ASYLUM SEEKER'S FRIENDS HOPING FOR LATE REPRIEVE

This article appears in today's Leicester Mercury:

Asylum seeker's friends hoping for late reprieve

by Tom Mack

Supporters of a failed asylum seeker from Afghanistan are hoping for a last minute victory as he prepares to be deported.

Yesterday, Abdul Ghafar Rajabali, 23, was moved to a detention centre near Gatwick Airport ready to be flown out of the UK.

The news came as a shock to his friends in Leicester.

At the same time on Sunday afternoon, about 60 of his supporters gathered in Victoria Park, Leicester, where they had planned to sing to Abdul down the telephone to show their support.

Colleen Molloy, who helped organised Sunday’s event, said: “It was quite traumatic.

“We had all come together to make one final plea for him and we rang him up hoping to sing to him.

“We thought he was still at the detention centre in Lincolnshire.

“We couldn’t get through when we tried his phone and a while later we got a call to say he was being transported to a detention centre at Gatwick Airport, which was why his phone was off.

“He never got to hear the crowds singing for him.”

Orphan Abdul fled to Leicester when he was 16, in August 2006, to escape being forced to fight for the Taliban rebels in his home country.

He fears that he will be killed if he is sent back because he has converted to Christianity.

He went through the usual channels to apply for asylum but after missing an important appointment he went on the run from the authorities and lived rough, eventually ending up in Leicester.

He was detained on May 10 by the Borders Agency.

Speaking to the Leicester Mercury from the Lincolnshire detention centre last week, Abdul said: “I am scared. I cannot go back to Afghanistan, I will be killed because I am now a Christian.

“I love England and I love Leicester.”

Colleen said lawyers were still hoping to stop Abdul being put on a plane home.

She said: “He has a legal team and they’re still working on his case and they’re hoping to get a reprieve at the last minute.

“Abdul’s only ambition is to be at peace.

“He arrived here alone and terrified and he is the sweetest, kindest, gentlest person you could know and he is feeling not just stressed about what he expects to be his impending death if he’s returned to Afghanistan, but all about all the people he misses so much in Leicester.”

Supporter Dave Jones, 23, of Leicester city centre, who used to play football with Abdul in Victoria Park every weekend, said: “Abdul is really integrated here and he’s one of us.

“He’s been let down by the authorities time and time again and now they want to send him to Afghanistan - it just makes no sense.”

A Home Office spokesperson said the Government and the courts were satisfied there was no reason to allow Abdul to stay in the UK.

NEW DEAN WELCOMED AT "A TIME OF GREAT CHANGE"

This article appears in today's Leicester Mercury:

The Very Reverend David Monteith has been installed as the new Dean of Leicester

New Dean welcomed at "a time of great change"

The Very Reverend David Monteith has been installed as the new Dean of Leicester.

The Very Rev Monteith officially began his new post after a service at Leicester Cathedral on Saturday.

The new Dean, taking over from Vivienne Faull, who last year moved to be Dean of York, has been at the cathedral four years having previously been the canon chancellor with responsibility for pastoral and educational life.

In his sermon to the congregation, the Very Rev Monteith said: "Cathedrals are called to embrace the interface between the spiritual and the secular.

"This Cathedral is invited to create the kind of space which frees up others to explore this spirituality in countless languages, metaphors, images, experiences and church traditions."

During the service the Bishop of Leicester, the Rt Rev Tim Stevens welcomed the new Dean.

He said: "Few Deans have been installed at a time of such great change in their Cathedral. We have discerned in you the gifts and qualities this challenge require. May God bless you."

The service included music sung in Irish reflecting the Dean's native origins.

A piece written by Dr Chris Johns, director of music at the cathedral was premiered.

It uses a poem by Robert Herryck who is commemorated in the cathedral and whose family home was on the site of the Greyfriars Friary where Richard III was buried.

WHY NOT EVERYTHING IN THESE GARDENS IS LOVELY

This letter appears in today's Leicester Mercury:

An artist's impression of Cathedral Gardens

Why not everything in these gardens is lovely

As work starts on the removal of an ancient wall, the first stage of the controversial Cathedral Gardens scheme, a number of questions are raised about its funding in these times of recession.

