Campaigns

I have recently launched STEP UP, a social action programme, to help state educated pupils in Westminster North achieve greater levels of success in their university applications.

Despite this government’s attempts to widen participation in Higher Education, state educated students continue to encounter difficulties when applying to top universities.

The application process can be daunting. Step Up offers a wide range of practical advice with UCAS applications as well as specialised training designed to boost students' presentation and communication skills.

Our team are recent graduates with direct experience of the application processes.

We are always looking for more volunteers: if you wish to join us and participate in this project, as a mentor or as a student, please do not hesitate to contact Joanne at joanne@step-up.me or call 020 7625 3805and ask for James Abbott.

Sayeeda Warsi Visits Community Groups in Westminster North

Above - Visiting the London Tigers with Baroness Warsi

Baroness Warsi, the Shadow Minister for Community Cohesion and Social Action, yesterday spent the afternoon visiting a number of community projects across Westminster North with Joanne.

The Conservative politicians visited the London Tigers in Church Street and Real Action's Learning Store in Queen's Park to discuss their community projects and the ways in which they promote interaction between different groups in the local area.

Joanne commented:

"It was a great privilege to welcome Baroness Warsi to Westminster North.

"This constituency is home to an extremely diverse population with over 100 languages spoken in our schools.

"There are a number of organisations in Westminster North that offer inclusive, community-led programmes and that provide positive opportunities for people of all ethnicities.

"Programmes such as these transcend traditional cultural barriers and encourage genuine social interaction between different communities. I look forward to working with Baroness Warsi in the coming months and years to ensure that they are given the support they deserve."

Above - Adult literacy classes at Real Action's Learning Store

The Shadow Minister for Community Cohesion and Social Action added:

"In areas with high levels of ethnic diversity and high population turnovers, such as Westminster North, cohesion within the community is vital because it helps to reduce crime and anti-social behaviour and drives social mobility upwards.

"Under this government, there is a worrying trend that young people appear to be integrating less well than their parents and, if this trend continues, we could end up with a country more divided and segregated than ever before.

"It is encouraging to see social action projects in Westminster North helping to develop greater levels of cultural understanding amongst local residents.

"The good work of these organisations must not go unrewarded; I am responsible for ensuring that, under the next Conservative government, funding is available to build upon the achievements of those in the voluntary sector and that every citizen has an equal opportunity to fulfil their potential."

Joanne and Boris Visit Real Action in Queen's Park

Boris Johnson, Kit Malthouse, and Joanne Cash, visited the charity Real Action in Queen's Park to discuss the level of support currently provided to voluntary sector programmes in central London.

Real Action provides literacy classes for both adults and children (through the Butterfly Reading School) in one of Westminster North's most deprived wards. This independent, innovative and community-led charity has achieved incredible results through teaching based on synthetic phonics. Despite such success, Real Action urgently needs financial support if it is to survive.

The Conservative Candidate for London Mayor said:

"Evidence shows that improving children's literacy is an effective measure in cutting crime and anti-social behaviour. Schemes such as this should be encouraged and nurtured as they achieve so much for some of the most vulnerable in London.

"Many of those attending the Butterfly School are being failed by Labour's education system. It is a shame that children are reliant on schemes such as this in order to go some way to achieving their potential."

Joanne Cash stressed the value of the Butterfly School for children in our community:

"This is a wonderful charity, run by inspiring people who are involved in life changing work.

"Children who cannot read are at a huge disadvantage. The Butterfly School improves their reading skills, helps to raise their aspirations and to builds their confidence.

"I would love to see this expanded throughout Westminster North."

Real Action's education director, Katie Ivens, commented:

"Real Action was founded eleven years ago and aims to provide a service for the community, by the community. Our reputation has grown by word of mouth alone and our classes are always over-subscribed.

"Thousands of local children have benefitted from our Butterfly School and yet we could have done so much more. If we can secure funding, we could sustain and develop our programme.

I am delighted that Boris has pledged to support us if he is elected Mayor of London on May 1st."

Joanne and Boris Johnson, the London Mayoral Candidate, visit the All Stars Boxing Gym

- Boris signs the All Stars petition and pledges his support for the campaign to provide a secure, long-term future for the All Stars Boxing Gym.
- Boris emphasises the importance of supporting local community projects in disadvantaged areas that provide positive opportunities for young people.

Joanne and Boris Johnson MP, the Conservative London Mayoral Candidate, today visited the All Stars Boxing Club on the Harrow Road to emphasise the importance of supporting community projects that provide positive opportunities for local children.

