Huddersfield Carnival 2011

Myself and Mary Augustine, Chair of HACCT speaking at last year's carival

Had a great day in Huddersfield at the Carnival today. I had the immense privilege of leading the procession through the streets of Huddersfield to St George’s Square, along with the Greenhead Ward councillors, Mehboob, Mohan and Judith. The procession was a spectacular explosion of colour and the atmosphere was electric. It was a wonderful celebration of life in our multi-cultural society.

I was asked to make a speech at the young people’s arena at St Peter’s Gardens and here it is.

Hello everybody. Thank you for inviting me to your carnival. I’ve just had the privilege of leading the carnival procession to St George’s Square! I was with some of the most beautiful people in Huddersfield, wearing the most spectacular costumes. The colours were even more vibrant than last year and the atmosphere was electric. This is going to be an awesome event, a celebration of your identity, heritage and culture.  In fact a celebration of life.

Its really important to be proud of your identity and to celebrate your heritage and culture as we are doing today. You can then reach out to the wider community and let them share it with you.

On behalf of the wider community, I would like to thank you all for allowing us to share in this wonderful celebration of life. Today, we can forget our worries and enjoy being part of this marvellous multi-cultural society that we are so proud of in Huddersfield.

In Halifax today, the EDL are trying to provoke hate and division between communities. Here in Huddersfield, we are sending them a very clear message that we are proud of our diverse, multi-cultural community and we reject the EDL’s message of hate.

So lets celebrate life, celebrate multi-culture and celebrate our carnival.

God Bless you all and may you enjoy today!

My Place Al-Hikmah Project Celebration Event

I had the pleasure of attending the celebration event for the My Place Al-Hikmah Project which involved 5 primary schools in a local history project. They met children from other backgrounds and learned about the history of Hyrstlands House and the lives of the Oldroyd family who lived there in the 19th century. They also took part in an archaeological dig which gave further clues about life here in the past. As archaeology is a multi-disciplinary study, they also learned other skills such as maths and how to use a "level" to measure ground depth. The work they produced ws on display and a drama was enacted about life in the mill for children in 1875. I had been asked to say a few words at the celebration so I prpared a speech, so as it turned out, the mayor gave a speech and Graham Hepplestone, First Officer at West Yorkshire Joint Services, who ran the project, also spoke and there was not time for me, but this is the speech I prepared.

Thank you Mr Mayor, my good friend Cllr Eric Firth, welcome to our MP Mike Wood, who is also my good friend and our guest, Bradford Deputy Mayor, Cllr Val Slater.

Thank you children for letting me join in your celebration, see the work you have produced and enjoy your drama which was moving, as well as interesting and informative. It gave us all an insight into life for children in the mills, 130 years ago and reminds us that we are lucky to be alive now and not then. I think you all deserve a pat on the back.

This project has run for 4 years and provides a wonderful opportunity for children to come out of the classroom, meet children from other backgrounds, learn about our local history and also have fun.

I dropped by during the project and joined in some of the activities. I noticed the enthusiasm and curiosity of the children who were exploring the old house as they used their imagination to work out what each room was used for and who used them. There were lots of other activities to fire the imagination such as looking at historical photos, examining old maps, working out the Oldroyd family tree, learning about life in the mills and of course, dressing up in period costumes, which was a lot of fun. This all brings history to life and makes learning real. The archaeological dig provided further clues about life here in the past and allowed you to learn other skills and also contribute to the permanent historical record of our area, which is very valuable work.

This has all given you a good understanding of our local heritage, as I could see from the drama you enacted and displays we all looked at. It was also an opportunity to learn how to think for yourself, investigate and work things out, which will be useful for you all your life.

It has once again, been a very successful project and I would like to thank the Musa Kasi and IMWS for allowing us to use this marvellous historical facility.

West Yorkshire Joint Services, particularly Amanda, Linda and Stewart for running the project once more; Louise from Archaeological Services for facilitating the dig; Blah Blah Theatre for making possible the lovely performance we have just seen.

The school staff – the head teachers, teaching and support staff for bringing the children and supporting the project - also for your good work, day in day out.  Kirklees Council really appreciates the wonderful work you do for the children of our community.

