Britain’s not Broken

“Broken Britain is just political spin,” says Rev David Gray as he sits in the education hut where he teaches agricultural skills to offenders.

On a Gorton allotment grass roots work is helping to rehabilitate offenders and teach them skills they can use to blossom in their future careers.

Rev David Grey (right) with a volunteer in the chicken enclosure

In this unlikely place the groundwork is being laid between the police, community figures and residents in order to mend our so-called broken society.

The Outstanding Social Behaviour Awards organised as part of Peace Week in March aimed to promote social harmony across the city and celebrate the good work that goes on in some of Manchester’s poorest areas.

The event provided a balance to the Anti-Social Behaviour Orders that many people who commit a criminal offence are given.

One of the winners of an award was Gorton’s ‘Punk Monk’ Rev David Gray, 57, who won the Peace Activist award for the work he has done with Faith Network 4 Manchester in negotiating between gangs and police.

He works as an advisor to Greater Manchester Police, raises awareness about knife crime, and is training as an interfaith minister in order to build further bridges between the different sections of society.

He believes the positive behaviour of Mancunians deserves to be celebrated.

And he is right. In the last twelve months crime in Greater Manchester was down 16.3% overall.

Of that anti-social behaviour, which is the blight of many communities, was reduced from nearly 18,000 reported incidents to just less than 15,000.

Part of this little reported yet promising turnaround is the emphasis GMP has put on working with communities in order to prevent problems on the ground.

Since taking over the role as head of Manchester’s police force in October 2008, Chief Constable Peter Fahy, 47, has emphasised a ‘hands-on’ approach by making Police Community Support Officers more visible in the areas they serve.

He feels that Government figures are unhelpful and it is unproductive to tie his officers up with paper work.

These results are also due to work by community figures who believe in the ability of people to turn their lives around.

“In this community, just a few years back, anti-social behaviour was rife and crime was rife. These lads,” he says, gesturing to the men foraging away in the bountiful vegetable patches outside, “are the ones who are building this community again.”

Rev Gray moved to Gorton in 1989, having lived and worked around the city most of his life.

He has previously been a social worker across Manchester, and played a negotiation role in the Strangeways prison riots in 1990.

“My insights in Blakeley and Salford, where we used to live, showed me how a community could malfunction. When I came to Gorton I had loads of ideas about how I could help people here. I didn’t want to live in a community that had gone so wrong. I wanted to do something that would act as a catalyst to get Gorton to believe in itself.”

Rev Gary’s concern about the area he lives in is an attitude Mr Fahy understands.

He says: “People are most bothered about what is going on down their roads and in their schools. We have become stronger on community police because the old way wasn’t working.”

Operating in partnership with the community seems to have worked.

From April to December 2009 seven car fires were reported in Gorton South. This compares with twenty-eight for the same months in 2008 and shows a reduction of 76%.

One individual who is no longer setting Gorton alight is Darren, one of the Community Payback people working on the allotment who asked for his real name not to be used.

‘I’ve learnt skills today that will help me round the garden. I might be able to plant some veggies when I get home. I’ve done some digging and some fires but I knew how to do that before I got here’ he says laughing.

Rev Gray feels that by being non-judgemental and placing trust in people he can help them to help themselves.

“I did a report for Baroness Scotland a few years ago called Restoring the Road to Justice and basically among the things I was advising was that if somebody has a disability with a stigma, it gives them a chip. They think they’re not good enough. What happens is they can go down that wounded route and kick against the system. Or somehow they can find a place where they feel empowered and they are equals. When we feel unequal the problems begin.”

“You see people who you know who can go either way, with the potential for great good or great evil. I was once at that cross roads. People who didn’t judge me and had confidence pushed me to the better way. I want to be like that for others. As do the other people who work here.”

His longstanding links with the community mean that he is ideally positioned to help people like Darren.

“I have known some of these lads since they were kids and what was happening was they were getting shouted at wherever they tried to play, they saw adults as past their sell by date. There was a lot of anger and frustration. There was a temptation to look at it as dysfunctional parenting. But it was a combination of high unemployment and of people who used to feel a sense of purpose from the jobs they had. Who felt the best years were over.”