The Diocese of Leicester seems quite happy to accept a £1.9 million grant from Leicester City Council, at a time when the council is proposing to cut £2.2 million from the single persons' homeless budget and almost £1 million from the homeless families budget.

All this at a time when those on benefits or low income are being further stretched by changes in housing benefits and council tax credit, as well as the so called "spare bedroom tax".

Of course, the diocese will argue that the £1.9 million is from a separate budget, but it comes from taxation, including from those who are really struggling at the moment on low incomes and benefits.

It should also be pointed out that accepting the grant puts the diocese in the position of not being able to speak out against the city council's cuts and the waste of money on projects such as Jubilee Square.

Of the remaining £1.1 million needed to complete Cathedral Gardens, through donations and grants, the question needs to be asked, why can't the diocese's Board of Finance find this, or even fund the project outright?

According the most recent accounts obtained from the Charities Commission, the diocese has in the region of £70 million of assets and investments, including £33 million in long-term investments.

The assets of the cathedral are not available, but are likely to be substantial.

With the removal of the ancient wall at the cathedral, perhaps now is the time for the removal of the wall of silence from the diocese,It should explain how public funding of Cathedral Gardens can be morally justified in these austere times and consider whether the project should be postponed.

RJ Bingham, Leicester

ITV FILMS RALLY FOR ABDUL IN VICTORIA PARK

Friends of Abdul at the rally in Victoria Park. Photo by Ambrose Musiyiwa, publishing as Civic Leicester (used with permission)

At Victoria Park this morning, for an open-air protest against the impending deportation to Afghanistan of Abdul Ghafar Rajabali. The rally, organised by Abdul's friends in Leicester City of Sanctuary, takes place on the five-a-side pitches, where Abdul would turn out on a Sunday morning for FC Kolektivo Victoria. His team mates are here supporting it too.

One of his friends places a call to Abdul in IRC Morton Hall, where he's been held, so that he might hear some of our support for him this morning. She's shocked to hear that Abduk has already been removed from the detention centre and is on his way to Gatwick, where he'll be put into a holding area to await his flight to Afghanistan. He's not scheduled to leave till after midnight on Wednesday 22nd. This doesn't mean that all is lost; his friends will keep working for his release till the last possible moment.

A film crew from ITV records the event today. A report was broadcast this afternoon and can be seen on YouTube.

I should say that I'm here in a personal capacity, rather than representing Leicester Council of Faiths. However I'm here, I'm glad to be able to give whatever support I can.

For more information about the ongoing campaign to keep Abdul in the UK and to see what you can do to help, even at this late stage, visit the Facebook page.

FESTIVAL TIME FOR VENUES

This article appears in today's Leicester Mercury (but not on its webiste).

Festival time for venues

Leicester's Cultural Quarter will host An Indian Summer Festival when it returns to the city next month.

The festival - which attracted 3,500 visitors last year - will run from Thursday, June 27, to Sunday, June 30. Film festivals, workshops, performances and Indian stalls will be held at venues including Curve, the LCB Depot and Phoenix Square.

Phoenix, which will screen Indian films including Zanjeer, Barfi and Midnight's Children.

www.indiansummer.org.uk

PILGRIMAGE ARRIVES IN THE CITY

This article appears in today's Leicester Mercury:

Pilgrimage arrives in city

Hindus carrying ornate pots known as kumbhs will parade through Leicester tomorrow as part of a worldwide pilgrimage symbolising their commitment to protecting the environment.

The Green Kumbh Yatra is an international initiative in which a sacred metal kumbh has been carried across numerous countries to promote the importance of conservation and biodiversity.

Launched last year at the UN Convention on Biological Diversity in Hyderabad, India, its journey will finish in South Korea in 2014.

The pot has already visited Nepal and Israel, and is in Britain this month before travelling to the USA.

"Spirituality and religion's role in conservation is as old as time itself," said Kusum Vyas, founder of the Green Kumbh Yatra.