Also thank you to parents for coming along and supporting your children. The support, guidance and love that parents give their children, is I think, the most important factor that determines educational attainment so please keep up your support.

Most of all, I would like to thank the children for their good behaviour, their enthusiasm for learning. and for getting on well together. The project allowed children to share experiences and develop mutual understanding and respect and, which I found delightful

You children are the future of our community and In order to shape our future, it is important to have an understanding of the history of our community and its impact on our lives today.

Seeing the faces of these children today, I am filled with optimism for out future. Thank you very much.

Mary Halloran RIP

It was my privilege to deliver the eulogy at Mary's funeral today.

Eulogy

Mary Halloran was one of the first people we met when we arrived in Batley in 1972. She was our neighbour and for me, epitomised the philosophy “love your neighbour”. She is amongst the kindest, most generous hearted, loveliest ladies I have ever known.

Mary set a wonderful example to everyone on our street. She was a selfless person who always put her family first and herself last. She was a loving wife to her beloved husband Peter, a wonderful mother to Bernadette, David and Catherine and later a wonderful grandmother and great grandmother. She was a shining example of her faith and her neighbours would remark that every Sunday, whatever the weather she always walked her family to church. She certainly inspired me.

Mary had many talents. She was a great seamstress. Her sewing skills were always available for the benefit of friends and neighbours. She would not hesitate to shorten trousers, fix zips and buttons and even make children’s clothes. Children’s anoraks were one of her specialities and she made for our daughter, not only her first anorak, but also her first body-warmer.

On child care matters, she had a fount of knowledge which she readily shared. She would look after our children at any time; she treated our family as her own and many others too.

She shared our worries and was overjoyed by our successes. She made us feel that we were her family.

When we moved away from her street in Healey, we remained just as close and enjoyed holidays together a time or two and she often spoke about how much she enjoyed her holiday in Budapest with Gillian, Dawn and Marielle. She came to all our family celebrations, to us she was part of our family and also many others too.

Here in Batley, there is a marvellous sense of community, which I think is due to the caring attitude of the womenfolk. There are many women in Batley whom I see as sort of folk heroines because of the selfless way that they care for our community and first amongst these, is Mary. She and women like her have created this marvellous community that I love and where I always want to live.

Mary was the Godmother of our children. She was a wonderful lady, a true friend. She is the nearest person to a saint that I have ever known.

There will always be a very special place in our hearts for her.

God Bless you Mary.

Peter O'Neill

Election Triumph



Playing for Success Children's University Celebration

Girls from BGHS whom I presented certificates to at the Children's University Graduation

Today was the graduation event for the Playing for Success scheme which runs at the five sports clubs' study centres in Kirklees. These are the three professional rugby clubs, the Giants, the Rams and the Bulldogs, Huddersfield Town Football Club and The LongbridgeTennis Centre.

The study centres work with children who are referred because they lack motivation at school and are low-achievers in the usual learning environment. However they do work well in the sports club environment, close to their sporting heroes and the evidence is clear that attainment and aspiration is significantly raised.

Some children at each centre, work on achieving a qualification from the University of Huddersfield and this was their big celebration. I could see the children's parents and families were proud of them. There was a group from Batley Girls' High School and I felt proud that young people from my community had achieved so much.

It is important that they recognize their progress and take pride in their accomplishments. My advice is share your achievements with others. Why not brag about it!

I hope that the recognition and support of their families will spur them on to greater things and that this will be the first step in a long journey to even more success.

Well done everyone and well done to Playing for Success!

Faith Forum Cheque Presentation to disabled athletes

Today I had the pleasure of meeting some talented sportsmen who have disabilities and see them being presented with cheques.  It was a special presentation event at Huddersfield Town Hall, hosted by the Mayor and attended by the Bishop of Pontefract, Bishop Tony, representatives of Kirklees Faith Forum and the parents and friends of the recipients.

The money came from funds raised by The Faith Forum from their “Pledge a Pound” appeal during Inter Faith Fortnight. The lucky sportspeople were twins Barry and Steven, from Meltham, who are successful bowlers; Table tennis star Howard, who is in the Great Britain Table Tennis Squad and Joanne who is a world championship swimmer. She was unable to attend but her mother was there to receive her cheque. They shared £1700 which will help towards the cost of training and travel around the world to enter competitions. They were very appreciative.