The All Stars Gym provides a vital community service for people of a wide range of ages and ethnicities in one of Westminster North's most disadvantaged areas and has also produced a number of international athletes. The All Stars' long term prospects are threatened by their landlord who had to be forced, by a court order, to carry out basic repairs to the building. Joanne has spent the past twelve months working to secure the future of the club; last year she helped to launch its petition, which has now attracted over 1,000 signatures, and found them free legal advice. Westminster's Conservative-led Council have stepped in to help the management of the All Stars produce an Action Plan that, in conjunction with the petition, will demonstrate they have both the support and the resources required to make a successful funding application in the near future.

Speaking about his visit to the club Boris said: "It has been a great privilege for me to witness, first-hand, the fantastic work that the All Stars Boxing Gym does in providing opportunities for young people in Westminster North. Voluntary organisations such as the All Stars help to get kids off the streets and allow them to develop new skills in a structured environment where they are surrounded by positive adult role models. I was delighted to sign the All Stars petition launched by Joanne Cash, to lend my support to the club and help to ensure that it can continue serving the local community for many years to come."

Joanne praised Boris' well publicised support for organisations such as the All Stars: "Nothing is more important than our young people because they are our future. Boris shares my concern about the number of young Londoners who have suffered at the hands of gang –related violence over the past twelve months. Places like the All Stars help to give children discipline and purpose and prevent senseless waste. I wholeheartedly support Boris's plans to build a London-wide network for the thousands of volunteers who work with kids so that they may fulfil their potential, and offer a positive alternative for Londoners to the current tragic cycle of knife and gun crime. Community based projects such as the All Stars Boxing Gym must be treasured and protected and Boris' visit has helped us to demonstrate the importance of this club within our local community and the level of support that it enjoys amongst our residents."

Joanne Delighted at Council's Action Plan for All Stars

Joanne was delighted to hear of Westminster Council’s announcement last week that they are looking to secure the future of the All Stars Boxing Club by liaising with its leaders in order to formulate an Action Plan. Joanne has been working with the club for many months to ensure that it is able to continue providing the Harrow Road community with the first class training and support it deserves. A petition, launched by Joanne last year, to show the need to secure the club’s future has now attracted over 1,000 signatures.

Commenting on the Council’s Action Plan Joanne said: ‘I am delighted by the Council’s Action Plan with the All Stars that will ensure the club has the necessary support and resources to make strong funding applications in the future. The All Stars has a great reputation, not only at producing exceptional boxers, but also at providing a vital community facility for the children and people in the Harrow Road area. Westminster Council’s Action Plan represents an important step in helping to ensure that the club is able to keep serving the community for many years to come. In the meantime, I will be staying actively involved to ensure support continues for this brilliant club.’

Joanne Calls on Labour Councillors to Back All Stars

- Joanne asks Harrow Road councillors to allocate some of their new ward budget to under-threat local facility
- Proportion of the £100,000 could help secure long term future of the club
- Joanne calls for ‘co-operation’ between main parties on the issue
- Joanne asks Dimoldenberg to honour written pledge of support with financial backing

Joanne today made a direct appeal for funds to local Labour councillors and Labour’s top Council representative to save the under threat All Stars Boxing club on the Harrow Road. Westminster Council announced last week that from next April all wards will receive a £100,000 community budget to spend on local projects. Joanne has written to Harrow Road councillors arguing that some of the new money should be spent securing the long term future of the boxing club.

Joanne has been working closely with the gym management since her selection as the Conservative candidate earlier in the year and a petition to save the club launched last month has already attracted over 500 signatures. The gym caters for people of a wide range of ages and ethnicity throughout the North Westminster area and provides a vital hub of community activity in one of central London’s most disadvantaged wards.  Despite its’ excellent work, the club’s future remains uncertain with the gym’s current landlord refusing to sanction the upkeep of basic repair work to the ageing building. If the repairs and maintenance are not carried out regularly it could render the building unsafe and uninhabitable, forcing the club to relocate or worse still to close altogether. By taking action in the courts the club’s owners have managed to force the landlord’s hand in carrying out recent essential maintenance but the long-term outlook remains uncertain.

In her letter to the three Harrow Road councillors: Guthrie McKie, Sharan Tabari & Ruth Bush, Joanne said: ‘The club is a wonderful facility serving its local community. This sum of money would help to secure its long term future. The club needs money to pay rent, ensure the facilities are maintained to a basic standard and to try to meet the demand for its services locally.....this is also a wonderful opportunity for our parties to work together to support local people doing local work.’

Joanne’s plea for co-operation from the Labour councillors followed a breakthrough last month when Labour’s Westminster Council leader Paul Dimoldenberg wrote a letter in which he publicly pledged his support for the club. Joanne now hopes that Dimoldenberg will honour his pledge by lobbying his Labour colleagues in the Harrow Road to secure some of this cash for the All Stars: ‘I am delighted that Paul Dimoldenberg has acknowledged the importance of securing the All Stars’ future and hope that he will now use his influence within the Harrow Road Labour party to help allocate some of this new money to the club.’

