During the election I’m going to be getting involved in social action projects up and down the country – let’s hope I cross paths with my husband at some point… I am really keen to bang the drum for all the unsung heroes and heroines who are involved in social action and I thought a blog would be an easy way of sharing my stories about the people I meet.
Today David and I visited the Pedro Club in Hackney. It sits at the centre of 3 estates where gun and knife crime are sadly a major fact of life. What struck me during my time there was that places like the Pedro are not about the building, they’re always about the amazing people who run them. Like Pat Sands, who is showing the young people that there’s more to life than messing around on the streets; that if they can do well at boxing, football dance or art then they can apply the same focus to maths, English or finding a job. Judging by the motivated kids I met today, his approach really works.
There were so many talented professionals giving up their time for the local community, because for them the Pedro is like an extended family. I loved watching the choreographer teaching the street dance steps, he trained under Sisco from ‘So You Think You Can Dance’ so definitely knows his moves. The longest serving volunteer is Real who’s been there for 30 years, her daughter, also a volunteer, says community service must run in the family! They know the true value of projects like the Pedro – recently when it was closed due to lack of funds crime in the area shot up.
It was also good to see Conservative volunteers getting stuck into some social action, despite the weather. Two of the local candidates, Simon Nayyar and Darren Caplan, were there with 15 volunteers, all shivering in t-shirts, painting the walls of the courtyard. They’ve been helping out at the club for the past year, smartening it up and going to the events, they both feel that it’s one of the most rewarding things they’ve done as candidates.
Today showed me how powerful small social action projects run on a shoestring can be, if you want to get involved in the Pedro Club go to www.pedroclub.com. I’m really looking forward to writing about more inspirational social action projects over the coming weeks.
( 18 comments ) Tags: Darren Caplan, Good Friday, Hackney, Pedro Community Club, Simon Nayyar, Social Action
Comment by Adam Lotun on April 2, 2010 at 9:34 pm
What are your views on dignity for disabled people and thier carers?
Comment by AndyP on April 2, 2010 at 9:42 pm
Go Sam. Great to see you getting involved.
Comment by Derek Lambert on April 2, 2010 at 9:45 pm
Samantha,
This is a great start. Can I also urge you to join Twitter, if only to tweet links to your blog posts as you publish them. Other fragments of news, espousing good causes that you support and so on all help get the real Conservative message over.
Best wishes,
Derek.
Comment by Kieran on April 2, 2010 at 9:57 pm
I’m so pleased to see grassroots projects getting the exposure they deserve. Good on you Samantha, and congrats. X x x
Comment by little angussie on April 2, 2010 at 10:21 pm
Well done Samantha it is great but not surprising to see you championing social action projects. You have a natural warmth and understanding of the problems faced by so many of the young people in our broken country at this time.
Good on you lass!
Comment by lisa on April 2, 2010 at 10:53 pm
All the best for the pregnancy.
Brilliant to see you supporting good causes!
Comment by Graham on April 2, 2010 at 11:18 pm
Sam, this is great stuff.
I also wish to urge you join twitter, along with Derek Lambert for the same reasons.
Not sure how David might react though
Comment by Frugal Dougal on April 2, 2010 at 11:29 pm
Yes, well done Sam – and, as you say, I hope you bump into David occasionally!
Comment by Jason Myers on April 3, 2010 at 12:41 am
Samantha,
It’s great to see you getting involved in the campaign.
You came across as a very nice warm woman on the ITV documentary as did David.
It’s good to see you championing these causes. They’re unsung heroes.
Would love to know what you & David think of Labour’s rubbish new poster showing David as Gene Hunt?
Comment by derek fortune on April 3, 2010 at 2:45 am
hello samantha its good to see your having ago
we would like you to come on face book and have a wall of your own then we can send you some ideas of our own good luck to you we all need it
Comment by Louise Jolson on April 3, 2010 at 11:45 am
I think its really great to see you showing support for these social action projects – they do an important job for the adults and kids in those communities and for you to highlight this good work brings them well deserved good publicity.
It’s also good that you highlight how conservative volunteers enjoy getting stuck in to these social projects when extra pairs of hands are needed, they too deserve a little bit of recognition. So well done to you, keep up the good work Samantha, I wish you all the very best.
Comment by Arthur Complainer on April 3, 2010 at 2:38 pm
As far as I’m aware, Conservatives have always been involved insocial action. Years ago, I arranged for free school milk for all children at my local primary school. Our local Labour councillor was unable to support this.
Social action is good!
Comment by Adrian Luscombe on April 3, 2010 at 2:43 pm
great to see you blogging and supporting such a great cause – best wishes
Comment by Julie on April 3, 2010 at 7:25 pm
Congratulations on your pregnancy, good luck to both of you, you are both fine examples of what our young people should aspire to be. The country needs to wake up and smell the coffee, the government can’t do everything and when it tries it sends out the wrong message, we need to help eachother and not wait for the council or the government do it for us.
Very best wishes and I am loking forward to your blogs but please take care of yourself and your baby
Comment by Anna Tandy on April 4, 2010 at 6:05 pm
Well done Samantha but be careful and look after the baby first. many of these groups can apply for funding from various organisations. We have just got one for £1200 to suport our elderly community here i North Wales. It is really not too hard just loads of paperwork to fill in, but the Big Lottery for instance are very helpful. please pass on this idea to all groups you visit.
Comment by B Rhodes on April 7, 2010 at 1:31 pm
Sam, could you think about supporting the organisation that helps soldiers retuning from active duty with Post Traumatic Stress Disorder and the 7/7 survivors with PTSD? There is a PTSD forum on FB. We are trying to set up a charity for this, but as usual it’s the funding thats the issue. Please give us some ideas, maybe u can be a patron?
There are many many volunteers but we need one charity set up to help all.
We all wish you a healthy baby and a pleasant pregnancy,. Do remember to take it easy sometimes too, as its a bit hectic for you being pregnant at such a time.
We all send you blessings, thank you for reading this plea.
Regards
from all survivors
Comment by Fiona Breitholtz on April 9, 2010 at 1:19 pm
Well done, Sam! Shedding light on these ‘unsung heroes and heroines’, instead of trailing your husband around the country like a fifth wheel, is commendable.
I look forward to reading about some of the social action projects. Having recently retired, I feel that I should become more involved in voluntary work and shall be looking at projects in my area.
Take care of yourself.
Comment by Richard Davy-Smith on April 14, 2010 at 12:32 pm
All the very best for a succesful campaign. I believe the country needs a change. Can I ask however, about one issue you touched upon, namely gun control. I thouroughly expect that a Tory Government will clamp down on illegal gun use, however, I can see no policy that guarantees they won’t undo the tough anti-gun laws we have in the wake of Dunblane and Hungerford. That matters a lot to me, I know people who lost their great niece at Dunbane, and I don’t want that to happen again. Are those laws secure? All the very best.