Campaign for a Living Wage

In response to an email I received from Ed Miliband MP (see below). I have signed up in support of the Campaign for a Living Wage. I thought some of our readers also might want to support the campaign.

Dear Suzanne,

In Britain in 2010, over 5 million workers are paid under £7 an hour. And yet, studies show that people need £7.14 -- at the very, very least -- to fulfil their most basic needs: food, clothing and housing.

The Labour Party, even in opposition, is in a position to do something about this injustice -- and to campaign to transform the lives of some of the lowest paid workers in the country.

That's the sort of Labour Party I believe in, and that's the sort of party I am seeking to lead -- one that engages in communities and campaigns for real change in people's lives.

That's why, on Friday, I launched an important campaign for a living wage at an event in London. There was real support for the campaign and the launch was heavily oversubscribed.

But for our living wage campaign to succeed, I need you to take a stake in it -- and to take it to your own communities and networks.

There are two crucial ways we need you to support the campaign at this stage. First, we need you to sign the petition to show you support the living wage:

http://livingwage.edmiliband.org/

Once you've done that, we really need you to help us build momentum behind this campaign, by forwarding this email and inviting ten of your friends to join you in signing up, by tweeting and Facebooking your support for the living wage, and by asking people you know to join the Labour Party.

We are not the first to campaign for a living wage, and I know we won't be the last. But I hope we can share and spread the belief that the Labour Party can add to this campaign for fairness -- and reconnect as a transformative force for good in this country.

Many thanks for your support,
Ed

Longsight Festival Fun!

I am a little late blogging about this but didnt want to let it go by without a mention. Monday was the first Longsight Neighbourhood Fesitval. I say first because we hope that it will be an annual event. It was a great day with stalls, good food and excellent entertainment. The festival was officially opened by the Lord Mayor and Lady Mayoress and was also attended by Sir Gerald Kaufman MP. Our excellent compare for the day Abid even managed to get the Lord Mayor and Sir Gerald bangra dancing.

Huge thanks must go to Fajer Rabia, Inspired Sisters, Manchester Sport Academy, St Agnes Church and Longsight Sure Start Centre. Without all your hard work the day simply would not have been the success it was.

World Cup fever comes to Manchester

It’s going to be a fan fest in Manchester this June with big screens showing World Cup matches around the city.

Manchester is hosting just one of fifteen Hyundai Fan Park sites around Europe so that fans can enjoy the spirit and atmosphere of the tournament in a safe and controlled environment.

The Hyundai Fan Park at Castlefield Arena will screen all 64 matches across the 31 days of the event. General capacity is up to 8,000 people with the area expanded to create a 17,500 capacity venue for England matches.

Access to the Hyundai Fan Park at Castlefield is free of charge but tickets are required to access screenings of England matches.

These are available from www.quaytickets.com and are limited to four tickets per household.

Tickets are free of charge but there will be a booking and postal fee of £1.50 per order to cover costs. Tickets will be posted first class.

Screens will also be located in Spinningfields and Exchange Square but will only be showing group stage matches, and will not be screening any England games.

There’s Allsorts To Do This Spring

There’s Allsorts To Do This Spring

Great news for families… there’s a whole range of exciting activities going on in venues and parks near you for kids and young people this May holiday.

Most activities are FREE.

For the full list of activities, dates and venues go to:

www.manchester.gov.uk/allsortstodo

Longsight Litter Pickers!

Over 30 young people from Manchester Sports Academy, local councillors and staff from Inspired Sisters were joined by Manchester's Executive Member for the Environment Councillor Nigel Murphy on Saturday for a Litter pick around Hamilton Road.

Whilst the local Councillors and Football team cleared the streets of litter Inspired Sisters went door to door to raise awareness of next weeks Longsight Neighbourhood Festival.

Councillors involved were Abid Chohan, Luthfur Rahman, Suzanne Richards, Rabnawaz Akbar, Rosa Battle and Nigel Murphy.

Local Labour Councillor Suzanne Richards said: "One of the main concerns reported to us by local residents in Longsight is litter and fly tipping. Saturday's litter pick was about showing that we must all take responsibility for our local area and work together to make longsight a cleaner and greener place to live. In just a couple of hours we removed over 10 black bags worth of rubbish from streets."

If you would like to help organise a litter pick in your local area then please get in touch with either Suzanne, Luthfur or Abid.

Longsight Neighbourhood Festival

Charities boost from student recycling campaign

Charities are to benefit from a huge campaign encouraging students to recycle and reuse their property as they leave their homes this summer.

And students taking part in the scheme, affecting around 7,000 properties as well as those living in halls of residence across south Manchester, will be eligible to win tempting prizes.

Manchester City Council is working with the University of Manchester and Manchester Metropolitan University to organise the scheme in a bid to end problems caused by piles of rubbish being left outside as houses are vacated.

