Chuka Umunna MP

A social club for the over-50s is appealing for Co-operative members to vote for them in a national fundraising competition.

The Clapham Park Over-50s Social Club has been shortlisted for the £2,000 grant from the Co-op group and now needs to get enough votes to win the money they desperately need to fund them in this tough financial climate.

Thornton Labour councillors Ed Davie, Diana Morris and Lib Peck nominated the Clapham Park Over-50s Social Club for the £2,000 grant from the Co-op group after being concerned about the club’s future.

Cllr Davie said: “We regularly visit the club and it provides a vital opportunity for older residents, some of whom can get isolated, to socialise and get advice. They desperately need some money to be able to pay for their activities and transport for those less able to walk. I hope everyone goes to website and casts a vote for them.”

Club organiser Elspeth Anderson, who was recently given a Lambeth Civic Award for her work, said: “Some of our older residents can get very isolated and vulnerable and this weekly coffee morning and monthly lunch club really gives us all a place to go and socialise. Winning this money would provide a real life-line so please take the time to vote for us.”

A significant local home-building project which had been thrown into doubt by the Liberal Democrat – Conservative coalition government has been given the go ahead after pressure from local MP Chuka Umunna.

The Homes and Communities Agency (HCA) has written to housing association Clapham Park Homes to confirm that funding has now been approved for 120 new homes which had been agreed under the previous government.

Last month, the coalition published a list of housing projects under the Kickstart scheme which would face a review and possible cancellation.

Clapham Park was shortlisted to receive over £9 million of funding for new homes under the previous Labour administration, with its project having passed through due diligence processes.

After the new government’s announcement that the projects would be put on hold, Mr Umunna asked a series of parliamentary questions demanding answers from ministers on funding for the scheme and wrote to Housing Minister Grant Shapps to make representations.

Commenting, Mr Umunna said: “I am pleased that this essential home building project on the Clapham Park Estate will now go ahead and after the pressure exerted on the Conservative – Liberal Democrat government, it has decided to go ahead with the previous government’s commitments in this area.”

“I will continue to push the government on funding for housing in our local area, particularly money allocated under the last government to bring social housing up to an acceptable standard.”

Questions still remain on whether local arms-length management organisations Lambeth Living and United Residents Housing will be able to access Decent Homes funding, which the government is reviewing as part of its comprehensive spending review. Mr Umunna has also tabled parliamentary questions in this regard.

Housing Minister John Healey MP has announced that Clapham Park Homes has been shortlisted for £9.5million of funding to support the building of new homes in the Clapham Park area and to provide new local jobs and apprenticeships.

The government’s Kickstart programme aims to support housebuilding sites which have experienced difficulties progressing in the difficult current economic climate. Housing associations like Clapham Park Homes have found it hard to secure bank credit for developments following the Credit Crunch.

The £9.5million earmarked for Clapham Park Homes is part of the second round of special Kickstart funding and follows £450million already released nationally to build 11,500 homes.

The funding announced comes on tough terms. 50% of it is recoverable by government and Clapham Park Homes would have to provide schemes for local labour and apprenticeships to secure the monies.

With half of shortlisted homes set to be for affordable rent or sale, this is a boost for first time buyers and prospective Clapham Park Homes tenants.

The project will now go through a rigorous final assessment by the Homes and Communities Agency to determine whether the Clapham Park funding will get the green light. As the funding is intended to support the housebuilding industry when it needs it most, Mr Healey has made clear that one of the key factors will be the ability to complete building work by March 2012.

Commenting on the announcement, Chuka Umunna, Labour’s Parliamentary Candidate for the Clapham Park area, said:

“I was delighted when the Minister’s office contacted me to let me know that Clapham Park had been shortlisted for these monies which will help bring new homes, jobs and apprenticeships to our area.

“This money is in addition to the £56million that we have been spending on regenerating the Clapham Park area since 1997.”

Housing Minister John Healey MP said:

“We are using the power of Government investment to build homes and support jobs at a time when the housebuilding industry needs it most.

“I’m making it a condition of getting this Government money that all builders offer recruitment of local people and apprenticeship schemes.

“With this money we’re kickstarting stalled developments, supporting new jobs, training future generations of construction workers and building the quality homes we need.”

A new grassroots organisation has recently been launched in our borough to bring together the valuable work being done by tenants and residents’ associations (TRAs). The One Community Network, which has been set up by TRA members themselves, is designed to create partnerships between communities under one umbrella organisation, encouraging interaction between residents, housing providers and those who deliver services locally.

