Over the last few years Derby City Council has lost all direction over the grant funding for the Voluntary, Community and Faith (VCF) Sector. It is successfully achieving only one objective, and […]
Derby City Council has “lost the plot” on Voluntary Sector Grants
Derby Feste : Saturday
WHEEL HOUSE BY ACROJOU MARKET STALL BY C12 DANCE THEATRE LAUNDRY XL BY DIRECTIE & CO / TOTAAL THEATER SURTAL ARTS FRANTIC BY ACROJOU UNDERGROUND BY MOTIONHOUSE MAN IN A BOX BY […]
Derby Feste : Friday Night
2 quite difference performanecs on Friday night – a sensuous, love story, with a beast-turned-man, “winning the beauty”, and a parade of “other-wordly”, stilt-walking sauruses. Great opening to the Feste Festival. SOUL […]
JEM: Jobsearch-Employment-Mentoring – Delivering their targets.
In March 2015 I reported on the launch of a new programme at JEM (Jobsearch-Employment-Mentoring) to support a small number of people, typically from ethnic minorities, with focussed professional support from Dr […]
Derby Soup – local crowdfunding of small projects – with something to eat.
Raising money to fund small projects, locally, can be bureaucratic, something of a mystery, and arguably, undemocratic. It always leaves questions as to where the money went, was it really a good […]
Arboretum Park ; Challenging the “Invisible boundaries” through Art.
When John Loudon first designed the Arboretum Park in 1839 he did so with great intent to encourage the people of Derby to gather, meet, and enjoy a green space in the […]
Women’s Work : Being “1 in a Million” – positive change for abused women.
In March 2015 I wrote an article called The ‘1 in 4’: Men! Why are we not angry about the shocking reality of violence towards women? highlighting in stark terms the extent […]
JET’s own report on their £118k contract raises questions that need investigating
I reported previously on the £118,000 contract that JET was awarded by Derby City Council In January 2014, to provide training and to find employment for “hard to reach” people. I questioned […]
175th Anniversary celebration of Arboretum Park
175 years ago Joseph Strutt, a wealthy mill owner, commissioned the Arboretum Park as a thank you to the workers who helped him make his fortune. It is famous for being the […]
Derby students pamper the elderly at the Indian Community Centre
Just over a dozen students, and ex-students, from the Littleover Community School and Derby Moor College made an impromptu visit to the Indian Community Centre (ICC) today. 30 minutes before the Centre […]
3rd Child Tax Credit : From a means test to a rape test.
A policy change that took a matter of seconds for George Osborne to announce in the post-election budget raises so many social questions, the most damning of which is “So a woman […]
JET: Did we need to spend £20,000 for another fly-tipping plan in Derby?
Fly-tipping in Normanton is a major nuisance, but it is not a complex problem – it needs one simple plan. Solving it is the responsibility of Derby City Council’s Streetpride department, and […]
JET ( Jobs, Education & Training) : Derby’s 3rd Tourist Attraction – Apparently?
If you missed the segment on East Midlands Today broadcast on 11 August 2015, here it is in full. The reporter proudly announces that it is “Derby’s 3rd Tourist attraction”. […]
The Rape Delusion: The Voices of the Victims
If there is one thing that tells us something perverse and disturbing about our society it is the fact that we even countenance the notion that a woman might be responsible for […]
Direct Help and Advice (DHA): A lifeline for the potentially homeless
When you are teetering on the precipice of homelessness, you are vulnerable. You are not there because you are in control of events, organised, and clear about the future – you are […]
Remembering the reality of the need for Roma Genocide Day
“Vermin – deport” was the response to an article I posted (July 25th 2015) on the Roma Community Fun Day in the Arboretum and Normanton Neighbourhood Group Facebook Page last week. […]
Independent Living Fund (ILF) is history; Now deliver the Care Act for all Disabled People
“The cuts in (ILF) support that are being handed out to individuals will leave us without dignity, sitting in our own faeces for hours at a time, dependent on the kindness of […]
Roma Community Fun day in Arboretum Park
Roma Community Care ( led from the Multi-Faith Centre at the University of Derby), in conjunction with Reverend Elizabeth Pinder-Ashenden of Pear Tree Baptist Church, put on a Fun Day in Arboretum […]
The STOP-TTIP “Pencil” comes to Derby
With over 2.3 million signatures on the Stop-TTIP petition, the giant “blow-up pencil” came to St Peter’s cross in the centre of Derby. Accompanied by an NHS ambulance it brought to the […]
Project Touchdown celebrates Eid with an evening meal for the Homeless
I have written before on the great work that Zishan Fazal and the many volunteers of Project Touchdown do for the homeless and rough sleepers of Derby. When I spoke to Zishan […]
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