Students in Victoria Park area will be given bags into which they should place old clothes, sheets and shoes, as well as reusable materials, and leave outside their homes.

These materials will go to charities such as Oxfam, the Mustard Tree or the Fallowfield-based Wesley Community Furniture Project.

Students who leave materials outside for collection can text 'zero waste' with their name and address to 86099 or e-mail recycling@manchester.gov.uk and be entered into a draw to win prizes including tickets for end of term party Pangea or a year-long Stagecoach bus pass.

The campaign follows a scheme introduced last year, in which extra collections were organised for student halls of residents, and vanloads of duvets were donated to dogs' homes across the region.

Longsight Labour Councillor, Suzanne Richards said: "At lot of work has been done in the area to engage with students. It’s important that we work closely with both universities to make sure recycling is made even easier for students.”

"Manchester has the biggest student population in Europe and we're very lucky to have them here, but we also need to make sure our permanent residents face as little disruption as possible when thousands of students leave their homes at the end of the summer term"

Longsight Sunflower kids give it a grow

Green-fingered youngsters from St Richards and Stanley Grove Schools are being invited to grow the city’s largest sunflower as part of a scheme to help them understand the environmental benefits of using compost.

The keen junior gardeners will plant the sunflowers and tend to them over an eight-week period to see who can grow the tallest plant, and the winning youngster's school will receive prizes such as money to spend on new equipment.

The contest - to be run across 25 primary schools - has been organised by Manchester City Council's recycling team as part of a scheme to educate pupils about the environmental benefits of using compost.

Around 30 per cent of people use compost at home, and composting for just one year can save global warming gases equivalent to the amount a kettle produces in a year, or a washing machine produces in three months.

Longsight Councillor Suzanne Richards said: "We are already ahead of the game in Longsight as the city’s pilot for the new food recycling scheme. Composting is a fantastic way to look after the environment and we hope that through schemes like this, youngsters will appreciate its benefits, and in turn encourage their parents to give it a go."

Anyone with outside space at home can create free compost by reusing their food waste at home. Residents can visit www.greatermanchester.getcomposting.com for handy tips on how to get the most out of their compost and enrich their garden.

Parents invited to free nappy trial

New parents are being invited to take advantage of a scheme introducing them to reusable nappies.

Manchester City Council has been working with Cotton Tails, a company that provides reusable cotton nappies in an effort to reduce the number of disposable nappies being sent to landfill sites, since 2004.

Parents who take up the free month's trial are lent a collection container and biodegradable liners, while freshly washed nappies are delivered to their door every week.

Longsight Councillor Suzanne Richards said: "I hope that parents from the Longsight area will take part in the scheme. The feedback from parents who have taken part so far is that real nappies are kinder to their babies and we're inviting parents to see for themselves how easy the scheme is to use."

The trial is available to all Manchester residents, but there are a limited number of places, and parents must pay a returnable deposit of £30.

For more information or to apply for the trial visit www.manchester.gov.uk/realnappies or call 0161 954 9000.

New Surgery Times

Longsight Labour Councillors have agreed their new surgery times for the year ahead:

1st and 3rd Saturday of the month @ Longsight Library 11am - 12noon

2nd and 4th Wednesday of the month @ Longsight Library 6pm - 7pm

1st and 3rd Thursday of the month @ Northmoor Road Community Centre 5pm - 6pm

We look forward to meeting you there!

Thank You

Suzanne Richards was elected to represent Longsight Ward on Friday 7th May.

Councillor Suzanne Richards said: "We fought a positive campaign on a record of Labour delivery in Longsight. The people of Longsight have put their trust in me. I promise to work with them and Manchester Labour Council to ensure we continue to deliver real change in Longsight. I know there is still work to do and I am looking forward to getting on with the job."

Photo: Councillor Luthfur Rahman, Councillor Abid Chohan, Councillor Nilofar Sidiqqi, Councillor Mike Amesbury, Councillor Mary Watson, Councillor Suzanne Richards, Councillor Julie Reid

Manchester Promise - Environment

The past twelve months have seen enormous progress to a greener,cleaner Manchester. A Climate Change Action plan that commits the city to a 41% reduction in greenhouse gas emissions by 2020, a plan only possible because of Manchester labour's willingness to work with the whole range of stakeholders, environmental activists,academics, the private sector, communities, on this vital issue.

We now recycle more and more materials, the most recent addition being food waste, with collections arranged in ways to suit our residents.

we are building the first new Council Housing in the city for over twenty years, designed to the highest environmental standards, and it looks good too.

Money was made available immediately to tackle the damage done to our roads by the severe winter.

We yet again increased the number of Green Flag parks, with more than any other local authority area in the country.

We have taken more action to tackle fly-tipping, graffitti, and are working hard to keep our streets clean. Manchester Labour will build on this.

