Story: Liz Searle
The second meeting of the Burngreave Against the Cuts group was held on Monday the 8th of April at the Fatima Community Centre on Brunswick Road.
Around fifteen people attended, building on the success of the first meeting of thirty people. The mood was both positive and reflective, with the news of Thatcher's death making many reminisce about how they fought the Poll Tax, sharing stories of their experiences and linking the actions of Thatcher's government to the current situation with privatisation having a terrible effect on services. We all felt that we are strong when we work together and help each other.
The group aims to stop the proposed cuts to public services, which are threatening our area in particular. At risk of closure or reduced hours are the library, children's centre, recreation centre, adventure playground, and advice centre.
Abdul Aziz, of the Muslim Association of Britain, who kindly welcomed everyone to their building for the meeting, introduced himself and spoke fiercely about the fight ahead. He reminded us that the cuts are affecting the most vulnerable people, that the gap between rich and poor is getting wider.
“There has been a mainstream media blackout-they are not printing this information because they know that people would be up in arms about it. We need to communicate-get talking, leafleting, having meetings and lobbying councillors.”
Maxine Bowler spoke of the work people had been doing since the first meeting on the 18th of March. Posters were up in local shops, and petitions had collected many signatures. The petition is now online at:
Julia Shergold talked about recent meetings with local councillors, who could not confirm figures of how many hours the threatened venues could face losing-which seemed to show that the councillors themselves were unsure and could be made to change their plans. As an example of the impact of cuts, the Adventure Playground closed at 3pm instead of the usual 6pm on the previous Saturday, so lots of children were playing on the street instead causing tension between neighbours.
Julia added that Thatcher had personified the Tories’ hatred of community and public services; and that now it was time for “people fighting together for the services that everybody needs and protecting the weakest.”
The group discussed the Bedroom Tax, which has hit many Burngreave residents. There is a period of thirty days for appeals although this may be extended if we demand that everyone has a fair chance to prepare. Advice centres are apparently not taking on new clients due to the massive increase in demand for their services, at a time when Legal Aid is being threatened and the Council wants to amalgamate all the advice services into one.
Facebook group: search for Burngreave Against the Cuts to keep up to date and contact others.
The next action will be to lobby Jackie Drayton at her public surgery at 11am on Saturday 13th April, at Burngreave Library. Anyone can attend and constituents from Burngreave can question councillors about their role in defending the community from cuts.