Playtime's over!

Amidst the hustle bustle of Euston station, I attended and event at 30 Euston Square, for a insight into the world of social entrepreneurship. Upon arrival staff welcomed and directed me to registration hall and coffee stands. As I poured myself a coffee, I felt a little overwhelmed by the male dominated room. A sense of discomfort clouded over me, as the age gaps seemed to quite large as well. I met Robin Pakenham from Uprise a social
developer &  a finance director, and he put my mind at ease about the event and being here. We both took our seats in the auditorium and Liam Black took the stage. Liam spoke of his book - The social entrepreneurs A -Z, which I found very inspiring and motivational. His presentation included useful information and a number of funny jokes. Everyone was interactive with a open Q&A session. As he asked if any young person wanted to comment on 'service users' I felt I needed to comment 'service users can't benefit if the service provider has no understanding nor experience in the service they are providing.'  It opened up larger conversation than I intended, which lead to disagreements with fellow attendees about how young people are difficult to train, at an apprentice level, to attain a higher position at a management level, because they had the passion and pleasure but didn't have the skills. Which you would assume would be provided through the course of the apprenticeship. I found that to be the greatest disrespect as a young person who was aiming to contribute to society while being passionate about what I do. Throughout the day,  I came across Lucy Adams, ex BBC employee, who had suffered a lot of trauma whilst employed by BBC, in a workshop called Scar Tissues, whom I found inspiring. I learnt from her that the best way forward after failure is to be better not bitter.

I created conversation with various entrepreneurs throughout the day, gained valuable knowledge and which created a sense of urgency in my mind to get on and do good through Kazuri. I never felt so motivated and fixated on my vision, a vision I share with all the people in this conference with me, to do good for our communities. I left with more than I came in with and I never felt so better about myself, and what I do. I want to channel all my new found energy and what better way to do that but through Kazuri and it's visions and values. A vision to do what I say, and say what I do. To change life's of women who have suffered a form of trauma in life. Trauma comes in many forms and we shouldn't try fit the types of trauma in a box, for the box will be to small to hold what is actually happening right under our noses.


By Aisha Begum
Apprentice at Kazuri Properties CiC

LC PLUS FORUM- November 2014

 LC Pan London Umbrella Support for Homelessness PLUS Forum
November 2014

Venue- Guildhall, Gresham Street, London, EC2

25th November 2014  14.00 – 17.00

David Makintosh, chair of the London Drug and Alcohol Forum played host to LC PLUS Forum- in association with DrugScope-  one of the leading charities supporting alcohol and drug professionals. The event was attended by organisations such as St. Mungos Broadway, Providence Row Housing Project, Clinks and Shelter that work towards housing the homeless.

The agenda looked at the complex areas of dealing with homeless people who are regular drug- users or were recovering from a drug/alcohol problem; finding suitable housing for sufferers; the current policies regarding the services for the homeless and the use of sanctions on the unemployed.

Paul Anders, Senior Policy Advisor for LDAN/ DrugScope opened up the meeting with a brief policy update and review of Universal Credit support for those dependent on drugs and/or alcohol. Ruth Goldsmith, Communications Manager for Drugscope introduced the ‘Making the Case’ toolkit to best use local services and address the issue of homelessness and substance abuse at local government, followed by Sam Thomas from DrugScope and Making Every Adult Matter (MEAM) who voiced the concerns of adults with multiple needs and how best to support them. Lastly the presentations were concluded by Ellie Cumbo from Clinks who spoke on the implications government legislation and changes had on services in London.

The number of rough sleepers and homeless are increasing due to difficult living conditions- unaffordable housing and rising unemployment. Last year roughly 112,070 in England were declared homeless- 26per cent increase in four years. (Source The homelessness crisis in England: a perfect storm: http://www.theguardian.com/society/2014/jun/25/homelessness-crisis-england-perfect-storm). The rising number of homeless people is an undeniably growing concern for LC PLUS – piled on by research revealing many homeless people were regular drug- users or were associated with drugs. Research from Homeless Link- revealed that 39per cent (of the 2500 people) was recovering from drugs related problem. (Source: Homeless Link http://www.homeless.org.uk/sites/default/files/siteattachments/The%20unhealthy%20state%20of%20homelessness%20FINAL.pdf)

Some more useful facts from Homeless Link- 77per cent smoked, 35per cent only ate two meals a day and two- thirds consumed more than the recommended amount of alcohol each time they drank.

It is unanimous that the current system in place to ‘support’ our vulnerable people is failing and I am thankful to the London Council Plus and DrugScope for highlighting ways the government and the organisations can help. 

Download DragScope Making the Case Toolkit; http://www.drugscope.org.uk/Resources/Drugscope/Documents/PDF/Policy/MakingTheCase.pdf

Getting on Board Conference Time Table

Getting on Board - Conference agenda draft

•          Creating organic workplaces for maximum productivity that benefit employers and employees
•          Presenting a compelling business case for more women operating at board level
•          Exploring through role play, challenging assumptions and demonstrating the benefit of gender balanced boards in western European and North American cultures
•          Appreciating  strengths and different  leadership operating styles
•          Developing the talent pipeline dramatically to bring women into leadership positions
•      Embedding strategies for conquering unconscious bias

Timing	Session and objectives	Lead
8.30-9.00	Registration and coffee
	Kazuri Minds Welcome and Housekeeping	Farah
	Introduction to the day – programme, the corporate gender landscape, purpose of the day	Catrina
	Mindfulness and expression for openness	Vajradaka
	Proposed legislation – what it means and implication for companies Written questions	Flo
	Coffee break
	Q and A Flo answers 2-3 most popular questions	Flo
	Felt sense Meditation	Vajradaka
	Discussion section: What barriers do you see or have you seen to women’s advancement	Paul
	Exercise on policy  review using part of diagnostic tool	Steve and Paul
	Change management – implications of making a change	Paul?
12.30-13.30	Lunch
	Professor Liz Kelly - keynote
	Group discussion - Confronting uncomfortable and difficult issues,
	Leadership behaviours	Catrina
	Motivation and values	Vajradaka
	Organisational and personal values charter	Steve /Paul
4.20-4.30	Plenary – individual take aways and actions, evaluation	Farah