Refounding Walthamstow - workshop with Stella Creasy - Sunday 15th at St Mary's Welcome Centre

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This is a quick reminder that we have a special consultation event this coming Sunday - a workshop with Stella Creasy MP at St Mary's Welcome Centre (next to St. Mary's Church) on this Sunday (15th September) at 3pm. (Directions: at the top of the High Street continue up the hill on Church Hill for half a mile; just past the Girls School on the right take the right turn leading into St. Mary's churchyard; as you pass the church entrance on the left the Welcome Centre is on the right, the other side of the graveyard. Note - the google maps marker is slightly too far to the right!)

Local party members have of course been invited but we very much want to hear as well from other local residents who have joined with us on various campaigns, such as with #7days4stow, the Heat or Eat activists and so on.

We'd particularly like to hear from you about how you think we could make our party and work more inclusive and attractive to local people who have similar concerns to us. Arising from this, and other consultations we've had, we'll be deciding during the autumn on some changes we want to make and your ideas could be very helpful to us.

If you have already expressed an interest in this I do hope to see you there if you can make it. If you do intend to come it would be very helpful to know so we can make sure there are enough biscuits and tea! Just reply to this message. Let us know too if you need directions for the Welcome Centre. 

Email: walthamstowclp@yahoo.co.uk

As Stella says: "The event is part of our local party discussions about how best to organise ourselves so that we can work for the causes and concerns that brought us together. I could not do anything for Walthamstow on my own as the MP, and the local labour movement is a vital source of support and help with many volunteers whose time and effort is invaluable to both me and to our community activism. However, in any voluntary organisation there is always a danger process and structure can drown motivation and enthusiasm. That can lead to people being inadvertently excluded from our work or us undertaking activities that are counterproductive and frustrating for all - we want to reform our working practices to make sure that we are able to act together in ways that are fun, meaningful and fit with the rest of our busy family and working lives!

"I know that being part of a political party can sometimes seem alien to wanting to change the world! That's why I'm asking people like you who may not be part of Labour but are broadly supportive of what it stands for, or who may be members but don't want to come to meetings, to help us think about how we can work in a way that means we get the best out of each other as we try to make Walthamstow and indeed Britain a more socially just and prosperous place for everyone.

"In keeping with the theme of our efforts to change, I promise this will not be a boring meeting and there will be biscuits! The idea of the workshop is that it will be interactive and offer an opportunity for you to help us understand, in chatting with existing members of the labour movement, what your experience of political parties or campaigning is and how you feel change can be achieved either in our local community or our country. 

"The discussion will be informal, and the outcomes of the conversation (which will be anonymised so you can be as honest as you want!) will then be fed into the 'refounding labour' decision making process for Walthamstow labour party. 

"I hope you will feel able to join us at this event and give your feedback - please do feel free to let me know if you have any questions about this workshop or the refounding Labour project."