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BTWSC THE BRIDGE PRESS RELEASE April 1 2004
(L-R Marc Wadsworth, Chanel Registe-Charles, Cllr Lincoln Beswick, Mrs Carrol Registe-Charles) For many people, the
very mention of Harlesden and Stonebridge is likely to evoke images of the
excesses of inner-city life. This is the reason why Brent-based BTWSC, a
voluntary organisation that uses the creative arts to develop the
potential of youths and adults, set up The Bridge competition. The
inter-generational competition was funded by the Neighbourhood Renewal
Fund For Harlesden & Stonebridge. This community cohesion project
required a young person to collaborate with someone from another
generation, like a parent, uncle, mentor or teacher, to write a piece
highlighting positive aspects of Harlesden or Stonebridge.
“The entries we received justified our belief that there are many
positive things to be found in Harlesden and Stonebridge,” said BTWSC
co-ordinator Ms Serwah. “The winning
entry, ‘H.A.R.L.E.S.D.E.N’, cleverly used the letters in the name to
highlight several positive points about the area. It was written by 15
year old Chanel Registe-Charles and her mum Mrs Carrol
Registe-Charles. Second place went to Marlon Maitland, who
collaborated with Marvin Blake, the youth worker at Tavistock
Community Centre. Third prize went to two girls – Damilola Soile and
Natasha Bannister, and Ms Davina McCarthy, their teacher at
Convent of Jesus and Mary College. There was even an entry from a five
year old, Tareeq Fraiter, whose collaboration with his aunt Vanessa
Simpson, won the fourth prize.” Before presenting
the finalists with certificates, books, Parker pens, and book tokens at
the recent BTWSC end of courses and projects edu-tainment ceremony at
Tavistock Hall in Harlesden, Cllr Lincoln Beswick offered this note
of caution: “People have a
negative view about Harlesden, my ward, that I have been living in for
forty years. You see it on TV, as if it’s only about drugs and guns.
That’s not the case. If someone should know, I should know. The
anti-crime remit in this borough is mine, and it’s not Harlesden or
Stonebridge that’s the worse. So don’t listen to that negativity. Move
forward.” A statement by Patrick
Lewis, head of the Neighbourhood Renewal Team (NRT), was read by Ms
Serwah. It pointed out that although government indices suggest that
Harlesden and Stonebridge rank among the top ten most deprived wards in
the country, and also have levels of unemployment above regional and
national averages, the NRT finds “immense dignity, passion, and
commitment from the residents, community groups and organisations. It is
our intention over the next two years to work with partners, agencies and
the voluntary sector to bring about improvement. Using your energies and
our dedication to the task, we are sure that we can slowly change
perceptions of Harlesden and Stonebridge and improve the standard of
services within it. Our slogan for our work is to assist residents to love
where they live.” The statement added:
“We very much welcome this initiative hosted by BTWSC and hope that you
can spread the word of change on the horizon, which will go some way
towards changing the government’s indicators, and encourage more people
not only to love where they work and play. But to crucially love the
neighbourhoods they live in.” The Bridge winning
entries will be displayed in an exhibition in Harlesden this summer.
Residents who would like their work to be considered for the exhibition
can submit short articles, poems or songs highlighting the positive
aspects of Harlesden or Stonebridge to BTWSC by July 16 2004 via info@btwsc.com
or P O Box 14092, London NW10 1WL. End Ms Serwah BTWSC co-ordinator |
