News

Retail is one of the key sectors where unemployed and disadvantaged young people in the UK find a way into the world of work.

Work was well underway at the part-LandAid-funded Pears Pavilion at Coram HQ when we visited yesterday. We were joined by outgoing Chairman Robin Broadhurst and colleagues from LandAid Foundation Partners Royal Bank of Scotland and Skanska.

A new report published by the Fabian Society this week estimates that 50,000 people aged 16-18 years old have fallen out of the support system for NEETs.

The LandAid-funded construction workshop at St Eds in Norwich was a hive of activity when Caroline Fraser and me paid a visit on Friday.

Paul Morrish has been appointed new Chief Executive Officer of LandAid. Paul joins LandAid from VoiceAbility, one of the UK's largest advocacy charities working with vulnerable adults and young people, where he is currently Deputy Chief Executive.

Yesterday saw the start of Living Wage Week, the annual UK-wide campaign organised by the Living Wage Foundation (LWF). The occasion was marked with a widely-publicised rise in the UK and London Living Wage rates for 2014-15 to £7.85 and £9.15 per hour respectively. This, the LFW hopes, will in principle improve the take home pay of 35,000 low-paid workers who are employed by over 1,000 Living Wage supporting organisations.

Figures released by the Campaign to End Child Poverty yesterday paint a bleak picture, particularly for London's children. Our capital, home to some of the most expensive real estate in the world, officially contains the highest child poverty rates in the UK. Ten London constituencies hold this unfortunate accolade. Bethnal Green and Bow, which has 49% children in poverty, is the highest in the country. The leafy environs of well-heeled Wimbledon, Twickenham and Richmond Park each have 15%. That's one child in seven.

Last Thursday, Russell Brand brought the public's attention to the Focus E15 occupation in Newham. A group of women and their babies were living illegally in flats earmarked for demolition after spending cuts meant their hostel was forced to close leaving the women to be rehoused outside of London, away from families and friends.

I was delighted to visit Stepney Bank Stables and to join in with the celebrations at the grand opening of the new Learning Centre, a LandAid-funded refurbishment.