The three sportsmen, who all have a learning disability, were a delight to meet and talk to and they do not let their disability hold them back. They love playing sport and competing and the twins in particular, were extremely knowledgeable about all sports.

Faith Forum Co-ordinator Fakhara Rehman emphasised that the Faith Forum is all inclusive and welcomes people from every group in society, especially people with disabilities.

We all wish them well and hope the cash boost will help them to enjoy their sporting endeavours and be even more successful.

Children First

Cllr Shabir Pandor and myself with Mubashar Nabi and Children First colleague

I attended the presentation  at PKWA, given by Mubashar Nabi, Chief Executive of the Pakistan children’s charity, Children First. My ward colleague Shabir Pandor also attended, as did several other councillors. It was an informative and enjoyable evening. The scale of their operation was astounding. In addition to their work in general, to improve the lives of children, they initiated an emergency response programme in the aftermath of the flash floods in Muzzaffarabad.

They explained what they have achieved in the last year, which is awe-inspiring. Their vision is a society where children and their best interests come first.

Their mission:

·         Protecting children from neglect, abuse and exploitation;

·         Increasing access and quality of education

·         Expanding livelihood opportunities for the poor;

·         Improving community physical infrastructure;

·         Developing institutional capacities for disaster risk reduction and response to emergencies.

They are funded by ten organisations including the UN, the British High Commission and the British Council.

2010 was a challenging year for children in Pakistan and many were pushed into the labour market in order to survive. Children First remained committed to working with children to inspire dramatic change in their situation. They continue to increase their work in education, health and child protection and have a specific focus on child survival and maternal health.

Children First’s core values include child protection, gender equality and non-discrimination. They reached 170,000 children last year and in the coming year, aim to expand work in community participation and support for women.

They collaborate with local partners, government departments and international partners so that by working together, we can bring lasting change to the lives of children and help them realise their dreams. They would like to expand their work to Britain and are keen to set up exchange visits between young people in diaspora regions of the UK and Pakistan.

Omar Farooq, Chair of Children First, said Children First must ensure that the cause of the child never wavers for it is our children that carry our hopes for a better world.

The presentation and the conversation afterwards, left me in no doubt that this is an organisation which does invaluable work to improve the lives of children in Pakistan. Communities like ours, which include a significant proportion of the Pakistani diaspora, should do all we can to support them.

Celebrating Young People’s Achievement

I attended the annual presentation evening for Kirklees Young People’s Service at Batley Town Hall this evening. The title ‘Celebrating Young People’s Achievement’ was chosen because the aim was for young people to not only be presented with accreditation and certificates for their success but also to give them the opportunity to present, perform and showcase their talents and achievement.

 We enjoyed  dance, music, presentations and drama from a sample of YPS projects. It was great to celebrate and be proud of our young people, the vast majority of whom do
many  good things which are scarcely recognised. The media always seem ready to highlight the bad behaviour of a tiny majority as if it is typical of all young people.

The high point of the evening for me was a drama by the Yorkshire Mixtures (LGBT) young people’s group. They depicted how homophobic bullying drove a boy to attempt suicide. It was a moving and thought provoking drama.

It was also great to meet a sporting legend, Robbie Paul, the rugby league legend. He spoke about his time in Batley, coaching boys from Wilton and Fieldhead not knowing they were rival estates. Both groups got on extremely well. He also told us what he thinks are the four important qualities that are required to excel in any field. The first letter of each spell CRAP.

Rugby legend Robbie Paul with the Batley West councillors

Sudden Illness

Unfortunately, a week ago, on Saturday evening, 19^th March, I suffered a stroke. I lost all feeling and movement in my left arm and leg and the left side of my face went numb. I knew immediately I was suffering a stroke and thought to myself, my career is finished! However I was lucky, it was a transient stroke, a transient ischaemia attack (TIA) to give it its medical term. It was caused by a blockage to a blood vessel, stopping the flow of blood to the brain. This eventual disperses and normal function is restored. The more serious type is a burst blood vessel which does not repair itself easily so is more permanent.

