CAMPAIGNING

Above all the task of Labour Party members is to get and keep representatives elected to all levels of government and administration. Only that way can there be a real chance of putting Labour Party values, beliefs, and policies into effect. This needs good candidates, and effective campaigning. This page is about campaigning activities within Walthamstow. If you are a Labour Party member you can also view many of the Party's online training seminars - 'webinars' - by following this link: Labour Party Campaign Webinars Library

2015 Election Campaigning: As well as campaigning hard to keep Walthamstow Labour in May 2015 we also need to campaign to win a majority in parliament so we're also supporting campaigns in the London Key Seats.
7days4stow
In 2013 residents were invited: Give seven days of your time for Walthamstow – make it an even better place to live and work.

7days4stow is the umbrella title for a number of local community micro-volunteering projects in Walthamstow. The overall initiative was started by Walthamstow's MP Stella Creasy, and sprang from her constituency casework experiences. "I started this project when I realised the scale of the challenge austerity presented to Walthamstow and the potential ability of local residents to act. Now I’m trying to find new ways to help develop the projects and their relationship so we can continue to achieve even more. As well as using the contacts I have with both local and national bodies to help projects, I want to find more ways to make best use of the time people have to help Walthamstow achieve its potential as I know everyone is busy and meetings can sometimes seem boring- ideas are always welcome!"

The idea is that over the course of a year volunteers give a total of seven days of their time. This developed from the community campaigning work that has been building within the constituency since 2011. The first such campaign was in response to the riots in August that year. 7days4stow has been under way since the start of 2013 and has generated a number of campaigns involving the time and energies of local residents - both Labour Party members and supporters.

Food Bank - the “Eat or Heat” food bank has managed to get a permanent building to store donated food, and are now decorating the area with the help of some students from Waltham Forest College. Their activities include: a charity night at the College Arms in E17 and a supper club, serving Thai curry to 20 guests in the Rose and Crown pub, Walthamstow Girl’s school arranged a fundraising with a 40s twist – recipes based on ration book portions. 

Night Shelter – volunteers visit the Night Shelter early in the morning to help make tea and toast and put mattresses away. They’re now looking for donations of small toiletries and toothbrushes. The longer than expected winter meant that the Night Shelter needed to stay open for a week longer than normal, through 7days4stow £800 was raised in a short period of time, so the shelter could further support people suffering from homelessness in Walthamstow

Sharkstoppers – the team have been working with the local Credit Union to understand the services they can offer to those struggling to make ends meet so they don’t have to rely on legal loan sharks with their exorbitant interest rates. They’ve produced 1,000 leaflets outlining the benefits of a credit union and are now looking at ways to get this information to the people that need it most.

E17 Community Kitchen – aiming to give people the skills to cook good food on a tight budget. They held one event in November and are using a big kitchen at Waltham Forest College for cooking classes. Classes will be starting soon and they will be publicising this through social media.

Education in Walthamstow –  are looking to spread positive stories of education in E17, so are looking for memories and tales from local schooldays. They’re looking at building greater links with schools in the area, and publicising the positive tales through a website and other media to tell the stories.

Befriending – This project, to reduce isolation and loneliness, aims to use some of the resources already out there such as community groups to help isolated people. they’re looking to build their own brand for this initiative.

Housing Costs – A project coordinator will be looking at ways to collect data related to rising housing costs, identifying the trends in the letting market in particular. With many families and individuals spending up to 70% of their income on rent, it’s a growing concern in Walthamstow. One task is to develop a charter of good practice for local letting agents to sign up to

Parents & Carers – looking at the pressures facing parents and carers in Walthamstow.

The communications team have been busy running the 7days4stow Facebook group and page, and now have nearly 480 Twitter followers. If you follow social media you can help spread the word by 'liking' the 7days4stow Facebook page with a comment to say why you’re supporting 7days4stow, or by following 7days4stow on Twitter and retweeting the tweets. There’s also the IVO site, which lists volunteering opportunities.

For more information on the #7days4Stow project:
There's more information as well at the 7days4stow pages of Stella Creasy's Working for Walthamstow website




Community Campaigning: Walthamstow CLP, with support from the Movement for Change, is working on a number of campaigns involving local community organisations:
Action for health in Walthamstow: These are extracts from a blog by Decklan Fitzpatrick a member of a community group in Walthamstow that started during the second half of 2012. It focuses on food, health, and long term health outcomes, and he has worked alongside local party member Yemi Osho. You can read the full article here. 


"Working with Movement for Change we’ve been learning about how to get organised, and how to begin to take action to change the things that are important to us. I think that we all have a list of things – big and small – that we’d like to change in the world, but often we don’t feel that we have the power to change them. I knew that working with a group of people would help, but working with Movement for Change I've realised that there’s also a way to get organised, to focus, and to take action that will build power and bring real change, affecting lives and communities. . . We recently held our first event – the E17 Pop-up Kitchen . . . began with a healthcare worker Yemi Osho. Working in the NHS she sees day in day out the horror of what poor or deteriorating health can mean for an individual. Yemi formed our community group and, through her links with Walthamstow Labour Party, asked Movement for Change to help. At the Pop-up Kitchen we cook a meal with food waste from supermarkets in the area and local traders to inspire and promote healthy eating, under the guidance of a professional chef. Participants learn how to cook a good meal, and also get to eat a healthy meal then and there.  . . Community organising brings organised people and resources together to create change that benefits the community at large. . . As well as continuing to develop the Pop-up Kitchen we are planning new initiatives based on what we learn from the listening campaigns we carry out. The potential is infinite and we are excited, ready and hopeful for what next year holds. Watch this space. Decklan Fitzpatrick"


The Riots Panel: Following the disturbances in the High Street in August 2011 members and supporters have collected responses from local residents, in written and video form, and submitted them to the House of Lords Enquiry panel. Agnes, one of the activists in this campaign has blogged about it here. The Riots Enquiry Panel visited Walthamstow on February 15th, and attended a community event, arising out of the work done in the autumn by the local Labour Party members. You can view the Panel's interim report here.

The Missing Millions: In areas like Walthamstow where there is a regular turnover of population there are often significant numbers of people eligible to vote who are not on the electoral register. They are deprived of the right to vote even though they are paying council tax. The Missing Millions campaign aims to counter this. A number of members have already made connections with local faith groups, schools, clubs etc who are encouraging their members to register to vote, for example by providing voter registration forms and a collection box, from which completed forms are regularly taken to the electoral registration office. One of our members - Harriet - has written about the work here.

Education - 1200 Pupils: The 1200 Pupils campaign is designed to make the case to the Government to provide the funding so that we as a community can meet those needs. Stella Creasy MP for Walthamstow has written about this here. Party members are currently working on ways to involve local residents associations and PTAs as well.


Heat or Eat: A YouGov poll, as reported in the Evening Standard, has identified poverty as one of the three main issues concerning Londoners in the coming London elections. The CLP ‘Eat or Heat’ project working with SureStart collects non-perishable food for local families  facing the choice of paying their heating bills or feeding their children.  On Saturday 28 January the project collected tinned goods, rice, pasta etc in the Town Square.

No comments:

Post a Comment

Subscribe to: Posts (Atom)