Amidst allegations of obstruction by civil servants leading to the imminent loss of a crucial job creation project in the Marsh Farm estate in Luton (see  http://www.indymedia.org.uk/en/2010/08/456613.html), unemployed residents of the estate are heading to Stockport to lobby the Minister for Communities Andrew Stunell at his Methodist Church in Romiley.

The church was chosen after recent attempts to hand deliver a letter to Deputy Prime Minister Nick Clegg’s Whitehall Office to urge a review of the government’s decision resulted in an armed police response unit turning up. So the residents and their families will be asking the local church minister to provide a safe place to broker a discussion with the Minister of State, who lives in the constituency and is an active member of the church.

The long awaited UK pilot of the “Organisation Workshop” (OW) is a vital part of the overall Marsh Farm ‘New Deal for Communities’ strategy to create jobs, training and new businesses particularly for residents on the estate who have been long term unemployed.

The OW project funding provides the resources and mentoring support needed to
create 67 full-time jobs in 7 new social enterprises for residents who are most in need of the opportunity.

The 7 enterprises are:
o 7.5 acre organic farm
o building and construction company
o sound engineering and production studio
o café/restaurant and fast food takeaway
o sales and marketing services
o accounts and HR services
o home and office cleaning

Outline business plans for each of the proposed enterprises were developed after years of community consultation, market research and project development work was carried out by volunteers from the Marsh Farm Outreach team working with partners including Job Centre Plus, Luton Borough Council, University of Bedfordshire, Chamber of Commerce, Barnfield College, Development Trusts Association and the New Economics Foundation

The civil servants who appraise the project on behalf of Ministers have neglected their duty, so the residents will hold a vigil at the church to urge Andrew Stunell to set aside just 1 day of his 10 week break to look into the case personally, and to take responsibility for the decision.

Comments
Glenn Jenkins Marsh Farm Outreach CIC
“Before the election Nick Clegg came to Marsh Farm to meet the Outreach team and commended the years of hard work we have done to bring the OW to the UK. Nick went on the record saying that it was the exactly the kind of project the government should be encouraging and supporting nationally, so we will be asking him to honour this commitment, as well as the general commitment not to hurt the poorest and most vulnerable members of society, by lifting the suspension of funding for all final year NDC projects on our estate”.

Rob Goodwin Marsh Farm Outreach
“To fund the Marsh Farm OW costs just £839,000 from the NDCs overall budget of £48 million. A forecast of the Social Return on Investment shows that after 5 years at least £12 in value could be realised for every £1 invested now, a real example of “doing more for less”.

Caroline McBride Marsh Farm Outreach
“The government says it wants to encourage social entrepreneurs, and that unemployed people should find work instead of sitting at home wasting away on state benefits. This is exactly what we have been doing on Marsh Farm so we urge the government to lift this suspension on funding for the OW immediately as it creates meaningful jobs which will be of massive benefit not only for the individuals involved but for the community as a whole”.

Dave Crean Chair Marsh Farm Community Development Trust
“Marsh Farm Community Development Trust has been advised by the Government Office for the East of England that they have rejected funding for the Marsh Farm OW. This is having a significant impact on the entire Luton programme and in particular the ability of MFCDT to target support for the long term employed and social enterprise development via the OW project.
Whilst our programme has achieved a great deal to tackle issues such as crime, health and skills and education, a recent review has shown that reducing unemployment is an area of weakness, so this is a project which is crucial to our long term success in this vital area”.

Hazel Simmons Leader Luton Borough Council
“The (rejection) is causing a problem for the project promoter and for the potential beneficiaries of the project, who are long term unemployed residents of Marsh Farm. Clearly, Luton Borough Council is aware of the current budgetary pressures, but the Council is keen to ensure that the OW model being piloted can be replicated in other areas, and that future opportunities with DWP could be developed.”.

Jess Steele Development Trusts Association
“The OW is an intensive development process that changes the way participants approach business, which is probably the most important lever to generate enterprise in seriously deprived communities. It is part of an NDC succession strategy that deliberately seeks to generate enterprise in a place where start-ups are low and unemployment high. We would like to see the OW tried and tested - both to attack the high and rising levels of chronic unemployment in Marsh Farm and to learn the lessons for communities all over the UK.”

Stewart Hollis – Executive Director, New Economics Foundation
“We have been tremendously excited by what the team at Marsh Farm Outreach have managed to achieve over the years. It is a rare genuine example of the Big Society in action, and in a major entrepreneurial way. This is emphatically not an example of officials imposing their own brand of regeneration on a reluctant community. It is one of the most successful examples we have seen anywhere of tenaciousness, of local people trying to claw back some kind of control over their lives – setting up businesses and heading in the direction of independence from handouts and grants”