The ambulance arrived after 4 minutes I am told, and the paramedics took good care of me, got me to Pinderfields hospital very quickly and I soon came round whilst in the ambulance. I am indebted  to the paramedics for their swift response and care!

Unfortunately, whilst in A & E I suffered another stroke. This happened while I was on a trolley, not fully dressed, with electronic contacts all over my body, being monitored and feeling fragile. I was scarcely able to speak, I just wanted to be left in peace, and allow the professionals to do what was necessary.  However my wife needed someone to comfort her and was delighted when her sister arrived, she brought her into the cubicle to see me but it was the last thing I needed and caused  me to have another stroke. Luckily it was short-lived.

I was kept in hospital for 48 hours and was seen by a consultant, who said I could be discharged, subject to all the tests being positive. I had an ultra-sound scan on my neck to check for blocked arteries which showed none were blocked but narrowing had occurred. The physiotherapist and occupational therapist gave me the OK and I was given a list of exercises to strengthen my left arm and leg. I received my medications and discharge letter that evening and was happy to go home after thanking the nursing staff for the wonderful care I received.

My relatives and friends had been notified that I had suffered a stroke and feared the worst. Unfortunately they had not been told it was a mini stroke and I had recovered, which is a great shame because it caused them unnecessary alarm and upset. I would have preferred them not to have been told.

I am now well on the way to a full recovery as can be seen by this recent photo, and I am looking forward to my election campaign. When I am re-elected I will re-assess my situation.

Wilton TRA's Grow Your Own Event



There was a lively atmosphere at Bleak House for the KNH Grow Your Own Event on Saturday (19^th March). 40 children from Wilton Estate came along to plant sunflower seeds in a competition to see who could grow the tallest sunflower. Cash prizes will be awarded in July, to the three winners.

There was also a clown who made funny shapes out of balloons, face-painting, party food and a free raffle. Cllr Peter O’Neill drew  the winning tickets for three lucky children who each got an Easter egg. Everyone had a great time!



Kirklees Women’s Alliance International Women’s Day Conference

This year’s conference celebrating International Women’s Day, was held at Dewsbury Town Hall on St Patrick’s Day. It focused on the inequalities that still exist despite women’s participation and immense contribution to the political, social and economic landscape of this country.

 The speakers: representatives of the Southall Black Sisters       who serve the needs of black women, Karen Moore of the London Resource Centre which  supports Million Women Rise and Beatrice Botomani of the Bradford Refugee Forum whom I met last year at the Why Refugee Women Charter in Leeds.

    


Also the Mayor was present and gave his speech which came after my speech to the conference. I felt it was a great honour to be asked to address the conference, I enjoyed the experience and was humbled by the warmth of the reception from the audience. I had the opportunity to read my poem which encapsulates much of how I feel about women, “Women have strengths that amaze”. It was received rapturously!

There were various workshops which considered how women are affected by poverty, domestic violence, homelessness, offending behaviour, substance misuse and healing through creativity. I and all the other delegates thoroughly enjoyed the day and I for one, am already looking forward to next year’s conference.

Anayat, myself and Fakhara

Congratulations and thanks are owed to Supriya, Habi and Fakhara for their inspiration, dedication and hard work which made the conference the success it was and also for their continuing commitment to KWA.

Diabetes Expert Patients' Programme Final Session

I dropped in to see the final group on the final session of the Diabetes Expert Patients Programme today. I wanted to say hello and well done for having the resilience to stick it out to the end.


I think it is a very valuable programme, well worth the investmenty that Batley councillors made last year. Its the fourth programme run in Batley since last summer. There has been excellent feedback, so we know it works.


It supports people to manage their condition allowing them to enjoy a good quality of life. It allows people to stay in control of the condition, instead of it being in control of the the person. It allows us to learn from and support each other and realise we are not alone.


The value of the programme is demonstrated by the volunteers who come back to help out. In this case, we have three volunteers, Jamilia, Dennis and Jim who have actually delivered the programme!