The Green Kumbh Yatra will be at the Shree Sanatan Mandir temple, in Weymouth Street, off Catherine Street, from 11.30am to 1pm.

COMMISSION DRAWS UP MEASURES IN A BID TO TACKLE CHILD POVERTY

This article appears in today's Leicester Mercury:

Councillor Rory Palmer, Deputy City Mayor & Chair of Leicester Child Poverty Commission

Commission draws up measures in a bid to tackle child poverty

About 160 politicians, business leaders and charity bosses met yesterday to discuss ways of tackling child poverty in LeicesterThe Leicester Child Poverty Commission held its second annual conference at St Martin's House, near the cathedral.

According to Government figures, 30,000 children in the city are classed as living in poverty and the commission has drawn up 66 measures it hopes will help struggling families.

Commission chairman and deputy mayor of Leicester, councillor Rory Palmer, said: "We have made some important progress but a lot has happened in the past 12 months.

"The impact of the Government's welfare reforms is now being felt by some of the less well-off people in society. The employment situation remains challenging.

"However, we have made some important progress by implementing some of the measures set out."

Coun Palmer said the council had agreed to give its lowest paid staff the so-called Living Wage of £7.45 an hour for adults, rather than the minimum legal rate of £6.19.

He also said the council was getting on with signing up all nursery-aged children as library members to boost their educational chances, promoting credit unions over loan sharks or payday lenders and helping to co-ordinate the city's 15 food banks.

Coun Palmer added: "We are not complacent. We know there is a lot of very hard work still to do and things are going to remain difficult before they get better.

"There are a huge number of people who are hovering just above the poverty line as well."

The Bishop of Leicester, the Rt Rev Tim Stevens, Catherine Stretton, head teacher of Marriott Primary School on the Saffron Lane estate, and Leicester South MP Jon Ashworth were among the speakers.

Coun Palmer said he would speak to his colleagues about whether to hold a third conference next year.

THIS WEEK'S VISITORS (2,235)

Here are the top ten countries from which the blog has received visits in the past week.

1. United Kingdom 793
2. United States 678
3. Russia 227
4. France 145
5. Germany 109
6. Ukraine 81
7. India 61
8. Turkey 55
9. Poland 51
10. Philippines 35

This week's total: 2,235 (last week: 2,012). These are aggregates of figures from the top ten countries only. Blogger's analytics doesn't show the numbers of pageviews below the tenth-ranking country and they don’t show the cumulative total including those additional countries, which is undoubtedly larger than the number shown above.

The world map at the top of this post is the graphic that I see on the stats page. The darker the green, the more pageviews from that country. I can see different versions of that map for "now" (i.e. in the last two hours), "today", "this week", "this month" and "all time". They're updated each time I look at them.

LEICESTER CHILD POVERTY COMMISSION CONFERENCE

This morning I'm at St Martins House, Peacock Lane, where the Leicester Child Poverty Commission conference is taking place in the Grand Hall. I'm glad to see Cllr Manjula Sood, Assistant Mayor with portfolio for Community Involvment, Partnerships and Equalities (and Chair of Leicester Council of Faiths) here today.

This is the second annual event on this topic. The first was held on 25 May 2012 at De Montfort University and was reported in the Leicester Mercury.

Today's conference is opened by Rachel Dickinson (Strategic Director, Children, Leicester City Council) opens the meeting - and chairs the rest of the day.

Cllr Rory Palmer (Deputy City Mayor and Chair of Leicester Child Poverty Commission) welcomes delegates. Here are a few extracts from his letter of welcome included in our packs:

Since last year's conference the Leicester Child Poverty Commission has published 66 recommendations, a number of which have been implemented. Significant work is taking place across the public, private and voluntary sectors to make progress in implementing all of the recommendations. The Commission has continued work with partners to raise awareness of child poverty in the city, to develop new thinking on how to address this challenge and how to monitor the impact of public spending cuts, welfare changes and falling household budgets. Amongst other activities the Commission make a formal response to the Government's consultation on how child poverty should be measured, we held a meeting with businesses and employers to talk about the economic impact of pverty and thge role of the private sector in tackling poverty, and we have worked to ensure child poverty is an issue discussed by other key organisations like the new Health & Wellbeing Board.

