Latest news with #socialinfrastructure
The Guardian
3 days ago
- Business
- The Guardian
Reeves urged to fund libraries, parks and social centres in left-behind areas
'Red wall' Labour MPs are urging Rachel Reeves to fund grassroots 'social infrastructure' such as parks, community centres and libraries, as well as high-profile transport projects, to ensure voters in left-behind areas can benefit from growth. The Independent Commission on Neighbourhoods (Icon), chaired by the Labour peer Hilary Armstrong and supported by a string of backbenchers, has identified 613 'mission critical' local areas. It is calling on the government to pilot community-led regeneration schemes in places like these – which are defined as those furthest away from contributing to Labour's targets, including on growth and social mobility. Such neighbourhoods are characterised by higher unemployment, 'dramatically higher' welfare spending, and 40% lower productivity than the national average, Icon finds – and many voted Reform in last month's local elections. Ahead of next week's spending review, Reeves trumpeted plans for an additional £113bn in capital spending over the next five years, including £15bn on transport projects outside London and the south-east. The chancellor's rewritten fiscal rules allow for a significant expansion in borrowing to fund such investment, which Reeves has called 'the lifeblood of growth'. But the commission argues many projects that would be classified as day-to-day spending, which is more tightly constrained under Reeves's rules, are essential for improving long-neglected local areas. 'Buses and trams are important, but they're not the whole picture,' said Armstrong, who was the Labour MP for North West Durham from 1987 to 2010. 'The problem is that big infrastructure projects, like, you know, trains, bridges, roads, take a long time, and people don't really feel that they're in control of what's happening.' She added: 'Unless people are getting the skills, feel confident about who they are and what their opportunities are and actually believe that they are able to build real opportunities for their kids, for their families, for their communities, then they're not going to be doing the work that will add to the growth of the economy.' Jake Richards, the MP for Rother Valley, said: 'Transport and other infrastructure projects are really important, but we must not overlook the importance of social infrastructure, which will be critical to the government's missions. Sure Start is perhaps the best example of this, bringing remarkable benefits for millions of families in our most disadvantaged communities.' Armstrong cited a project in Wolverhampton the commission recently visited, which employed a chef to cater for community lunches. 'They came together and they chatted and they talked and they set things up coming out of it,' she said. She called on the Treasury to consider social infrastructure when judging how funds should be disbursed. Sign up to Business Today Get set for the working day – we'll point you to all the business news and analysis you need every morning after newsletter promotion 'It's about, how do you get a sense of pride in where you come from, where you live, neighbours that you can talk to because you share a meal with them once a week, or something – it's actually enabling people to get to know each other a bit better and be more confident in each other. That will absolutely transform people's lives.' Chris Webb, the MP for Blackpool South, said: 'Towns like Blackpool, the most deprived in England, are poorly served by traditional economic infrastructure, which tends to benefit the big cities more than isolated coastal towns. This government must draw on our party's proud history of rebuilding communities to directly invest in disadvantaged neighbourhoods.' The North Durham MP, Luke Akehurst, said: 'Investing in social infrastructure such as community centres, parks and libraries, would start to plug my constituency back into the national economy, which it has been excluded from for far too long.' Icon is funded by the Local Trust, which was set up to implement Big Local, a national lottery-funded project due to end next year, that gave more than 150 neighbourhoods more than £1m each to spend over a decade on locally led regeneration and fostering community connections. Analysis of Big Local by Icon suggests these areas saw greater declines in crime and smaller increases in economic inactivity than similar neighbourhoods outside the scheme.
