The Ferret: A cup of social action can change the world
The Ferret
Tuesday, April 24, 2018
It's meant to be good for your mental and physical health, and now the humble cup of tea is also the inspiration for an international youth project.
Time for Tea is an educational activity which uses tea to give young people a voice on the issues that matter to them.
Over the past nine months, youth education and training firm Momentum World has run Time for Tea pilot projects in 18 countries, with support from the Erasmus Plus programme. An event in London held in April brought together teachers and youth leaders from across Europe to discuss how tea has helped empower young people.
Organisers say schools and youth groups from as far afield as Armenia, Romania and the war-torn Donetsk region of Ukraine are reporting how a cuppa can generate social, technical and educational innovation.
The event also explored how young people could turn their creative concepts into marketable products and encourage partnerships for developing Time for Tea into a global education project.
It is not the first time the youth sector has turned to tea for inspiration: in 2011 Operation Cup of Tea swung into action in response to the London riots.
I would walk 500 miles (more like 450 actually)
It is not unheard of for children's services leaders to travel long distances to and from the office - Ferret recalls one former social services director at a London council jetting to and from his gîte in France three times a week.
While not in that league, the commute undertaken by Sue Ross, director of children's services (DCS) in Bournemouth, takes some beating. She regularly travels the 450 miles from her home near Edinburgh to the Dorset coastal town.
Speaking to one of Ferret's colleagues, Ross explained that the long-distance commute was meant to be a short-term arrangement when she took on the role on an interim basis in September 2015, while the council drew up plans to merge with neighbouring Poole. However, the reorganisation took longer to arrange, only being agreed by ministers in February 2018. In that time, not only has Ross continued in her role, but in April 2017 was handed responsibility for the adult services brief also.
"I've ended up being in Bournemouth longer than intended," says Ross, who describes herself as "a career interim".
She plans to leave next March when the new council is due to begin operating.
Hopefully her next position will be closer to home.
Dubs highlights twists and turns of politics
An interview with Lord Alf Dubs gives an interesting insight into the political horse trading that goes on when the House of Lords tries to amend a government bill.
Speaking on Joe.co.uk's Unfiltered with James O'Brien podcast recently, Dubs explained how negotiations unfolded when lobbying support for his amendment to the Immigration Act 2016 to allow 3,000 of the then 90,000 unaccompanied children in refugee camps in Europe to come to the UK.
"The government got a bit excited and wanted me to withdraw it," Dubs says of his amendment. "Theresa May, who was then Home Secretary, asked to see me - she said if these children come more will follow."
Dubs says that May offered to raise the number of refugees the UK would take through the Syrian Vulnerable Persons Resettlement Scheme (VPRS) from 20,000 to 23,000 over five years, the majority being children.
Dubs rejected the compromise offer, saying it should not be a case of "either/or" but that both should happen. Instead he pushed ahead with his original amendment and after a few twists and turns eventually persuaded the government to accept it.
Last year, the government abandoned its commitment to accept 3,000 unaccompanied asylum-seeking children, claiming there were too few foster care places to accommodate that many - just 480 were accommodated under the Dubs amendment.
In an ironic twist Dubs explains that a mistake by officials meant that the number of refugees to be brought in under the VPRS was upped to 23,000 anyway.
"The 3,000 figure stayed in the system - it was a cock up by the Home Office," he says. "We take our victories where we get them."
LEYF harnesses pedal power
Bikeworks, a not-for-profit social enterprise, has partnered with London Early Years Foundation (LEYF) to donate 56 bikes for nursery children as part of a joint initiative to tackle childhood obesity in the capital. The bike donation will be spread across 16 of LEYF's 37 nurseries. Pictured left to right are Tamanna Hasina, nursery teacher, and Mark Deyzel, nursery manager, Warwick Community Nursery LEYF, Andy Poole, Bikeworks project manager, and Christina Santos Abreu, deputy manager, Warwick Community Nursery LEYF.
