Where's the CAB?
Not in Leicester 1
Closed
down, along with most of the welfare rights organisations - Leicester can't
afford them - unlike Loughborough or Blaby. You are advised not to have
problems if you live in Leicester and if you do - keep them to yourself! (or
visit an outlying village if you can find a way)
Not in Leicester 2
A caseworker to help victims of racial
harassment (this is verbal or physical abuse because you look different, at
home, at work, anywhere).
The City Council no longer does this work and has now stopped funding
the only organisation that was trying to help the victims of this crime. One
of their cases was a single mother on a housing estate who happened to
have a dark skin. She is not an Asian, but she looks enough like one to
satisfy the needs of local racist thugs who are harassing her and her
children whenever they leave their home. The caseworker was helping her to
deal with the police and also helping her to feel that somebody cared.
Well, they don't. Not in Leicester - we told you not to have problems here,
you just didn't listen.
Useful Links
www.theraceequalitycentre.org.uk
www.rockagainstracism.com
www.leicestercivicsociety.org.uk
www.environmentcity.org.uk
www.skyscrapercity.com
www.theyworkforyou.com
www.idleworm.com
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Mysteries of the
Stinky Bridge
Why does the bridge connecting Castle Gardens to the Pex
building stink? I have a theory. There was a long battle between the
City Council and the construction company that built it as to who should pay
to make it safe and accessible. My theory is that whoever lost this battle
was so cross that they mixed in a large quantity of manure with the material
spread on the bridge to stop people from slipping. The smell is worse when
it rains and dreadful when it is warm and wet, this bridge truly deserves
its name.
Why does the Stinky Bridge have an enormous H sticking up
from its handrails? It serves no engineering purpose and it is
certainly not decorative. My theory is on firmer ground on this modern
mystery as I was there at the time. When the Pex building (aka Soulsby's
Folly according to the Mercury) was made over by Leicester City Challenge it
was very fashionable to pretend that buildings near water were really boats.
There was a plan to decorate the building with an object looking something
like a giant sail. Happily this proved to be too expensive but "they" forgot
that this was the reason for the H on the bridge which was meant to suggest
sailing masts, so it went ahead anyway. Thus are eyesores created.
Picture borrowed from
Leicester University oral history site:
www.le.ac.uk/emoha/leicester/bedeisland.html |
Equal
Ops at the Top?
Not if the self selected "great and good" have anything to do with it.
These are the 15 (mostly) men who decide how all the money in
Leicester is to be spent. Never heard of them? Do not know who they are? Do
not know how to contact them? Thought that was what you elected your
councillors to do? Surprise, surprise! That is how QUANGOs work and why they
are so popular with governments of all persuasions. It is so difficult to
find out what is happening that in the end people lose interest and give up
trying to make a fuss when things are obviously wrong.
Things that are obviously wrong with
the Executive Committee of Leicester's Strategic Partnership:
1. 14 of the 15 people who determine how our taxes are spent in Leicester are
white.
2. 13 of them are not elected and the method of election of the other 2 is
questionable to say the least.
3. They are not required to feed back to anybody what they are up to or why.
4. They do not admit the press to their meetings
5. They are not required to live or pay taxes in Leicester.
6. The entire process lacks clarity and there is no transparency as far as
the tax-payers are concerned.
Further
information and people to email should be available at:
www.leicesterpartnership.org.uk
but it is a website that leaves a lot to be desired.
Victory for Val's Rant?
Voluntary Action
Leicester has, at last, fixed its website. It is a little
sluggish but the print is big enough to read, and it is adjustable.
I complained about their old website for nearly 4 years (3 of them as a
Trustee of VAL - so much for the influence of Trustees) but got nowhere. One
issue of Val's Rant and they fix it!
Hooray for the internet! Thanks Kevan - now start trying to really represent
the voluntary sector, you might enjoy it!
www.voluntaryactionleicester.org.uk
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