CBC
16-05-2025
- Politics
- CBC
City staff propose 20-metre protest 'bubble zone' for schools, daycares and places of worship
Social Sharing City staff are recommending a 20-metre "bubble zone" bylaw aimed at restricting protests around places of worship, daycares and schools in Toronto — a policy that has already prompted hundreds of people, including city councillors, to protest against it, saying it could threaten democracy. The proposed bylaw, which would not adopt a blanket ban across the city, would operate on a request-based system and allow vulnerable institutions to apply for a 20-metre buffer zone that would be in place for roughly six months. In order for a buffer zone request to be approved, owners of the institutions would have to demonstrate how they've been affected by a protest within the last 90 days. After the six month period is up, the application could be renewed, the proposed bylaw says. If passed, Toronto would follow in the footsteps of other cities including Vaughan and Brampton, which implemented similar measures last year after waves of protests and clashes sparked calls for prohibiting such events from taking place near buildings considered to be social infrastructure in the eyes of the city. Police and bylaw officers are expected to warn individuals in these said zones before issuing fines, allowing them the chance to leave the area voluntarily. If the buffer zone bylaw is passed in Toronto, the maximum penalty for individuals fined would be $5,000. Staff say the 20-metre buffer is a "reasonable perimeter" that will protect access to the facilities, while being "minimally impairing" on Charter rights. Council to vote next week The latest recommendations from Toronto city staff come after months of protesters taking to Toronto streets and demonstrating in front of hospitals, places of worship and cultural centres following the Oct. 7, 2023 Hamas-led attack on southern Israel. Zeus Eden, spokesperson for Toronto Mayor Olivia Chow, said the mayor "believes that any bylaw must protect people's Charter rights to assembly, expression and religion, while addressing community concerns about safety and protecting access to places of worship," in a statement Thursday. Council will vote on the proposed bylaw next week, which if passed, would come into effect on July 2. Some councillors had sought the bylaw following the wave of protests, while others joined in demonstrating against such measures. York Centre Coun. James Pasternak, who is one of the leading voices advocating for the bylaw, said he favours protecting vulnerable institutions from protests through this measure. But Coun. Paula Fletcher, who represents Toronto—Danforth, attended a rally last month for calls against the bylaw, saying at the time "it's a very fine line that we have to walk" on the proposed bylaw, when it comes to charter rights. $1.6M earmarked for new bylaw Staff say the city is expected to spend roughly $1.6 million to hire 12 staff along with purchasing vehicles and laptops required to administer the bylaw. It says another $200,000 will be needed for public education as part of this proposal. "The City of Toronto is committed to ensuring the safety and well-being of all residents, particularly those accessing programs and services at places of worship, schools and childcare centres," said Russell Baker, the city's manager of media relations, in a statement to CBC News Thursday. Baker said the proposed bylaw amendment builds on an existing city bylaw to "protect these spaces and their visitors from blocked entrances while respecting the rights of individuals to peaceful assembly." "While the proposed bylaw prohibits certain behaviours, it does not ban peaceful gatherings, protests or demonstrations, including those that occur as part of labour union activities, as long as they do not impede access," Baker said. WATCH | Toronto considers ban on protests near places of worship 5 months ago Duration 7:42 He said that this takes into consideration freedom of expression and peaceful assembly that are protected under Canada's Charter of Rights and Freedoms. "The City undertook a multi-pronged approach for public consultation to maximize opportunities for public input and enable broad participation and inclusive representation," he said, adding that public consultations were held between March 17 and May 1. Toronto would follow Vaughan, Brampton Other cities have implemented such legislation, including Vaughan, Brampton and Calgary. Vaughan Mayor Steven Del Duca oversaw the bylaw, which was was drafted and passed by council in seven weeks in early May 2024 following several demonstrations that took place in Thornhill outside a synagogue. Individuals can face penalties of up to $100,000 under the bylaw. Brampton city council also approved a bylaw in November 2024, prohibiting "nuisance demonstrations" outside places of worship in the municipality following a series of violent clashes. The bylaw bans protesting within 100 metres of the property line of any place of worship in Brampton. Anyone who violates the bylaw could face a fine anywhere between $500 and $100,000. Meanwhile, in Ottawa, city councillors are debating whether to proceed with the development of a similar bylaw that would place a buffer between protesters and institutions including places of worship, schools and hospitals — in the name of preventing harassment and hate speech.
