Come and help evict the bailiffs. Wednesday 11th Feb 2015. 6.00pm.

#EvictTheBailiffs at the British Credit Awards! Weds. Feb. 11, 18:00 SHARP!

Focus E15 invite you to the Brewery (52 Chiswell Street, EC1Y 4SD) for 6pm sharp on Weds. Feb. 11, to welcome those arriving at the 2015 British Credit Awards’ £4,000-per-table black-tie affair, in which bailiffs and debt collectors will be receiving awards for making families homeless.

Since companies like ‘The Sherriff’s Office’ receive nominations by throwing people and their belongings out onto the cold streets of London, we intend to turn the front entrance of the Brewery into a mock eviction site for attendees to experience before an evening of champagne, three-course dinners, and the kudos of their peers.

We encourage anyone concerned with social cleansing and the criminalisation of poverty to bring rubbish bags, boxes, and broken pieces of furniture to scatter across the front entrance of the Brewery as guests arrive to receive awards like ‘Enforcement Team of the Year,’ ‘Third Party Debt Collection Team of the Year’ and ‘Consumer Collections Team of the Year.’

We encourage a peaceful but outraged action, and particularly hope those with first-hand experience of bailiff evictions will come out and share their stories with attendees as they enter the venue.

SPREAD THE WORD! EVICT THE BAILIFFS!

Save Earl’s Court……No To Demolition – Yes To Community Control

Yesterday members of the Grenfell Action Group and the Radical Housing Network supported the protest by the Earl’s Court Area Action Group to help protect the residents of the West Kensington and Gibbs Green Estates from the threat of  “social cleansing”.

The demonstration was focused against the behaviour of the parasitic owners of Earl’s Court, Capco, and sought to highlight how both Capco and Transport for London have ignored the views of the local community in their desire to maximise profits.

If anyone thinks it is too late to fight for the future of Earl’s Court- it is worth remembering that Capco also own the site, just up the road, of Olympia. How long before the developers turn their attention to this prized piece of lucrative real estate and change the panorama of this much loved part of West Kensington forever? It is difficult to imagine the iconic venues of both Earl’s Court and Olympia replaced by sterile multi-million pound flats for foreign investors but this seems to be the reality facing local residents.

The Grenfell Action Group salute the efforts of the Earl’s Court Area Action Group to protect their community and we warn our readers that this may just be the start of a bigger fight!

You can watch a video clip of the demonstration via this link:

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=IXmASWKdB4s&feature=share

AYLESBURY ESTATE OCCUPIED BY HOUSING ACTIVISTS

After Saturday’s rally at City Hall there was a breakaway protest & activists occupied the gigantic Aylesbury Estate in South London, where there are 1000s of empty homes.

The occupiers are tenants, squatters, and other activists who care about how our city is being grabbed by the rich, by developers and corrupt politicians, socially cleansed and sold off for profit.

They are there to fight for the Aylesbury.

They are there to fight for our city.

They are there to liberate this space and bring it back to life.

Come and join them.

Read more here:

fightfortheaylesbury.wordpress.com

See also (fabulous pictures):

http://www.dazeddigital.com/artsandculture/article/23478/1/thousands-march-in-london-to-protest-soaring-housing-crisis

SAVE EARLS COURT – PROTEST 7th February

STOP TEARING THE HEART OUT OF LONDON

The Earl’s Court Area Action Group invites you to join us on Saturday 7 February 2015 at 11AM in peaceful protest against the growth of mega-developments that are Tearing the Heart out of London and Earl’s Court/West Kensington in particular.

STOP the demolition of Earl’s Court Exhibition Centre, the West Kensington and Gibbs Green estates and the Lillie Bridge depot – as in other sites, demolition will tear out jobs, communities, businesses and local life.