The importance of a continuous presence in an area is a point of view that Rev Gray and Mr Fahy both share.

Mr Fahy said: “Police Community Support Officers are hugely successful because they stay in one place. They have played a big part in improving public confidence. People like that, they recognise them. It’s about getting local officers who solve the problem who know the local people and know what the problems are.  We don’t want to just move people on from one street corner to another.”

Rev Gray agrees that it is important that the people who operate in the local area are recognised.

“Another factor in neighbourhood unity is consistency. There was a time when the teacher who taught the parent would also teach the kids. Now we have this shift around thing.”

Liaising between the community and the police has played a major part in reducing crime in Gorton.

Rev Gray’s work with the police builds links between people involved in crime and changes the attitude of those in authority with the people they serve.

He said: “I have guns handed to me by people who wouldn’t dream of going anywhere near a police station. They know that if they give something to me it will go out of circulation. It will go to the police and it will be got rid of. But there will be no comeback and that is really powerful because when someone makes a decision like that they are making a decision about changing their life.”

“I used to train police officers and what I would say to them is ‘you see a kid who is playing truant all the time and you are fed up to the back teeth of doing all the paper work and you think they are a bleeding nuisance. But I want you to see beyond the fact they are a nuisance. I want you to see what is going on with that kid and see how they have lost connection with school and society.’ And once the police started getting things like that it changed.”

Mr Fahy is concerned about the way the police are perceived and is working to improve that by building stronger links with local people.

The public view of the police has been improved through the increased use of PCSOs over the last decade and by forging links with community figures.

A Home Office report in 2003 which looked at the perception of police and accountability showed that participants wanted to see a more visible police presence, and that it was felt the community had a role to play in reducing crime.

The report also showed ethnic minorities felt discriminated against.

“We are trying to recruit a more diverse police force to make ourselves more legitimate with the population,” says Mr Fahy. “We need to be broadly representative of the population we serve. A lot of what police officers do is referee. If we have a police force drawn from those communities then we are more effective.”

He stops short of saying that the police force needs to be more understanding but, through working with figures like Rev Gray, the police are engaging with the community on a personal level.

The reduction in crime figures tells a positive story and through projects such as the Gorton allotment, where the seeds of social change are sown, it seems to be working.

Salford Holds onto Blears

The people of Salford and Eccles decided to forgo the red card last night and reinstated Labour MP Hazel Blears with a majority of almost 6000 votes.

The MP who courted controversy following the expenses scandal was the target of several campaigns which called on her to resign.

And when she turned up to Buile Hill Visual Arts College four hours after counting began it seemed she would continue to provoke debate in her latest stint as MP.

Norman Owen, the Liberal Democrat contender for Salford and Eccles, was one of many candidates who took her poor timekeeping for arrogance.

“Really the people of Salford have no complaints because they have got what they deserved from a lady who has turned up late for this count and shown the same arrogance and ignorance that she has always shown,” he said bitterly after finishing third behind Labour and the Conservatives.

Matthew Stephenson, the Conservative hopeful, described Ms Blear’s timekeeping as ‘interesting’ but remained optimistic about the result.

“We got over twenty percent of the votes, that’s more than half the vote Hazel got. It was a great result.”

In a curious move Ms Blear’s thanked her blue rival in her acceptance speech following the outcome.

During her speech, in which she placed local jobs and public services as a top priority, several candidates looked on grim-faced.

The irony when she described the count as a ‘long evening’ and the campaign as a ‘hard fight’ was not lost on David Henry, who stood for the Trade Unionist and Socialist Coalition, but is best known in Salford for the Hazel Must Go campaign.

He said angrily: “The majority of people in Salford do not have faith in the duly elected MP. Most of them didn’t vote for her. She does not represent this city.”

Steven Morris, the English Democrat candidate, believes that ‘a lot of the voters are tribal,’ implying that people would have voted Labour regardless of the candidate.

There were eight candidates in total standing for the position of MP in the Salford and Eccles constituency, more than any other constituency in Greater Manchester.

The British National Party fielded Tina Wingfield who said: “On the door step people are saying they have voted Labour all their lives but this time round cannot bring themselves to do it.”

