Brixton news, rumours and general chat: Spring 2019

[editor]

Isn't there something vaguely insulting about selling £40/head cookery lessons to the well off while operating in and supposedly supporting a community in food poverty? With no concessions...
Anyway, I think that if they want to call themselves a Brixton community venture then they should make all of their events accessible to the community by assigning some free spaces and offering concessions.

Absolutely.

 

[editor]

Lots of empowerment here

OurSpace launches crowdfunding campaign to build inclusive spaces in Lambeth

 

[editor]

This lot manage to offer affordable options but their regular rates are monumentally expensive - £60 - 90 per hour!

Living in a busy city like London can be tiring. Sometimes you can feel "medium well" for ages - you don't need medication, but you know you could feel better than you do.

If you need a pick-me-up, and believe as we do that prevention is better than cure, then a holistic treatment could be just what you need.

We also believe in the power of coming together to offer and receive healing treatments in a shared space, which many people often prefer to being treated one-to-one. The community setting also means we can offer treatments on a sliding scale, to make these holistic healin treatments as accessible as possible for everyone.

Pricing

The Brixton Cafe operates on a Pay What You Can basis - we want to do the same though we do have some costs we need to cover. If you can afford to pay at a higher rate, you can "pay it forward" for others, who cannot afford so much. We trust you to decide what you can afford.

Our sliding scale consists of four payment levels:

London market rate: £60 - 90 per hour
Brixton Pound PWYC: You decide
Suggested minimum donation: £30
Concession rate PWYC: Let’s agree a price (contact Sarah to discuss)
We ask for a standard 24hr cancellation notice for a full refund.

The Healing Circle

 

[ShiftyBagLady]

Where are they calling themselves a 'Brixton Community Venture'?

I don't see any claims that they are coming to Brixton to address food poverty issues here. Their purpose is to give support to migrants to the UK. Those migrants as far as I can see get paid a small amount for their work, and that money presumably comes from the income from the classes. The income presumably has to cover all of the other expenses such as hiring the spaces they use including the ones they use for training. There doesn't seem to be anyone coining it in in the background. They run the events all over London and they are aimed at people who are willing and able to pay for them. Such people exist in Brixton, so they run some events here.

They are trying to help one group of people; why are people moaning that they are not simultaneously doing something to help another group of people? What other social issues should they address while they are here?

I didn't say 'Brixton Community Venture' as though it was some title, rather as a venture purporting to serve the community. Nor did I say their aim was to address food poverty but that they should be mindful of the community they are actually operating in and demonstrate some solidarity.
That's not to say they must address all 'social issues' (I can do pedantic semantics too, if you fancy it), just that they should be less fucking ignorant.

When you say migrants are paid a small amount, is that living wage or less?

 

[Ms T]

You can learn to make pasta at the Brixton Pound Cafe for £20 or “pay what you can” so there are options available for less well-off locals.

 

[editor]

You can learn to make pasta at the Brixton Pound Cafe for £20 or “pay what you can” so there are options available for less well-off locals.

That doesn't actually answer the question I asked.

I've got a lot of time for the Brixton Pound Cafe and I've supported then a fair bit over the years, but that doesn't mean that everything that is hosted there should be beyond criticism.

I agree with ShiftyBagLady that there is something uncomfortable about a community cafe in a poor area hosting an expensive £40 a head cookery lesson while offering zero concessions for less well-off locals. Its almost the essence of gentrification.

 

[alex_]

I didn't say 'Brixton Community Venture' as though it was some title, rather as a venture purporting to serve the community. Nor did I say their aim was to address food poverty but that they should be mindful of the community they are actually operating in and demonstrate some solidarity.
That's not to say they must address all 'social issues' (I can do pedantic semantics too, if you fancy it), just that they should be less fucking ignorant.

When you say migrants are paid a small amount, is that living wage or less?

Nowhere on their website does it say anything about community venture.

 

[alex_]

So you think that offering one or two concession rates to unemployed locals would have some kind of meaningful overall negative impact on their mission?

Their total revenue from a private class ( min size ) is 360 quid, giving two places away would reduce their revenue 25% so I’d imagine that this would have quite an impact.