It sad that this is the last session as everyone has made friends with each other but there is no reason why they should not stay in touch. Hopefully they will join the self-support group of people from the previous programmes, who meet monthly to have a coffee and a chat. This would allow them to update each other on what they are doing, if they are reaching their weekly achievable targets and if not, to receive the encouragement to succeed.

In the current economic climate, prevention is the only sensible direction for the NHS to move in. Prevention is vital for the survival of the health and social care services.

Sport in Bradford Open Day

I attended this Sporting Heroes event at Odsal Stadium today, at the invitation of the West Yorkshire Archive Service. There was memorabilia from the Bulls, City and Park Avenue and some interesting archive material.

John Mason of the Bulls Foundation, who leads The Past Times Project, holds the Cup along with me.

Sporting heritage is an area which surprisingly, is rarely given sufficient attention, even though sport has a massive impact on the lives of most people, either as participants or spectators. Sport brings great pleasure to families with a family member who takes part, as was the case with our family. Our son Sean had a 10 year career in junior football including 4 years as a Bradford City junior player at the centre of excellence and the family rarely missed a match. At university, he chose to play rugby union.  Our past sporting heroes are great role models and inspire young people to be active and keep fit and to live responsible lives.

It was very interesting seeing a DVD showing all the sporting events that use to take place at Odsal such as speedway motor cycle racing and stock car races. The stadium was used for tennis tournaments in the1930s and Bradford City played their home matches there, following the fire in1984.

It was interesting to hear about the heritage project that the Bulls are undertaking, which includes capturing the memories of players and fans. Also, great to get the chance to pose with the Rugby League Cup, even though it was a replica.

The most interesting part of the exhibition was the display dedicated to lieutenant Donald Bell, a Bradford Park Avenue player who died in the battle of the Somme in 1916 and was awarded the Victoria Cross for valour. He is the only professional footballer to be awarded the Victoria Cross and the FA have bought it so it can be publicly displayed.

 

I hope sport fans in Bradford, take the opportunity to visit the exhibition.

 

Visit to Holmfirth Fairtraders’ Co-operative

Veronica, myself,Carol, Helen and John at the Holmfirth Fairtraders' Co-operative

I visited the Fairtraders’ Co-operative at 32 – 34 Huddersfield Road Holmfirth, for the first time today. I went to meet Veronica Pasteur, Head of Campaigns at the Fairtrade Foundation. She was visiting Holmfirth during Fairtrade Fortnight and the previous evening she spoke on “The Great Cotton Stitch-up”. She wanted to see the Fairtraders’ Co-operative and was also keen to connect with Kirklees Council in view of our successful bid for Fairtrade town status for Huddersfield. In recognition of the outstanding bid, the steering group submitted, fair-trade status was also awarded to the whole of Kirklees. Veronica was full of praise and admiration for this as well as for the co-operative.

The Fairtrade Co-operative was an absolute wonder, packed full of colourful treasures to fire the imagination in a building that has a very special atmosphere and character. It was a mini department store of must have delights. I wondered, is this Holmfirth’s best kept secret? I had never seen or heard of it before but I will spread the good news.

I also met John Drewery of the Fairtrade Co-operative, and Helen, the buyer for the business. She told us of the strict vetting procedure goods are put through before they are considered for sale in the shop. Every aspect is taken into account, including not only manufacture, but also the raw materials, the suppliers and the methods of transport. The provenance of every constituent used in the manufacturing process is checked. A star system of 1 to 5 stars, is used to grade goods according to their level of fairtade and environment friendly status. Very few goods with less than 2 stars, are awarded the fair-trade quality marque allowing them to be stocked in the shop for sale.

Cost is a priority issue. Fairness for producers and consumers has to be considered and also the business has to be profitable or at least break even, which means that the price has to be right. Some producers price their goods out of the market. Also they have to be careful not to compete with the local shops, who are very supportive of the venture.

This project is an inspiration!  All those who helped set it up and those who work hard, day to day as volunteers, to further the cause of trade justice, should be very proud of their endeavours. They are harnessing the essence of human spirit, a belief in fairness and justice, for the creative benefit of our society.  

Launch of the West Yorkshire Labour MPs campaign against police cuts - Friday 28th January 2011, outside West Yorkshire Police Head Quarters.