* We promise to do our utmost to reduce the City Council's CO2 emissions by 10% in 2010

* We promise to increas recycling and reduce waste,maintain weekly refuse collections & keep free bulky waste collections

* We promise to invest to eliminate potholes and improve our roads and pavements

* We promise that all Council & Housing Association homes will meet the decent homes standard by 2012

* We promise to continue taking tough action to tackle bad private landlords

* We promise to maintain the appearance of our streets & public spaces to the highest standards

Manchester Promise - Education, Children & Young People

Manchester Labour passionately believes that education is the route to fulfilling the potential of all our young people. Year on year standards are improving and through the most ambitious school building programme certainly since the second world war we are ensuring our children are taught in the best environment possible. Pupil numbers are growing and we have taken urgent action to increase the number of places available. SureStart is one of Labour's biggest successes and have spread all over the city to give our youngest children and their families the best start in life. We want our young people to be confident about their future which is why we have been working with our sixth forms, the Manchester College, our Universities, employers and other agencies to ensure that every student leaving school can go into high quality training or education or into a job with training that gives recognised qualifications. we are rapidly increasing the number of apprenticeships available. We are also concerned with what young people do in their leisure time which is why we have reorganised our services to young people with the aim of providing every young person with the offer of at least five hours a week high quality sport, leisure or cultural activity.

* We promise to protect, extend and run more services from our SureStart Centres

* We promise to continue improving our schools until every child has an outstanding education available locally

* We promise to continue investing in our schools until every school is new or totally modernised

* We promise to ensure every young person leaving school has a place in training or education or a job with training

* We promise that every young person will have a minimum offer of sports,arts or other leisure activity

* We promise to work with parents/carers so that our children attend school everyday to make the most of their opportunities

Manchester Promise - Crime

For more than a decade Manchester Labour has worked successfully with our communities and the police to reduce crime and anti-social behaviour, fear of crime and anti-social behaviour, and to build pride and respect in ourselves, each other, and our neighbourhoods. We have used every power made available to us, lobbied successfully for more, and are seen nationally as a beacon because of our approach.

But there is still much to do.

At the heart of our approach are Neighbourhood partnerships and Neighbourhood Policing, the Respect and Pride agenda, bringing the Council, the police, and other agencies together with communities to improve every neighbourhood in the city.

* We promise we will continue to make use of all legal powers available to reduce crime and anti-social behaviour

* We promise to continue the work with the police to tackle serious crime, gang crime, and guns and knives on our streets

* We promise to campaign for more beat bobbies in Manchester

* We promise to take positive action to tackle drugs and alcohol, including against badly managed off-licenses

* We promise we will work with and support all our communities to build Pride and Respect

* We promise to campaign to strengthen the laws on firearms, fireworks, support for witnesses,sale of alcohol,off-road bikes, and hate crime

Sun shines on Longsight Market Labour Stall

Sir Gerald Kaufman, Aftab Ahmed, Rabnawaz Akbar and Longsight Councillors Abid Chohan and Luthfur Rahman and I (Suzanne Richards) spent a very sunny afternoon on Longsight Market on Saturday meeting with local voters.

In many ways Longsight Market is the centre of our community and the warm welcome we received from shoppers and market stall holders alike was great.

Manchester people aren’t fooled by the Tories empty promises and the Liberal Democrats style over substance. They know that it is Manchester Labour who has delivered for them and it is Manchester Labour who will continue to deliver for them.

Alley Gating - Problem solved or another created?

One of the many issues I have been dealing with when talking to local people is alley gating.

Alley gating is popular with many residents. Gates can help improve security for householders, preventing easy access for burglars to the backs of properties. Gates can also stop people from dumping rubbish in our alleyways.

I am also aware that in some areas where there are a lot of privately rented houses landlords do not always pass on the keys which means residents don’thave access to the alleyways and leave their bins out on the street, which can have a negative impact on the local area.

In the Northmoor Road area I met with Community Guardian Liz, who has one of the cleanest and best kept alley ways I have seen. How has she achieved this? By working together with her neighbours, asking them to help out and making sure they all have keys and take their bins to the back of their properties once they have been emptied.

More and more Longsight residents are asking for gates at the back of their properties because they realise the benefits outweigh the negatives.

Alley gates are successful when local residents work together and take pride in their street, like the street that Liz lives in. They can be a beacon to other streets in the area and part of the process of raising standards and working together as a community to make us all Proud of Longsight.

Manchester Promise - Jobs

Labour nationally are showing that in Brown, Darling and Mandelson, we have the right team to tackle the global downturn. The UK economy is now growing in line with the Chancellor’s predictions, outpacing our international competitors, and producing the biggest increase in employment for 12 years.

Manchester Labour, working with our many partners, has also ensured that our city has survived the worst ravages of the recession in far better shape than other UK cities.