Alex

 

[alex_]

That doesn't actually answer the question I asked.

I've got a lot of time for the Brixton Pound Cafe and I've supported then a fair bit over the years, but that doesn't mean that everything that is hosted there should be beyond criticism.

I agree with ShiftyBagLady that there is something uncomfortable about a community cafe in a poor area hosting an expensive £40 a head cookery lesson while offering zero concessions for less well-off locals. Its almost the essence of gentrification.

Yes, a small charity training refugees is right up there with shops selling champagne and fromage and vegan cheesemongers. The stormtroopers of gentrification.

 

[editor]

Yes, a small charity training refugees is right up there with shops selling champagne and fromage and vegan cheesemongers. The stormtroopers of gentrification.

Why are you inventing such a moronic argument that no one has even remotely suggested?

 

[editor]

Their total revenue from a private class ( min size ) is 360 quid, giving two places away would reduce their revenue 25% so I’d imagine that this would have quite an impact.

Alex

I do wish you stop making up bullshit. No one has suggested that anything should be 'given away.'

 

[alex_]

Why are you inventing such a moronic argument that no one has even remotely suggested?

Apart from you when you called them the “essence of gentrification”

 

[alex_]

I do wish you stop making up bullshit. No one has suggested that anything should be 'given away.'

Ok, it’s 12.5% of revenue if two places are half price. The point is whatever it is - it reduces a charities income.

Alex

 

[editor]

Apart from you when you called them the “essence of gentrification”

I guess I have to spell things out to you today. I expressed the opinion that a community cafe in a poor area hosting an expensive £40 a head cookery lesson while offering zero concessions for less well-off locals is "almost the essence of gentrification."

 

[alex_]

I guess I have to spell things out to you today. I expressed the opinion that a community cafe in a poor area hosting an expensive £40 a head cookery lesson while offering zero concessions for less well-off locals is "almost the essence of gentrification."

It’s being run by a charity, to raise money to train refugees.

 

[editor]

Ok, it’s 12.5% of revenue if two places are half price. The point is whatever it is - it reduces a charities income.

Alex

While increasing accessibility and community engagement which could potentially reap greater rewards in the long term.

 

[discobastard]

While increasing accessibility and community engagement which could potentially reap greater rewards in the long term.

You’re talking utter bollocks. Stop embarrassing yourself.

 

[T & P]

All this absurd arguing and now bannings over a thoroughly inoffensive and low profile well-meaning scheme that most people who were asked about it in an objective way on the street wouldn’t have any kind of problem with, let alone feel inclined to paint it in a bad light whatever it takes.

Jesus fucking wept

 

[GarveyLives]

Prison awaits for these charmers ...

Jail for council staff who stole £1m in benefit claims con

Menelik Cowan, who worked for Lambeth Council and lived in Enfield, was convicted of five charges of fraud by abuse of position after trial.

He admitted one charge of fraud by abuse of position and one of possession of false identity documents with intent. The value of his offending was £286,918.92.

Alexander Williams, from Brixton, was convicted of fraud by abuse of position worth £240,345, while working for Barking and Dagenham Council.

Rahel Asfaha, from Poplar, east London, was convicted of eight offences of fraud by abuse of position, worth £181,872. She worked for Lambeth Council and Barking and Dagenham Council.

Hugh Small, from Fulham, who worked for Kingston Council, admitted money laundering but was convicted of a further offence of fraud by abuse of position after trial. The value of his offending is £112,983.

Natasha Francis, from Walworth, who worked for Lambeth Council, admitted a money laundering offence was convicted of being concerned in a money laundering arrangement worth £2,868.

Cassandra Johnson, from Brixton, was convicted of three offences of fraud by abuse of position worth £106,834 while working for Lambeth Council.

Jessica Bartley, from Stockwell, who worked for Lambeth Council, was convicted of one offence of fraud by abuse of position worth £71,600.

Donna Francis, 57, from Brixton, was convicted of money laundering worth £8,323.43 and Derrick Williams, 58, also from Brixton, was convicted of money laundering worth £14,168.03.

