Communities

Increased spending to ensure that all Londoners have access to free advice (and where required legal services (e.g a law centre type facility - for those who are not able to pay)) particularly with the roll out of universal credit.

We have  a great local community in our street, but there are a few around us that abuse this by spray. painting over signs for parking restrictions in a hope of getting away with running a business on the Street. This is not acceptable in any local community and. should be stopped. The problem also goes to the fact that our local traffic wardens are closing their eyes to this because they are not doing anything about it and even warning the people they are taking money from when complaints are. made. I am talking  about th Newham ESE parking zone. It is. totally. corrupt. There are  also signs that do not make sense and the council refuses too acknowledge  this and still making out of people who think they are parking correctly. It cost my son in law when the restrictions came in and nobody will acknowledge that. they are wrong!

Community green spaces, such as Phoenix Gardens in Covent Garden; Calthorpe Project in Gray's Inn Road ; Camley Street Nature Reserve in King's Cross, offer excellent servies to the local community including young families, young poeple and vulnerable adults and young people. We need more investment in green spaces such as these, so they can reach more people and not constantly on the brink of extinction due to lack of financial support and greedy over development of communities in a race to the bottom. 

Offering free activities, after school clubs, gardening clubs, language immersion creche, cookery lessons, community cafes, workshops, yoga classes - all at a subsidised rate.  These are the thigs that help people to gain a sense of community.

The Good Growth Fund aims to improve areas of the public realm, but its budget for 2020-21 is less than the £13.6 million expected to be spent in 2019-20. Surely with an increasing gap between rich and poor (see ONS figures) there is an increasing need for public funds to help communities?

 Rat running on residential streets is breaking up communities as no one spends any time in the front of their house any more chatting to neighbours whilst washing their cars,gardening  etc.We need to make our streets more habitable and resident friendly-quieter ,greener,cleaner streets encourage people to walk and talk to each other-this is also great to combat loneliness amongst the vulnerable.Pledges for healthier streets have not really been followed through-despite our pleas we have seen no action in this department.

There is also too much litter and rubbish on our streets-making places unattractive,an eyesore and depressing.Not enough is being done to clean up our city and encourage the use of community spaces.

Let's make our streets safer,greener,cleaner and healthier places to live so that residents can walk about safely and meet each other.

1. It is difficult for the Mayor to encourage local communities when certain Borough Councils are working in the opposite direction.  Redbridge for example has vastly reduced the opportunities for public questioning and debate about its activities.

2. Mayoral support for major festivals in London is very important as they help to give everyone a sense of belonging and being welcome.  The Mayor should continue to promote the importance of our links with Europe to counteract the negativity associated with Brexit. 

3.  A more holistic approach to combating crime, based on the Glasgow model and fully involving communities, not just the police, would be more effective than current policies,

I really believe, community projects are the best way to fight isolaton for vulnerable people.  Therefore I propose the government to encourage community projects that fight isolation in London. More money is needed to finance these projects. I am thinking of disable/special needs children and eldely people.   

I agree with a lot of the comments already made, i live in Streatham and there is no sense of community, or community outreach programme. Having a strong community can support so many challenges we currently face, giving people more ownership and respect for their local area. I see so many people leaving beer cans on the street after drinking them, dumping bags, mattresses etc, not caring at all about the area they live in. No matter where you are from there must be part of you that wants that sense of community, no matter how small it is. It's not going to change overnight but with the right support so many challenging areas of society can also be supported by a strong sense of community.   

I do not believe that tax payers money should be spent on supporting 'cultural and community events'. This will inevitably mean that people are being forced to giving funding support to issues over which they hold a different opinion. If some group feels that it is significant enough to want to hold an event then it should find its own funding.  

How can a community feel inclusive if it is constantly destroyed by taking down buildings where people have been living for 30/40 years, pushing people out of the city because the city has become too expensive, allowing richer people to access higher education and most of the paying cultural events (yes there are funds and scholarships to support lower income students however there are limited options). Whenever there is a "regeneration" there should be an obligation for the developer to invest in new cultural centres, create green spaces that people can enjoy. Sometimes there is a feeling that minority communities are targeted more than the wider white community, which creates a mistrust in these communities.