But damage has been done. People have lost jobs. And even before the recession, too many Manchester people weren’t in work when they could and should have been.

Manchester Labour will do everything it can to make sure Manchester is working. Already we are well on the way to a thousand unemployed residents being employed through the Future Jobs Fund. We have supported hundreds of long-term unemployed families into work. The Council now has over 500 apprentices, but we will do more.

* We promise to continue bringing new investment, new jobs to the city. Green investment for sustainable jobs!

* We promise to prioritise Manchester residents for all entry-level jobs at the City Council.

* We promise to continue putting apprenticeships and the skills pledge at the heart of the Council’s employment practice.

* We promise to give unemployed Manchester residents the skills and support they need to get back into work.

Manchester Labour Manifesto

Manchester Labour has chosen a new and unique was to publicise our manifesto this year. We will be publishing a promise a day via Twitter.


Our first three promise have already been published:

Manchester Labour has kept Council Tax increases at or below the rate of inflation for more than a decade so that now the average Council Tax bill is one of the lowest in the Country.

This year we have frozen the Council's own Council Tax demand - a 0% increase, but unlike other Councils we will not be cutting services nor, especially important as we come out of a recession, making any compulsory redundancies.

Financially the next few years will be tough, but building on our track record:

• we promise to keep future Council Tax increases at or below inflation

• We promise to maintain and improve the frontline services our residents tell us are important to them

• we promise to work with our staff to keep people in work delivering vital services for Manchester people

To follow Manchester Labour on twitter follow @ManchesterRose

Recycling: Food Waste Trial

A massive 70% of you said you wanted to recycle foodwaste when surveyed. As a result Longsight is now the first area in Manchester to trial foodwaste recycling.

New GP Surgery Opening Soon

Our new GP Centre on Stockport Rd will be opening soon. New services will be available including vaccinations and imunisations, cervical screening, maternity services and minor surgery.

Fun times for Crowcroft Park

£41,000 of new play equipment has been installed in our Green Flag Crowcroft Park. Well done Friends of Crowcroft Park for all their hard work!

Building Schools For the Future

St Peter’s RC High School is the first secondary school in Manchester to be ranked as ‘outstanding’ by Ofsted. This year the school will receive an additional £4million through the Labour Government’s Building Schools for the Future programme, providing 8 new classrooms, a new courtyard and a lift to help disabled pupils access the 1st and 2nd floors.

Representing Hope Not Hate

Signing the Hope Not Hate election pledge.

Suzanne Richards Labour Candidate for Longsight said "I am proud to have been selected to stand for election in one of the City's most diverse and multi-cultural wards. We gain strength through our diversity in Longsight and the BNP with their message of hate and division are not welcome here."

Shout out for Sure Start

Manchester Labour this week joined parents, children’s charities, MPs and trade unions in supporting a new campaign to celebrate and promote the value that Sure Start Children’s Centres bring to communities by supporting all families and children under five.

Longsight campaigner Suzanne Richards said:
“Our Sure Start centre is making a massive difference to children and families in Longsight, helping parents ride out the recession and giving children a sure start on the path to a better future. That is why I am adding my support to the 'Shout out for Sure Start' campaign. Manchester Labour is calling for a Sure Start centre in every community.

“Back in 1997 there were no Children’s Centres but thanks to investment from the Labour government there are now 35 across Manchester, offering services to more than 30,000 children and their families.”

Labour will continue to invest in Sure Start funding this year, next year and the year after with increased funding up to 2013, but the Tories have already committed to cutting £200 million each year from the Sure Start budget.

Shout out for a Sure Start believes that: a sure start sets you up for life; every child deserves a Sure Start; investment in children is an investment in our future.

For more information please visit the campaign’s website at www.shoutoutforasurestart.org.uk or follow the campaign on Twitter at @Shout4SureStart and by using the following hash tag #shoutoutforsurestart

First Glimpse of Longsight Library

The much-anticipated opening of the new-look Longsight Library is planned for the end of April but for those who couldn't wait that long, a sneak preview took place on Monday 22 March.

For anyone eager to catch a glimpse of the library before the new equipment, furniture and Adult Learning Centre move in, it opened its doors so people could see the changes that have been made.

Longsight Labour Campaigner, Suzanne Richards said: “Longsight Library is at the heart of our community and people keep asking me about the improvements that have been made and what will be on offer. This preview day has given people a chance to look round the building and see for themselves the new layout and speak to library staff about the changes.”

The library has been closed since February while major works have been undertaken to improve and expand the services for the area and to combine the library and learning centre facilities for the first time.

The library will include a new children’s zone, a homework club and the first headspace zone – a new laid-back environment for your people to read or get online.

The first floor will feature the new Learning Centre to include classrooms for various courses such as music, language, history, crafts, literacy and numeracy. There will also be a relaxing break-out space and community area.