Jay Foster - page 8

BEENIE MAN has called out Croydon council for hosting the Ends festival at Lloyd Park, after a similar idea was created and proposed to them by a local black-owned organisation.

The inaugural Ends Festival, organised by Live Nation took place over the weekend (May 31-June 2) in Croydon which featured a selection of artists including Nas, Wizkid and Damian Marley. The three-day event which saw thousands descend to Lloyd Park seemed to be a huge success – however, the history of how it came to be has resulted in a two minute video from Beenie Man calling out the council.

In 2016, Beenie Man was asked to do a charity festival in England, which was being organised by Shezal, the founder of Slavery Remembrance, an organisation which hosts Sankofa Day, and My Tribe.

According to Shezal, she approached Tony Newman, her local councillor for Croydon council that year and presented a proposal to host a black excellence charity music and culture festival in Lloyd Park.

Shezal claims the purpose of the festival was to celebrate ‘black excellence’, help to tackle racism by challenging views on racist stereotypes, use all of the profits from the festival to fund black businesses and to support the Sankofa Day memorial in Trafalgar Square.

The concept of the festival was allegedly laid out in the proposal, which also featured the key acts that Shezal wanted to perform – Stormzy, Fuse ODG and Beenie Man, who has now shared his support for Shezal’s initial idea in a new video.

In the video clip which was posted on YouTube on Saturday (Jun 1), Beenie Man says: “In 2016 I was asked to do a charity festival in England. This festival was special to me because it was going to act as family reunion by joining our family which was separated by slavery and with artists from Africa, the Caribbean and Latin America and artists from the UK.

“We were going to share one stage to celebrate black excellence through our art and culture, music and achievement and to support the national annual memorial in England for our ancestors.”

The dancehall artist continued, saying that the people putting on this festival were in talks with Croydon council to see if it could be held in one of their parks.

“They met to see if they could hold it one of their parks but they [council] planned to keep their own festival in the same park with another company and the line-up was kind of the same thing – artists from Africa, the Caribbean, and whole heap more.”

PICTURED: Shezal

DETAILS

In a detailed blog post, Shezal sheds further light on the subsequent meetings which took place with Croydon council following her initial proposal in 2016. She writes: “The entire concept was laid out in my proposal and was further discussed in the several meetings which took place with my team and I, Tony Newman, councillor Hamida Ali and later on Paula Murray (creative director for Croydon Council).

“I already had a key headline artist, Beenie Man, confirmed and committed to appear. Two other acts that I had discussed having was Stormzy and Fuse ODG which would have brought together the Caribbean, Africa and the UK leaving only the Latin American element to fulfil.”

Shezal adds that during her second meeting with Mr. Newman, one thing stood out. “Tony wanted to change the name of the festival from Unity Splash with the acronym ‘Us’ to Urban Edge. I explained to Tony why the name was important and that black people didn’t tend to describe our music as ‘urban’ and that it was more a term used by others to describe black music in order to avoid using the word ‘black’,” she writes.

“Skip to 2017, Croydon Council decided to enter the Mayor of London’s Borough of Culture Bid. This competition was open to all of the London boroughs, with the winning entry receiving £1m to put on cultural activities in their borough throughout 2019.

“Paula asked me to participate in this competition and partner with the Croydon Museum to help them creatively bring their archives to life. As a member of the Croydon Borough of Culture team, I was sent the programme summary of all the projects taking place as part of their bid.”

According Shezal, Croydon council incorporated her idea for the festival into the proposal – much to her surprise.

“Obviously I was excited to see Croydon council had seen enough value in MY IDEA that they chose to include it in their proposal. I emailed Paula with excitement to tell her that we were looking forward to working on the event with them, only to be informed that they already had a partner for the event.

“I thought that perhaps maybe this was a different type of festival with a variety of music genres and a multicultural line-up, so I said nothing more. That was until I received the final programme summary which included the following:

‘Lloyd Park will also host Metropolis – a new music festival from Metropolis Music and Live Nation – featuring Fuse ODG, Damian Marley, Carlos Santana and Croydon’s own Stormzy…’

“They literally stole the festival we had proposed to them, stripped it of its entire ethos and integrity and repackaged it as a new cool ‘urban’ festival happening in Croydon,” writes Shezal. “I was absolutely devastated, but what hurt me most of all is not that my intellectual property was stolen, but that they knew that this was a charity festival for the black community, with all profits going to support underfunded black businesses and entrepreneurs and the memorial for our ancestors.”

In the video, Beenie Man further agreed that he didn’t believe that the launch of the Ends Festival was a coincidence. “I believe Croydon council teef the festival and its no longer about celebrating black people and their achievements – now it’s about making money for themselves.”

Croydon council were approached for a comment. A council spokesperson said: “We were delighted to welcome The Ends Festival, a Metropolis Music (Livenation) event, to Croydon this weekend as the latest new major music event to come to our borough.

“The Ends is not a Croydon council event; however as part of our Music City plans, we were proud to support the Future stage giving young local aspiring artists a platform.”

Written by Leah Sinclar from the voice-online.co.uk

First-time home buyers in Croydon receive an average of £1,188 in support from the Government through Help to Buy ISAs, new figures show.

But housing charity Shelter says the scheme only helps the better-off while most renters cannot benefit from it because of a minimum cut-off for savings.

The latest Treasury data shows that 668 people in Croydon received support from a Help to Buy ISA during the 12 months to September – 117 fewer than in the previous year.

But in total, £794,000 was paid to first-time buyers in the area, compared with £656,000 the previous year.

The scheme aims to help people buy their first house. Their property must be purchased with a mortgage and cannot be buy-to-let.

With a Help to Buy ISA, the Government adds 25% to the funds saved in the in buyer’s account at the point the property is purchased.