The Rt Revd Tim Stevens, Bishop of Leicester, gives the keynote address. I am always impressed by what Bishop Tim has to say on the subject of poverty. He gave the keynote address at the 2012 Annual General Meeting of Leicester Council of Faiths, with the title, "The Recession and its Effects on Inter-Faith Relations". He has been in print on the topic many times and put in a memorable appearance on BBC2's Newsnight in January 2012 where he more than held his own in the face of a rigorous interrogation by Jeremy Paxman about opposition from the Bishops in the House of Lords to the Welfare Reform Bill.

After Bishop Tim's keynote address, we move on to workshop discussion. We're asked to consider the role of communities and organisations in combating child poverty, facilitated by Voluntary Action LeicesterShire. There are two questions to help focus our discussions:

• What practical things can you do to support the recommendations of the Child Poverty Commission?
• What do you need the Child Poverty Commission to do to help you achieve these things?

Themes have been allocated to different groups of tables:

• Early years (five tables)
• Income, personal finance & housing (four tables)
• Health & wellbeing (three tables)
• Economy, work & transport (three tables)
• Policy & governance (two tables)

Our table, at the back of the hall, is shown on the diagram, but it doesn't have a theme allocated to it. I guess ours would be "latecomers" or "nearest the coffee". We're allowed to pick our own theme, so we go for "Early years". I do half an hour on this one (during which we're joined by Dr Katherine Duffy, one of the 11 members of the Leicester Child Poverty Commission). For the second part of this session I move to another table to discuss "Income, personal finance and housing". Then coffee, I'm glad to say.

The workshops prompt a couple more questions that will fit in the Resilience Audit I'll be conducting with places of worship and faith-based community centres in Leicester over the next few months on behalf of the Council of Faiths.

After the break there's a panel on stage, discussing issues surrounding child poverty from their own areas of interest and positive examples of actions taken so far.

• John Willets (Project Director, FareShare Leicester)
• Imran Hussain (Head of Policy, Rights and Advocacy at Child Poverty Action Group)
• Jon Ashworth MP (Labour, Leicester South)
• Catherine Stretton, Head Teacher, Marriot School

Each has the opportunity to speak briefly, then respond to questions from the floor.  This fills an hour of the programme.

Sir Peter Soulsby, Mayor of Leicester, makes the closing remarks. I managed to write down a few of the things he said, from a short speech that was both rousing and reflective: "Poverty affects many people in this city in ways which many other people in this city find repulsive. [...] it has sometimes been said that communities in Leicester lead parallel lives - this is true, but not along ethnic, racial or religious lines; in more practical, meaningful terms, this is determined by differing levels of income." If I was able to transcribe faster, I'd have written down more.

Today we heard about a recent study by the Institute for Fiscal Studies (IFS) that the number of children living in poverty would increase by 50% by 2020. I searched for this online and found an article in the London Evening Standard (7 May 2013) part of which I quote below:

More than one million more children will fall into poverty in the UK by the end of the decade, new research has predicted.

The assessment by the Institute for Fiscal Studies said the projected increase from 2010/11 to 2020/21 will reverse the reductions in child poverty rates witnessed in the previous decade.

As I leave the conference, I reflect on what has more power to change things. You can have all the money in the world, but if you don't have the will, the desire to make a difference, what good can it do. Now that the money that we were all getting used to being available is being taken off the table, we have to fall back on the power of that will and desire. And to judge by what I have heard today, there's plenty of that on tap.

QUARTER OF A MILLION AND RISING

Allow me to indulge myself for a moment, faithful reader. Today the blog hit a quarter of a million page views. I couldn't have done it without you - obviously. It's taken three and a half years to get to this point. I wonder how long it will take to double this number - and what have to do that I'm not already doing, to make sure that happens as quickly as possible?