50 NEW JOBS INSIDELOCALS:‘OUR STREETS ARE STILL NOT SAFE!’

PULLING TOGETHER:Handsworth Hub journalist with local councillor Cleopatra Manning

A NEW SURVEY has revealed that locals in the Handsworth Wood,and Perry Barr area STILL do not feel safe. This survey, created by officials here at the Handsworth Hub, reveals some surprising facts which contradict various Government statistics of recent years.

The main reason for people not feeling safe is due to fear of crime such as mug-gings, stabbings or shootings. According to the West Midlands police statistics, crime has been reduced in the area. Supposedly, the recorded crime rate for 2008-2009 was 1754 and is now 1614 (2009-2010). If this is the case, then why are so many people still fearful of crime occurrence and feel that crime has increased?

Local Student Sabrina O’Garra, 18, stat-ed. Of course our area isn’t safe, people get mugged all the time and there’s always gangs and big groups of people everywhere. Anti-social behaviour is definitely a problem’’. Anti-social behaviour is at an all-time high this year in Handsworth with a recorded rate of 1171- almost twice as much as last year.The survey also revealed that many peo-ple feel unsafe walking through the area at night due to the poor street lighting. Poor street lighting is a huge, prevalent prob-lem in the area. Some streets haveonly one lamp post for the whole street; the rest left in darkness.A huge amount of subways in the nearby Perry Barr area also have no lighting

MONDAY 8TH NOV 2010 ISSUE NO.1

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underneath them.Local councillor Cleopatra Manning,

40, said ‘’ we are aware that there’s a prob-lem but there’s only so much the council can do. Every time we fix the street lights, yobs break them again. It’s costing a lot of money to sort this out [each time] and is a drain on local resources’’.

Some residents have tried to help fund projects to fix the local area. The yearly Marcus Garvey festival earnings go into local projects such as these. This festival has been mostly successful over the years with very few injuries and crimes at each one. But even invents such as this have had to be cancelled for fear of a threat of hooliganism and bad teenage behaviour. Many people fear their safety so do not attend as regularly as before. However, when these events were still up and run-ning, they were a huge success. So why is the still so much deprivation in our area? Why do people still lack the feeling of be-ing a community? The answers are yet to be found but we can find them if we work together. Even the youngsters are trying to help (Page 3), so each and everyone of us is no exception. Handsworth needs to do whatever it takes. Lets take control of our local area. For too long we have had a bad reputation. Lets change this!

We all need to pull together and do something as a community. ACT NOW!

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LOCAL TEENS are attempting to fight off the negative stereotype we have of them by organising a fundraising car wash.

The initial idea was created by Malika Ham-ilton, Student,19 who then promoted the event via her Facebook page. Malika soon realised that a lot of her friends wanted to get involved and help and she then took this further.

The teens met weekly to decide how the event would be run. They then decided on a £2 car wash, with free snacks provided at the event.

Kimone and several others promoted the event through Facebook and Twitter. We, at Handsworth Hub, were also contacted and asked to help out with promoting the event.

We were touched by what they were trying to do and gave them £300 to set up equipment and make food preparations for the event. We will also be at the event reporting and photo-graphing how well our teens have done.

When asked why she wanted to do this, Ma-lika simply stated: ‘‘I’m tired of reading nega-tive things about my generation in the press and I wanted to do something to change this stereotype’’.

Local businesses have shown their support. Dutch Pot Caribbean restaurant and Saqib takeaway have offered to cook the food for the event free of charge- providing the teens buy the supply of food. In addition, many of the staff at Havelock

Road Garage, where the event is being held, have said they will definately be getting their own cars washed to show support. Hands-worth Hub staff are also joining them to do this. Also, local primary school Holy Trinity have

contacted us saying they want to be involved. Many of the young pupils have said they would put on a performance singing Christmas carols. The parents of these pupils are backing the car wash and are more than happy for their sons and daughters to sing for the event.

Local residents are touched that our teenag-ers are trying to do something positve. The teens are hoping these residents come out to support the event. Kimone stated; ‘‘I hope everyone can come and get their cars washed. £2 isn’t much to ask for. In return you get free food and a clean car’’.

We, at Handsworth Hub, are also hoping residents can come down. We’ve been told by Dutch Pot officials that there will be a variety of Caribbean, English and Asian food provid-ed. Locals have also offered to help with the food handling.

It is inspiring to see so many people com-ing to show support. The question is, are YOU coming to show your support?

We are urging you to make this event a ‘must attend’ in your schedule. We need to show our teens that we are behind them. That we sup-port them and wish them the best. They are trying to make a difference and the commu-nity should be encouraging them. Play your part, it’s just £2. Support our local youth.

TEENS FIGHT BACK: ‘WE WANT TO HELP’

FIGHTING BACK: Local teens are doing something to help the local community.

FOOD ON SALE!!!

CAR WASH!COME DOWN TO THE CAR WASH &HELP RAISE FUNDS TO BOOST OUR LOCAL IMAGE

Havelock Road GarageHandsworthB20 2SDHOROSCOPE

Predict YOUR future with our very own Mystic Meg!

MONDAY 8TH NOVEMBER 2010