Money was sent into accounts controlled by money launderers Bashiru Tahiru and Elaine Agyemang, who left the country before they could be charged.

As Lambeth, Kingston, and Barking and Dagenham Councils were cheated out of a total £1,025,912 in the fraud which ran between 2006 and 2016, have any of them, particularly Lambeth (in the context of forum thread), responded with any commentary regarding the robustness (or otherwise) of their audit and internal control procedures?

 

[teuchter]

I didn't say 'Brixton Community Venture' as though it was some title, rather as a venture purporting to serve the community.

Not do I see where they are 'purporting to serve the community'.

 

[alex_]

Not do I see where they are 'purporting to serve the community'.

Migrateful are a living wage employer

 

[editor]

All this absurd arguing and now bannings over a thoroughly inoffensive and low profile well-meaning scheme that most people who were asked about it in an objective way on the street wouldn’t have any kind of problem with, let alone feel inclined to paint it in a bad light whatever it takes.

Jesus fucking wept

You know exactly why he was banned and is was entirely his own fault. And if you if you lived where I live and interact with the people I do, you might be surprised how many people "on the street" are utterly fed up with unaffordable, exclusive things happening in what was their neighbourhood.

My point that it is a shame that a training event happening in a famously poor area comes with zero concessions to unemployed people or those on benefits is a perfectly reasonable tone too - but that never stops the familiar faces lining up to have a pop and do their best to make this forum as toxic as possible.

 

[editor]

Effra Social tonight - free entry all night

Brixton pop party tonight! Massive dancefloor thumpers at the Effra Social, Fri 19th April 2019

 

[ShiftyBagLady]

Not do I see where they are 'purporting to serve the community'.

Seriously? Brixton Pound Cafe not a venture aimed at supporting the community?
I will admit that describing them as a community venture was my interpretation of their mission and am happy to be corrected if that's not the case, if they're just another cafe in Brixton...

So do they pay their workers a living wage then? More? Less?

 

[ShiftyBagLady]

Nowhere on their website does it say anything about community venture.

Great

 

[alex_]

Seriously? Brixton Pound Cafe not a venture aimed at supporting the community?
I will admit that describing them as a community venture was my interpretation of their mission and am happy to be corrected if that's not the case, if they're just another cafe in Brixton...

So do they pay their migrant workers a living wage then? More? Less?

Brixton pound cafe are the venue which Migrateful are renting ( 100 pounds for the session ).

I suspect Migrateful are paying their staff living wage ( as this is a requirement of being a living wage employers ), but probably not their volunteers ( the people taking the courses ) who are there to learn a skill.

Alex

 

[editor]

I love the Brixton Pound cafe.

Brixton Pound Café is a pay-what-you-can community café using surplus produce to create a delicious, affordable veggie and vegan menu for everyone regardless of situation. The Brixton Pound Café provide a relaxed and inclusive environment for locals who want an alternative to expensive, less inviting establishments in the area.

Brixton Pound Café is a truly radical place, designed to reflect the multitude of voices using the space and embody the ethics and values on which the organisation was built.

Participatory, inclusive, and social, it’s a utopian experiment that springs from the Brixton Pound ethos of questioning neoliberal economic dogma and showing how we can do things differently.

 

[ShiftyBagLady]

Oh good, my interpretation was right then. That's a bloody relief! I also have good will for them but, clearly, not for this event.

 

[teuchter]

Seriously? Brixton Pound Cafe not a venture aimed at supporting the community?
I will admit that describing them as a community venture was my interpretation of their mission and am happy to be corrected if that's not the case, if they're just another cafe in Brixton...

Oh, OK, I thought your ire was aimed at Migrateful rather than the Brixton Pound Cafe.

So it's the Brixton Pound Cafe who are 'ignorant'.

 

[ShiftyBagLady]

Oh, OK, I thought your ire was aimed at Migrateful rather than the Brixton Pound Cafe.

So it's the Brixton Pound Cafe who are 'ignorant'.

Shall we both just throw loaded questions at each other then? I think I've got better things to do with my time...