To create an inclusive community the work has to start within the family, at school from an early age and the work should continue throughout their education. When i go around London i hear so many times people swearing, i see people littering the city, i see people lost in their own world, walking around like zombies watching their phone and not even noticing what is happening around them, we are loosing the ability to  teach children to socialise with board games, use their creativity to play together, help the older community to stay healthy through social interaction. I have been to many big cities abroad where people interact with each other on buses, tube, at the supermarket, they are not afraid to give a smile or to talk. And with Brexit i don't feel things will be better. London itself or most of London areas might still survive the multicultural spirit, but many areas of London will suffer the impact of this decision. Allowing people to come together, socialise is the best way to keep the sense of community.

A lot has been done; a lot more can be done. And thankfully Mr Khan is the Mayor of London. I can't imagine what the city would be with another one of his predecessors.

I live in Sutton a place with no community values at all there is never anything to do in Sutton whatever age you are unless you like drugs and alcohol, there is no community the people here are rude surly and unpleasant and the housing associations and the council are only interested in money not people there is a lot of poverty and unemployment in Sutton the only people doing well here are the Drug dealers of which Sutton has plenty I met a man in a London hospital who informed me I was living in the drugs capital of Surrey, do not blame the police their doing their best working with an authority that is not supporting them.

Communities? Most people I live near keep themselves to themselves.  There are old people and young that feel isolated from the community due to transport and money constraints.  Only the richer people can access these ' community' outlets. Perhaps there should be outreach programmes for the people who cannot afford to or who are too ill to go. Also if the young feel alienated from their community growing up they will have roots and will not want to give back to their community so it is a vicious cycle that the Mayor needs to break.

Are there any examples given as to why 4/10 people feel LOndon is not welcoming or inclusive.  

I appreciate that this is only an outline but what will the criteria be for applying for a grant to have one of the 1000 cultural and community events & what's the follow up to ensure that it has been used for purpose effectively & successfully.  Can you ensure there is a spread across all boroughs and all communities/cultures

Investment in Communities needs to prioritize Transport. Lewisham is a borough rich in community activity and opportunities, but a large number of people who really need to engage with those opportunities have difficulty, for various reason, in accessing them.  It could be straight mobility problems that make using the brilliant Freedom Pass Scheme impossible for them. It could be a lack of confidence following bereavement, redundancy, the loss of a partner/friend they had caring responsibilities for, or an extended period of ill health they have suffered themselves.  Being enabled to get out and about gives access to community activity, allows for the building of a strong social network and helps to overcome the risk to mental and physical health that Social Isolation can bring.

You are investing in crime prevention which is mostly about young people but investment needs to give them exciting stimulation and positive sense of self from early years so more investment needed in early years, and young people clubs and activities with better pay for workers so more males will work with younger children as particularly young boys lack positive role models in early years.  Further, many young people I have worked with say they are on the streets because home is stressful, full of conflict, not safe or nobody there and they have nowhere else to go - small wonder they join with others on the street, get involved in gangs and then cost a great deal in crime prevention; and prison when the investments should have been earlier in early years and helping school manage and understand young people in distress and not just exclude them (i.e have more other professionals e.g psychologists/social workers based in schools) to work out their distress, why is it that they are acting out - saves money in the long run and saves ruining young lives.  Need to look at causes/cures not put sticking plasters on.

I'd like to see some investment in building links with the various religious communities in London. Thanks to London's diversity, it has one of the highest levels of religious affiliation in the UK, and these communities have a lot of potential for reaching out to others, for action against inequality and discrimination, and for making sure people have the information they need. Obviously, this needs to be done in an interreligious way, promoting the common good, but London's religious communities are usually very open to this, and are already actively building the common good. These communities represent a great resource for London in building community. We could make more of them.

I also just read an excellent article in the Financial Times about the idea of a "wellbeing budget". It's exactly the kind of budget London needs:

https://www.ft.com/content/3e0a65f2-32dc-11ea-a329-0bcf87a328f2?shareTy…

I am waiting for the book that the article's author is going to publish later this month: "Can we be happier? Evidence and Ethics"