Before the election it appeared that the candidates from smaller parties could be set to make gains in Salford but on the night people still chose Labour over the other options.

counting underway

If Skins and the Sarah Jane Adventures had a one night stand….

Just when Eastenders had regained credibility, developed some interesting plot lines and managed to claw back viewers it spawned a spin-off show, E20, which is the television equivalent of watching your elderly aunt trying to rap 99 Problems in front of your mates.

Imaging the result of a one-night stand between Skins and the Adventures of Sarah Jane, then transport it to Walford. E20 follows the lives of four teenagers living in the east end. The first episode sees neo-urchin Zsa Zsa running away from her evil mockney stepfather with another character finding out she’s pregnant.

The main problem is that it’s so self-consciously “street”. The program gathers pace with a hip-hop soundtrack and couples it with typical jerky camera work and quick cuts between clips.  “Fat Boy”, who incidentally isn’t fat and is probably over eighteen, is a walking cliché of a character. In trying to be representative I wonder if the BBC has actually gone too far and become insulting. And don’t expect any narrative continuity between the main show and E20, this is a completely separate entity.

E20’s parent show has been dipping its toe into youth culture from a while now. The gang violence storyline involving Billy was by and large decently executed. Though it unintentionally strayed into comedy at times a narrative lecture on the danger of guns is expected from this well-established mainstay of the prime time schedule. It’s kinda like your parents trying to have a talk with you about the dangers of drugs; necessary yet amusing.

It’s always very clear when Eastenders is dealing with an “issue”  and as a BBC soap we expect it to deal with social questions. While it’s by no means high culture, this program generally creates gripping drama and gives little talked about issues a large stage to play on. E20 just fails at this and I suspect the program is an attempt to curry favour with the E4 audience BBC 3 would like to have. Either way it’s worth watching just to cringe at the grime-over they’ve given the Eastenders theme tune.

If you fancy a chuckle it’s on BBC iplayer now.

‘Vicious’ Vodka Attack

A brother and sister have been given a sentence of two years for carrying out a
‘vicious’ vodka and cocaine-fuelled attack at Manchester Crown Court today.

Carla Hunter, 35, who had previously been imprisoned for death by dangerous
driving, smiled at family members as she was given the two year sentence which
will see her separated from her eight year old daughter.

The mother of one was also given a further three months, to run consecutively,
for the robbery of her victim’s £17,000 watch.

Ms Hunter claimed the watch was lost at the scene and it has never been
recovered.

Her brother, Wesley Hunter, 27, the ex-boyfriend of the victim, was also handed
two years.

Both are to serve at least one year of the sentence before being considered for
release.

Mr Justice Goldstone QC said that Mr Hunter’s part in the attack, in which he
held his victim down as his sister beat her with a metal bar, was aggravated by
the fact that he recruited Ms Hunter to the scene with the intention of joining
him in the assault.

The attack came at the end of a hard night of drinking and drug taking in Mr
Hunter’s flat, when the atmosphere began to turn sinister in the early hours of
the morning.

Mr Hunter left the flat and went to find his sister, bringing her to the
residence, to assist him in the assault.

The victim hid in an upstairs bathroom upon their return but the intoxicated
pair kicked down the door and proceeded to beat her.

At one point Mr Hunter held his victim’s arms down so she was unable to defend
herself from Ms Hunter’s increasingly ferocious blows.

After police arrived the victim was taken to Manchester Royal Infirmary where
she received treatment for her injuries, which included a 5cm gash to the head
requiring stitches.

The police were called by a neighbour to Mr Hunter’s house at 11.45 a.m. after
the argument spilled on to the street outside causing a public disturbance.

Not a morning person

Belgian waffles with caramel sauce, peaches and cream

I am not really one for breakfast. I’ll make time for a coffee because I’m useless without it. But to be faced with decisions about food first thing makes me grumpy.

It just seems unnatural to eat at eight in the morning. At that time I’m rebelling, internally and with minimal energy expenditure, against the idea of even leaving my bed.

It is said to be the most important meal of the day though so perhaps I should give it another chance.

My sister makes these caramel waffles for breakfast. Not surprisingly she is a morning person.