This forum will help associations share best practice and expertise, work together on events and support associations with fewer resources. It will also allow associations to speak with a more unified voice when representing residents on the issues that matter locally.

Tenants and residents’ associations already play a hugely important role, providing a crucial forum for getting involved in improving local services. The One Community Network will enhance this work through increased collaboration, delivering a brighter future for residents across the borough.

Below, Dave McEvoy, Chair of Weir Estate Residents Association and of the One Community network, explains the ideas behind the concept:

The New Deal for Communities Programme is one of the most important area based initiatives ever launched in England by the Labour government.  It is designed to reduce the gaps between some of the poorest neighbourhoods and the rest of the Country.

In February 1999 the Clapham Park area was selected by a borough-wide strategic partnership to be Lambeth’s New Deal for Communities neighbourhood.  A successful bid led to the award of £56m over a ten-year period, starting in April 2000, which has since transformed the area.

Generation Radio sprang out of the Clapham Park Project and is now the local station for the Clapham Park area, providing shows 24 hours a day, every week of the year.  You can listen to the station online through its website here: www.generationradio.co.uk.

Below, Generation Radio presenter, Ian Henry, who hosts the Love Soul show every Monday at 7pm and also the Weekend Soul shows every Saturday and Sunday at 10am, explains what Generation Radio is all about.

Congratulations are due to Streatham, Balham, Brixton, Clapham and Tulse Hill’s GCSE pupils who have achieved a fantastic set of GCSE results this year. All the hard work paid off for both pupils and teachers as Streatham parliamentary constituency’s secondary schools saw improvements on last year’s grades.

La Retraite Girls School in Atkins Road, Clapham, reported its best ever results to date with 81% of pupils achieving five A* to C passes.  Elsewhere in the constituency, Dunraven School in Leigham Court Road, Streatham, saw 72 % of pupils achieving five A* to C passes, while St Martin’s School in Tulse Hill saw a rise from 69% to 75% achieving five A*-C grades.  Bishop Thomas Grant in Belltrees Grove, Streatham, saw the biggest improvement in its results with a 13% improvement on the numbers gaining five A* to C passes since 2007. Over 90% of pupils at Streatham and Clapham High School achieved grade A* to C passes.

Across the constituency’s schools, there was an average increase of 6.25% of students achieving five A*-C passes and all Streatham’s schools are now above the national average of 65.7%.  The year on year improvements are tangible results of the many changes made by Labour since 1997, including improving weak and failing schools, increasing literacy and supporting more young people than ever to go on to university.

And the changes are continuing with Building Schools for the Future funding arriving in the constituency. Also, the new Elm Green School, set up by parents, will be opening its permanent site on nearby Elms Court Road in 2009.

Chuka, who himself is a governor at Sunnyhill Primary School, sees continued investment in primary, secondary and further education as a major priority and congratulated Streatham’s students :
“ Streatham constituency’s students have done themselves proud. They’ve tried their hardest and now have the opportunity to move on to further success in the future. While education is much broader than targets and tests, these results will improve the life outcomes of our young people, raise their aspirations and take them a long way to gaining meaningful employment .
“Labour has decreased class sizes, improved funding and given young pupils more choices in what they can learn. I’m committed to ensuring that this continues and that every child in Streatham has a place in a good local school.”

Labour has an ambitious vision for every child which sees schools at the heart of each community, providing a wide range of services for everyone and, with staff, students and parents working together to ensure the best outcomes for our children.

You can watch the BBC News 10 O’Clock News report featuring Dunraven School here: “A Generation of Labour Education”

Jamie Audsley

48 years today, Italian Somaliland gained its independence from Italy and united with British Somaliland to form the Somali Republic, located in the Horn of Africa (the Eastern tip of the continent).

It is estimated that over 70,000 Somalis now live in London, many having fled the troubles in their country of late, and the Somali community is thought to be the oldest African community here.  There is, of course, a growing Somali community in the Streatham parliamentary constituency.

I was very grateful to be invited to take part in the Third Annual Somali Community Conference at Richard Atkins Primary School last night, organised by the Aayatiin Foundation For Relief & Development (headed by Dr Musse Hassan, with whom I am pictured above).

I would like to wish all Somalis living in the Streatham my very best wishes for their Independence Day celebrations today and look forward to working with the community to improve the educational prospects of their children and the employment prospects of Somalis in Streatham, amongst other things (I am pictured right discussing these issues with conference delegates).