Shaun Bailey Praises Joanne's Commitment to Securing Social Justice in Bid for Westminster North

Shaun Bailey, co-founder of My Generation and Conservative Party candidate for Hammersmith this week praised Joanne's ongoing work in her bid to become the new MP for Westminster North. Shaun also pledged to develop closer ties between the two new parliamentary seats in the west of London in the lead up to the next general election.

Speaking at a party event in Church Street, Shaun, whose work with My Generation saw him included in the Evening Standard's 1000 most influential people said: 'Joanne would be a fantastic representative for the people of Westminster North. Already in a very short space of time, her work with some of the most disadvantaged people in the constituency demonstrates her belief in social justice and her desire to change people's lives for the better.'

Joanne welcomed Shaun's endorsement: 'Shaun is a fantastic ambassador for the modern Conservative Party. His work with the My Generation project in Hammersmith has inspired me to back similar youth projects here in Westminster North, including the All Stars Boxing Gym and the Butterfly Reading Group in Harrow Road. I am excited about working closely with him and his team in Hammersmith to give the people of Westminster North and Hammersmith the opportunity for real change come the next election.'

Sign the Petition to Save the All Stars Gym

This week I helped launch a petition to save the All Stars Boxing Gym on the Harrow Road.

The gym caters for people of a wide range of ages and ethnicity throughout the North Westminster area and provides a vital hub of community activity in one of central London’s most disadvantaged wards. Despite its’ excellent work, the club’s future remains uncertain with the gym’s current landlord refusing to sanction basic repair work to the ageing building. If the repairs and maintenance are not carried out regularly it could render the building unsafe and uninhabitable, forcing the club to relocate or worse still to close altogether. By taking action in the courts the club’s owners have recently managed to force the landlord to carry out essential maintenance but the long-term outlook remains uncertain.

Although my website is still under construction I am determined to help provide the All Stars Gym with the long-term security that it needs and ask that you register your support for this terrific campaign by clicking on the link below and signing the on-line petition.

Petition to Save the All Stars Boxing Gym

Many Thanks,

Joanne Cash and Michael Gove MP visit the Butterfly Reading Group

• Shadow Minister pledges support for ‘innovative’ and ‘excellent’ charity

• Butterfly Reading Group faces uncertain future and could face problems similar to Peckham’s Kid’s Company

Michael Gove MP, the Shadow Secretary of State for Children, Schools & Families and Joanne Cash, the Conservative Parliamentary Candidate for Westminster North, both visited the charity Real Action’s Butterfly Reading Group in Queen’s Park and praised their ‘excellent’ work whilst urging the Government to provide greater support and backing for the project whose outlook is uncertain due to a funding squeeze.

The Butterfly Saturday Reading School teaches 150 children aged between five and 12 to read through phonics in classes held on Saturday mornings and also teaches adults literacy and English. The results are impressive for both children and adults. 30 one hour classes can advance a child’s reading ability by 13 months and a 16 week adult course can see adults with previously no English at all progress to an intermediate standard. Recent evidence also shows that improving children’s literacy is an effective long-term measure in cutting youth crime and anti-social behaviour.

The charity’s co-founder and Education Director Katie Ivens this week was named in the Evening Standard’s 1000 most influential people in London 2007 for her work on the scheme and in the wider community. However despite this and the project’s excellent track record, its future remains uncertain due to tightening purse strings and a lack of easily available funds.

Speaking at the charity’s home on the Mozart Estate, Michael Gove MP said: ‘After ten years of Labour and huge taxpayer expense in our education system, literacy standards in our schools remain unacceptably low. The Butterfly Reading Group’s excellent results working with kids from a range of backgrounds and nationalities shows how, with innovative teaching methods, real, tangible improvements in our children’s education can be achieved.’

Joanne, who has supported and followed the work of the charity since her selection earlier this year, said: ‘Katie Ivens and her team of volunteers provide the young people of Harrow Road and Queen’s Park with an opportunity to improve their education and life chances, an opportunity which many other children up and down the country do not have. The Government must do more to ensure that vital community projects such as this, which are the engine rooms of social mobility and future opportunity, have the funding and support they need to continue their excellent work.’

Ivens and the local parents and residents who run Real Action are desperate to continue the project and help more young people.  But they’re worried about the future: ‘We celebrated ten years of the Butterfly project this year and hundreds of local children in that time have benefited from the scheme. All children want to read and all adults want to learn English and we want to be there to help them fulfil this desire. But when we look at our balance sheet and the problems of other high profile charities, like Kid’s Company, we fear for the future and wonder whether we will be around for another ten years. We badly need donations.’