The minimum they will add is £400, meaning the buyer needs to save at least £1,600, and the maximum is £3,000.

Only individuals can open an account, but two people buying a property together can each use the bonus, giving them up to £6,000.

The Treasury estimates these subsidies helped buyers purchase 519 properties in Croydon in the twelve months to September.

The maximum purchase price for which buyers are allowed to receive financial help under the scheme is £250,000, or £450,000 in London.

The average sale price of homes for first-time buyers in Croydon in the year to September was £318,000.

Polly Neate, chief executive at Shelter, said: “Right now millions of people are stuck in the rent trap, paying well over the odds to put a roof over their head, with little hope of saving anything.

“It’s the failure of successive governments to build social homes that got us into this mess, so while Help to Buy ISAs may help a lucky few who are already better off, for most renters it will bring them no closer to a stable home.

“If the Government genuinely wants to help the nation’s struggling renters, it needs to seriously invest in social housing. That’s why we want them to back our bold call for 3.1 million new social homes over the next twenty years.”

Nationally, first-time buyers received £1,054 on average under Help to Buy from the Government to acquire their properties

source : londonnewsonline.co.uk

UK Coffee Week is the nation’s biggest celebration of coffee.

The week, which runs from 29 April to 5 May, is designed to celebrate all things coffee and a chance for coffee shops to donate money from every cup they serve to support charities.

The money goes towards Project Waterfall, which has raised over £1 million in rural areas of Nicaragua, Tanzania, Rwanda, Vietnam, Uganda, Kenya and Ethiopia.

To celebrate UK Coffee Week we have secured a reader offer that allows you to get a free coffee up to the value of £5 at any UK coffee shop.

The deal means you can buy a cup from a coffee shop chain such as Starbucks, Costa or Pret, or from your favourite local independent coffee shop. Wherever you buy the coffee from you will be able to claim back up to £5 on your purchase simply by keeping your receipt.

Here is how to get the deal

1. Head to your favourite coffee shop and buy a coffee up to the value of £5.

2. Keep hold of your receipt.

3. To get the deal you will need to be a new member of Topcashback. You will have to sign up to the free deals website here.

4. Once signed up follow the instructions and upload your receipt. After a short time you will be sent the value of your coffee directly into your account.

5. For all T&Cs go here.

Published by mylondon.news

Bridgstock dental practice takes immense pride in the quality of their dentistry and wants your visit to be a pleasant experience.

Their aim is good dental health for you and your family through Preventative dentistry.

That means giving you and your family regular dental advice to understand how to care of your natural teeth yourself, and to reduce the need for dental treatment.

With a friendly team, state of the art equipment and the use of the latest techniques, they, at Brigstock Dental, pride themselves on providing the highest quality dentistry in a comfortable and relaxed atmosphere.

FMMPOP is truly a unique shop located 21 North End, Whitgift centre Croydon.

If you are looking for unique clothing and jewellery then you definitely want to pop down to their shop.

They also run creative workshops for anyone interested in building their own business or want to learn a new skill.

However don’t be surprised if you walk in and find music artist performing or live model running the catwalk or even dancers on the stage, all while your shopping.

Site address: 21 North End, Centrale Whitgift – Croydon

fmmpopup@gmail.com,

 07848 111172

MycroydonLocal.info

“Keeping It Local”

The Wellness Therapy Centre.

Address: 3 Overtons Yard Croydon, Surrey CR0 1SL

They are focused on helping you with your health and beauty needs. They have been established for over 17 years in central Croydon and are still dedicated to providing the best possible integrated treatment options. Their experts will tailor treatments to you, ensuring you are presented with the right options from your mind and body through to your appearance, all to help you, live life to the full and be at your best.

Check out the video below for more information.

Contact info

Phone:020 8681 4951

According to my london.com

by By Tara O’Connor

In November the government handed Coulsdon a ‘notice to improve’ its finances

Croydon College students with principal and CEO Caireen Mitchell. The college says the merger will hope both colleges strive for excellence (Image: David Cook

Coulsdon Sixth Form College has officially announced its merger with Croydon College after the government ordered it to improve its finances.

The merger was agreed on October 1 last year but was officially announced on Tuesday, February 12.

Although the two colleges will now be known legally as Croydon College, both will continue to operate under separate identities.

Both are currently rated ‘good’ by Ofsted and will now be sharing facilities and ideas.

In November the government’s Education and Skills Funding Agency (ESFA) issued a ‘notice to improve’the financial health of Coulsdon Sixth Form.

A letter to the college said: “The requirements within this notice to improve will not apply post-merger.

“However, we would expect that Croydon College will continue to take necessary action to address the reasons why this was originally issued.”

Last summer there were just over 1,000 students enrolled at Coulsdon.

A report from college’s governing body showed that declining student numbers had affected funding. This is because colleges only get funded for the numbers of students who complete their qualifications.

It said fewer students than expected resulted in a loss of £505k ‘in-year additional funding’, the same report estimated there would be 954 students enrolling in October 2018.

Coulsdon will continue as a sixth form college, providing A-Level and vocational qualifications for 16-19 year olds.

While Croydon College will continue to provide a further and higher
Education offer, aimed at those aged 16 and above.

Chair of governors at Croydon College, Gordon Smith, said: “We are determined to continue to provide the very best education offer that we can.

“We are committed to working hard with our partners and stakeholders to ensure that both Coulsdon Sixth Form College and Croydon College contribute fully to the economic and social prospects of the borough and the community we serve.

“This move will accelerate our journey from good to great , enhancing the quality of our students’ experience by learning from and with each other.”

Now the two colleges will educate more than 2,500 students aged 16-19 as well as 4,000 adults each year.

This includes around 500 apprentices and 400 higher education students.