Cllr Mary Harkin, myself,Amanda Stubley, Cllr Mehboob Khan, Mike Wood MP

Shadow Home Secretary Yvette Cooper launched Labour’s campaign against police cuts in West Yorkshire today. Ed Balls had been leading this campaign which Yvette is now fronting and she said she is keen that Labour continues to challenge the Tory – led government on cuts to frontline police officers.

Yvette was joined by Ed, Mary Creagh – (in whose constituency the campaign was launched), and other West Yorkshire colleagues including Hilary Benn, Mike Wood, Gerry Sutcliffe, Fabian Hamilton and also councillors from Kirklees, Wakefield and Calderdale, at the Police Headquarters in Wakefield, to formally launch our West Yorkshire police cuts campaign.

Yvette told us that she and Ed had met with Sir Norman Bettison the Chief Constable and Mark Burns-Williamson.  She explained that Sir Norman has been put in an impossible position by the government which has asked him to find cuts of more than 20 per cent in central government funding over four years, and front loading those cuts so around 15% needs to be found in just two years.

In West Yorkshire, we face losing over 500 officers and 1500 staff in total has been announced so it is time for us to begin campaigning more vigorously to highlight this short-sighted decision which risks the safety of the communities we represent.

West Yorkshire has been particularly hard hit, like Greater Manchester and the West Midlands because a larger percentage of the police force’s budget comes from central government funding unlike low crime Surrey where around half of total funding comes from the local council tax precept.



Myself, Ed Balls MP, Amanda Stubley



PLP Brief

Police numbers

·         The Government has confirmed that Police budgets throughout the country face real terms cuts of 7.5 per cent in 2011/12 and 8.7 per cent in 2012/13 (HOC Library calculations)

·         Police funding will be cut by 20 per cent over the next four years, and the government is taking big risks with the public’s safety and undermining the fight against crime and anti-social behaviour.

·         When Labour left office there were record numbers of police on the street, nearly 17,000 more than in 1997 in addition to 16,000 new PCSOs

·         Helped by the record number of police officers, crime fell by 43 per cent under Labour and the chance of being a victim of crime was at a thirty year low. But the government’s reckless cuts to policing and crime prevention will put all this progress at risk.

·         The speed and scale of the government’s cuts have put police forces in an impossible position. A number of forces have already announced plans to lose thousands of police officers, blowing apart the government’s claims that the frontline will be protected.

·         The cuts are also ‘frontloaded’ – they will be larger for the first two years of this Parliament making it even harder to make longer-term efficiency savings and putting more pressure on police forces to cut officer numbers

·         The first Police Officer numbers released since the Tory-led Government took office show that around 2,000 full time police officers have already been lost since the General Election

·         This fall in numbers was for the period before the Government’s 20 per cent cut to police funding was announced and we fear they are only the thin end of the wedge

·         Policing Minister Nick Herbert said the fall in police numbers was "not surprising”These cuts go way beyond what experts believe can be achieved through efficiency savings and better procurement. As coalition Ministers have regularly quoted, a report from Her Majesty's Inspectorate of Constabulary, Valuing the Police: policing in an age of austerity published in July, said that a “re-design” of the police system could “at best... save 12% of central government funding, while maintaining police availability”. Front-loaded cuts of 20% go significantly beyond that.

·         The Home Secretary has abjectly failed to fight the corner of the police in these Spending Review negotiations and it will fall to the Labour Party to stand up for the law-abiding public against these reckless cuts.

Directly elected police and crime commissioners

• At the same time as inflicting savage cuts to police funding that will mean thousands fewer police, the Government is committed to subjecting the police to an unwanted organisational upheaval – replacing police authorities with 42 directly elected police and crime commissioners. 
• This controversial top-down experiment goes against a 150 year tradition of keeping politics out of day to day policing. It raises the very real prospect of a politician telling a Chief Constable how to do their job.
• People will be rightly angry that at the same time as cutting funding for frontline police, the government wants to spend over £100m – the equivalent of 600 full time police officers - on bringing in directly elected police commissioners.
• It will risk politicising the police at a huge cost to the taxpayer, yet a single elected police chief for an area as large as the West Midlands, Greater Manchester or North Wales will do little to improve local police accountability.