For the waffles:

250g (9 oz) plain flour

1 dessertspoon baking powder

2 tablespoons caster sugar

1 teaspoon salt

450ml of semi skimmed milk

2 eggs

2 tablespoons vegetable oil

Mix all the ingredients in a bowl, and then put the mixture into a waffle iron until golden and brown. These really lend themselves to sweet toppings. Anything with fruit is great, blueberries perhaps or apples with cinnamon.

High times and hearty food

I was in Glasgow last week and a friend fed me spectacularly.

Since swearing off meat in January dinners with others have been tricky. Most subconsciously feel that if they don’t consume a hunk of animal then it isn’t a meal, even if they are too polite to say so.

Rubbish! Mind, in veggie terms I am a bit of a phoney. Where I say pescitarian most say pernickety.

This more or less Jamie Olivers recipe but there’s no way oliver.inc could cook the care in to fish and potatoes that Ms Kaps can.

This doesn’t take too much time to prepare. You just mix all the filling ingredients in a bowl. Prepare the mash and assemble in a large oven proof dish.

For the filling:

750g to 1kilo of mixed fish – any will do but you must include one smoked

2 sticks of celery grated

1 large carrot grated

2 small chillies

4 sprigs of parsley

2 large spoons of crème fresh

250g mature cheddar

1 bag of spinach

1 lemon, zest and juice

salt and pepper

Mashed potato topping:

Four potatoes the size of fists – boiled, drained and mashed

A good chuck of butter

A splash of milk

Salt and pepper

It feeds three, four if you serve it with vegetables. Anything green like broccoli or mange tout would go well. Just keep then al dente as the pie is full of soft, and crumbly textures.

The top was drizzled with olive oil before going into the oven on 180 for 45 mins.

I am normally reluctant to drizzle anything with olive oil, bar salads.

Jamie Oliver does constantly in order to disguise the fact he is rubbish and embarrasses us all by going to America and calling everyone ‘brother’.

This is the one time it is ok to drizzle though, it makes the top crispy and that’s good.

The Government Inspector

According to Jay Rayner of the Observer we are ‘addicted’ to takeaways, he suggests legislation limiting the amount of trans-fats, sugar and general nasties in the pre-prepared food we buy.

http://www.guardian.co.uk/lifeandstyle/2010/feb/28/jay-rayner-takeaways

I suggest that any regulation of retailers would not go far enough. We need to deter these take away junkies form seeking out their additive laden poison.

Instead of punishing retailers, who after all are just running a business and can’t be expected to really care that much about anyone’s waistline, I suggest an old fashion system of rationing and humiliation in order to save these desperate people from themselves.

The system would work like this; we are all given a pink rationing card each month. Just for the sake of hilarity it would have a picture of a pig, superimposed with the owners face grossly distorted by a Photobooth filter, printed on the front.

The card entitles you to three takeaways a month. When you go into a McDonnalds a gaunt, grey-faced government inspector stands at the door. He stamps your card upon entry and if you have filled your quota for that month he torments you repeatedly with an electric cattle prod, in full view of everybody in MaccyD’s, then forces cabbage drown your throat until you vomit. That’ll teach em’.

Jamie Oliver was on the right track when he went to Rotherham and patronised an entire city.  But so far any state-initiated change has been soft footed. The characters from the governments’ new ‘Change for Life’ campaign look too much like jelly babies for the thought of vegetables to cross anyone’s mind. A bit of decisive action is what’s needed.

Under the new system anyone caught trading their ration cards would be clapped in irons and rotten kebabs thrown at them while children laughed and pointed.

Ultimately instead of buying our own food and making our own choices about what we eat, at meal times people would just queue up at their neighbourhood food point and receive a ration of nutritionally balance gruel.

What all these joyless, fastfood naysayers’ fail to realise is that the ‘obesity epidemic’ is just natural selection for our times. People have the ability to make up their own minds about what goes in their own mouth.

The capacity to make decisions is essential in order to function in the most basic human capacity. And if people want to put themselves in line for a Darwin award by gorging on grease, let them.

Right… now this entry is out of the way Dominos for tea I think.