STOP the increase in poor air quality, pollution, noise, vibration and other public health issues due to demolition and construction

STOP buy-to-leave designer developments that fail to deliver genuinely “affordable” housing for ordinary Londoners

STOP politicians and policies, putting fast-buck developers before people

JOIN US ON SATURDAY 7 FEBRUARY 2015 AT 11AM.

Assembly point: Outside West Brompton Underground Station, Old Brompton Road, London SW5 9JX at 11.00 AM

http://www.saveearlscourt.com/

Job vacancies at the Kensington Aldridge Academy and the saga of the London Living Wage.

Readers who are familiar with the Grenfell Action Group blog will be aware that we have been campaigning for the Kensington Aldridge Academy to respect it’s workers and adopt the London Living Wage for all it’s employees.

We were originally informed that it was the Aldridge Foundation’s intention that all the Academy’s workers would be paid the London Living Wage and that the Academy would structure the way it employs it’s cleaners, cooks, etc to ensure that this could happen.

It now appears that there is a percentage of employee’s at the Kensington Aldridge Academy who are being made to work for less than the London Living Wage. A member of the Grenfell Action Group recently raised this matter with David Benson (Headmaster) and we have been told that we can expect a joint statement from the Academy and London Citizens informing us of what progress is being made to ensure ALL workers at the Academy are treated like proper human beings and paid a wage that reflects their true worth.

In the meantime, It has been brought to our attention that there is a vacancy for a part-time receptionist at the Academy and details of this position can be found here:

We are looking for a receptionist to work on Fridays from 11.30am until 4.30pm.
The successful candidate will have:
· Experience of running effective reception support.
· Competent user of Microsoft Office and confident to learn and use new technologies.
· Excellent interpersonal and listening skills; a high degree of emotional intelligence; and an effective oral and written communicator with children, staff and parents.
· Well-developed planning & organising skills including time management, prioritisation and administration.
· Sound judgement and problem solving skills.
Start time: as soon as possible
For further info please contact Melanie Rieder at m.rieder@kaa.org.uk or 0207 313 580

All other job vacancies (teachers, teaching assistants, back room staff, ect,)  are advertised on the following link:   www.kaa.org.uk/recruitment

It is the intention of the Grenfell Action Group to continue to pressure the multi-millionaire Rod Aldridge and his other Governors on the Board of the Kensington Aldridge Academy to do the right thing and honour their commitment to pay all staff a proper and decent wage.

When we have more progress on this matter we will be sure to let you know!

EAST LONDON MARCH FOR HOMES led by FOCUS E15

MARCH FOR HOMES IN EAST LONDON

LED BY FOCUS E15 ON 31 January

On 31 January people from across the capital will march on City Hall to demand solutions to the housing crisis and better housing for Londoners.

The March for Homes will have two assembly points –
The East London ‘leg’ will start at 12 noon in Shoreditch;
The South London ‘leg’ will start at 12 noon in Elephant & Castle.
There will also be an accessible short march starting from Potters Field SE1.
The two ‘legs’ plus the short march will meet to protest together at City Hall, where a rally will be held from 2pm.

http://focuse15.org/2015/01/23/focus-e15-campaign-to-lead-thousands-marching-on-boris-against-housing-crisis/

Ten Empty Homes For Every Homeless Family In England

One of the most shocking illustrations of the housing crisis is that there are ten empty homes for every homeless family in the country. Some of these are in between buyers and renters but others are intentionally being held off the market by investors.

The estimated 635,000 empty properties in England alone are a complete and utter waste of housing when there are so many homeless families looking for somewhere to live. A large number of these (200,000) have been left empty for over six months.

And yet house-building is at its lowest in peacetime since the 1920s.

(reprinted with infographic courtesy of the Mirror newspaper)

http://www.mirror.co.uk/news/ampp3d/housing-crisis-10-empty-homes-5008151

Tenants in London forced to share rooms because of sky-high rents

http://www.theguardian.com/money/2015/jan/25/london-tenants-forced-to-share-rooms