Monthly Archives: October 2018

Demands from Newham residents living in Brimstone house grow louder

October 28, 2018Focus E15 Campaign, housing crisis, Newham council, single mothers, social cleansingBrimstone House, intentional homelessness, John Gray, Rokhsana FiazFocus E15 Campaign

Brimstone house in Stratford in Newham East London is the name of the former Focus E15 hostel. Conditions have changed very little since Robin Wales closed down the mother and baby unit there 5 years ago. Families are still living in temporary, overcrowded accommodation, unsure of how long they will be left there and extremely worried about being evicted and being sent out of London altogether by Newham council. Focus E15 campaign believe that residents from Brimstone house need to be rehoused in their community close to their support networks and this is what residents are demanding.

The stressful eviction process should stop- however families must not be left in prison like conditions for years on end! Suitable accommodation must be found (even if that means the Council opening up empty properties in the borough) as big, bold solutions are urgently needed to provide Newham residents with long term housing.

Residents have come up with demands which were discussed and given to the Mayor of Newham, Rokhsana Fiaz and John Gray, Cabinet Member for Housing at a significant meeting that took place at Stratford Town Hall on Saturday 27 October.

Immediate demands

Open the conservatory space in Brimstone House for communal use and open the locked children’s park next door.
Review the security procedures so that they protect the residents instead of punishing/hindering them
More washing machines should be provided at no extra cost to residents with an aim of creating a community run launderette with an attendant.

Below are wider demands (however residents would still like to see action on these before Christmas!):

No more evictions from Brimstone house until safe, suitable accommodation is found in Newham, like Carpenters Estate
To recognise that everyone has the right to refuse accommodation outside of the borough without being labelled as ‘intentionally homeless’ (sic). End the use of this policy!
Stop threats from council workers to involve social services (i.e if you made yourself ‘intentionally homeless’ we will rehouse your children but not you).

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Housing should be seen a basic right in a rich country like ours.
Victory to Brimstone house residents in their fight for decent long term housing!

Dublin and Glasgow – first hand reports from the Housing Struggles!

October 20, 2018#housingcrisis, Dublin housing crisis, Focus E15 Campaign, Glasgow Housing Crisis, housing crisis, political policing, social cleansingFocus E15 Campaign

Reports from recent solidarity trips to Take Back The City Dublin and Living Rent Campaign Glasgow

Active solidarity with anti-racist housing campaigns is key in the struggle to build a unified movement to challenge a system which is failing from one City to the next. Debating different methods and politics with other housing campaigns is an important part of our work. To that end we were recently hosted by Take Back The City Dublin and also by Living Rent Campaign in Glasgow, as we joined them for their AGM.

Take Back The City – Dublin, Ireland

(Previously called Summerhill Occupation) Take Back The City contacted Fe15 campaign during their first occupation. We were very excited to show solidarity with them, and you can see their initial statement published on our blog. Following a second occupation, we decided to visit these brave campaigners in August to hold a discussion, visit the occupation and make the links between London and Dublin, as many campaigners from these Cities have done in the past.

We spoke at a public street meeting in Dublin, Ireland: Watch here: https://www.facebook.com/events/2115174032081958/?active_tab=discussion

Dublin’s rents are as high as in London. This is a City of many empty homes and many homeless families. The growing action in Ireland is an illustration of organised resistance to this; people are fighting back!

Take Back The City has evolved from the work between many different political groups, campaigns and individuals. They are demonstrating the strength of fast paced direct action, but they have also shown us how brutally the state can try and squash political action which is making a difference; campaigners were hospitalised during violent evictions last month.

Garda (Irish Police) violently evict Campaigners

This state intimidation has not thrown off this campaign, and they are mobilising large numbers across Ireland to fight for housing. We will continue links with these comrades. Follow their action and like their page here: https://www.facebook.com/TakeBackTheCityDublin/

Living Rent Campaign – Glasgow

Focusing on organising renters in Glasgow and the rest of Scotland, this new tenants union held their first AGM last weekend and launched a new campaign ‘Not a Penny More’ .

Living Rent along with other groups and individuals organised against the eviction of 300 asylum seekers in Glasgow in July, and they have been growing ever since. Fe15 were invited to be on the panel of their opening session ‘Housing Struggles, Women in the lead’. Speaking alongside two women from Living Rent, we presented our 10 lessons from 5 years of campaigning to a packed audience in South West Glasgow in the radical neighborhood of Govan, which gave birth to the revolutionary 1915 rent strike and Mrs. Barbour’s Army of women; leading all the way!

Mary Barbour & Rent Strike 1915

(Mary Barbour’s Army memorial statue, Govan)

Rates of homelessness are substantially higher in Glasgow than in other areas of Scotland.

Number of children living in temporary accommodation (Shelter Scotland 2017/2018)

Excerpt from Living Rent AGM opening statement:

‘…. our union is not, and should not, be interested in co-opting the power of the institutions that have created the housing crisis. Instead, our interest lies in building our own institutional power – one that is equipped to defend itself, run by tenants, for tenants.’

We endorse these principles and are excited to see a growing housing movement in Glasgow built on this solid foundation.

Read the full Living Rent AGM opening and closing statements here:

https://www.livingrent.org/opening_and_closing_speeches_from_our_glasgow_agm

London to Glasgow,

Dublin to London,

One Struggle, One Fight!

‘Decanted’ from the Carpenters Estate in Newham – a former resident speaks out

October 6, 2018Carpenters Estate, evictions, housing crisis, housing struggles, Newham councilRobin Wales, Rokhsana FiazFocus E15 Campaign

Below are the words of a former resident of the Carpenters Estate in Stratford, Newham, London E15. After decades in her home, she was forced out by the council in the run up to the Olympics. The Labour Council, led by Robin Wales, was champion of gentrification and social cleansing. It is an outrage, that the homes that people were forced to leave have remained empty ever since. The writer below can still look up at the windows of her beloved home in one of three deserted tower blocks on the Carpenters Estate. Shame on Newham. An apology is long overdue, and reparations are still awaited. The pressure is on the new Mayor and her council to immediately refurbish and repopulate the Carpenters Estate.

The decant out of Dennison Point – Carpenters Estate.

I lived at Dennison for many many years, the decant was a sad day for me. Residents were told by the council that after refurbishment of Dennison Point, those who wished to return would be able to do so. I was moved out in one day, there was no time given to think about leaving. I had no cooking appliance for a few weeks because the new location did not have gas. So I phoned someone who told me that there was money allocated for cooking appliances. One would think that these necessities would have been sorted out before I moved in to the flat.

It is plain to see that Dennison Point has no defect and therefore should not be demolished.

I lost my friends.

Many of the committee spoke out and the council did not expect the news to be in the open.

I am standing with Focus E15 campaign, who are passionate about the right for social housing. They are giving a voice to the people who are being pushed out of council homes and out of the area where they have lived with their friends and relatives.