The Guardian
15-05-2025
- Politics
- The Guardian
When a university degree won't get you a decent job or home
The university degree was never a guaranteed ticket to a good career. I graduated from Cambridge about the same time as Gaby Hinsliff (We told young people that degrees were their ticket to a better life. It's become a great betrayal, 13 May). Without middle-class connections, or 'professional' work experience, I returned home after graduation to a neighbourhood counted among the 1% most deprived in England, in a post-industrial northern city with a crumbling social infrastructure. I had £30 to my name and took a job worse than the one I'd had while at school in order to live. To get to London, where there was a greater range of jobs, I did non-graduate work for a few years, sofa-surfing to begin with. Like today's graduates, I had to do further study to get a decent job, and I was just shy of 40 when I managed to get a career job. I guess it is a better life in the end, as the alternative may well have been a cycle of bad jobs and unemployment. Of course, this circuitous route to decent work and conditions means that I couldn't afford to live in London (I left), and won't ever earn enough for a middle-class home and a good pension. As always, jobs, housing, pensions and other social issues become a political problem when it is deep enough to affect privileged white middle-class people in addition to those at the bottom of the pecking order who were already and address supplied Gaby Hinsliff writes of the increasingly disappointing prospects for new graduates. Thanks to the Blair-era policy of 'everyone must go to university', we have a massive oversupply of young graduates in the UK. We also have a massive shortage of more practical skills – Angela Rayner's ambitious housebuilding programme was scuppered before it even got off the ground because we do not have nearly enough tradespeople to build 1.5m homes. Yet the government has just announced its intention to allow only those with a degree to immigrate to Britain as skilled workers. Astoundingly, they are going to import more graduates to compete with young British graduates for jobs, while banning the people we need most – those who do the jobs that young British people can't or won't do. I'm trying to think of a way this policy could be more stupid, but I'm not CrockerShoreham, Kent Gaby Hinsliff notes that many graduates of the class of 2024-25 may struggle to find appropriate employment. That is true, although those who do get jobs will get better salaries over time, albeit with student loans to pay off. Hinsliff also raises the issue of whether studying for a degree is worthwhile. It is an argument put forward by the culture-war right – namely, that graduates who can't get jobs become highly educated troublemakers. Indeed, while my first degree, nearly 50 years ago, did lead me into a professional job, it also taught me how to write a leaflet, organise a protest and speak at mass meetings. None of this was of course on the official curriculum. A reminder, and something Hinsliff misses, that there is such a thing as a liberal education, something beyond monetary FlettTottenham, London Have an opinion on anything you've read in the Guardian today? Please email us your letter and it will be considered for publication in our letters section.
Associated Press
14-05-2025
- Business
- Associated Press
Nido Launches Fundraising Campaign to Unveil First Local Membership
05/13/2025, San Francisco, California // PRODIGY: Feature Story // Nido, a high-touch yet accessible community-building platform known for fostering real-world connections, has opened a fundraising initiative. This step is pivotal toward actualizing Nido's mission to create thoughtfully designed, hyper-local spaces that support authentic relationships and intentional living in the digital era. Structured as a Simple Agreement for Future Equity (SAFE), the capital raised will finance the launch of Nido's pilot membership program in San Francisco. The funds will support brand-building efforts, community activation, and the operational groundwork needed to bring the first location to life. This move reflects Nido's desire to reimagine how urban dwellers gather and connect with themselves, one another, and their neighborhoods. Nido intends to add three additional US neighborhoods in 2026, later expanding globally. The fundraising initiative will turn this vision into reality, setting the standard for what the organization calls a new social infrastructure. 'We want to create a globally scalable yet locally rooted network of community experiences,' says founder Mercy Favrow. 'We've spent the last few years designing a model that meets people where they are. Participating in our first fundraising means investing in a new social fabric built on trust, beauty, and intentional gathering.' The pilot, known as the Local Membership, is scheduled to roll out this year. Employing its neighborhood approach, Nido will offer curated weekly experiences to encourage members to step away from screens and re-engage with their surroundings. Events co-created by a local team, including a community lead, chef, and an artist-in-residence, will rotate between a neighborhood dinner, hands-on workshop, cocktail hour, and outdoor activity. This structure allows each Nido neighborhood to develop a personality of its own while remaining integrated within the broader Nido network, where members can engage with sister communities around the world. Besides the weekly events, the plan for each market includes a Community Hub. It's a full-service location that offers amenities such as a restaurant, spa, curated event programming, and boutique lodging. These hubs function as anchors for urban members, particularly Millennials and Gen Z, who may not have the space to host friends or access to restful environments within their own homes. Nido also intends to offer a Country Home membership, where it will offer rural retreats for rest and reconnection. As the organization aims to scale to over 10,000 members, these countryside sanctuaries will provide communal access to rejuvenating experiences. The motivation behind this venture stems from Favrow's work with top-tier brands and executive teams at companies. Her experience in hospitality, event production, and retail helped her understand the operational rigor and emotional resonance needed to build spaces people genuinely care about. Nido was, therefore, built by her and fellow builders, creatives, and strategists who share a common vision of creating consistent, welcoming environments where members can connect meaningfully and sustainably. Nido is thrilled to position itself as a global network of locally grounded communities. The organization is strategically exploring which international markets to expand to outside of the US market. It aims to continue advocating for intentional spaces, real relationships, and a slower, more meaningful way to engage with the world at a time when digital interaction is often prioritized and personal isolation is rampant. Media Contact Name: Mercy Favrow Email: [email protected] Source published by Submit Press Release >> Nido Launches Fundraising Campaign to Unveil First Local Membership
