment form below if you want to have a bash at this. If you would rather not go public with your skills and other offers then just drop me an email. On October 14th we will be holding an Innovation Lab to explore how we might … [Read more...]
