Start the new year with the York People’s Assembly

Our next meeting will be as part of the York People’s Assembly. We will be joining people campaigning against the cuts in all fields – from the NHS to low pay – for a bit of food and to begin planning for the new year.

13th January, Friends Meeting House, Friargate starting with food at 6.30, continuing with the meeting at 7.30pm. Come along anytime and hope to see you there!

From the York People’s Assembly website:

Pot-luck meal and meeting to kick-start 2014
Posted on January 4, 2014 by Graham Martin

On Monday 13th January, we’re hosting a pot-luck meal and speakers to kick off our regular decision meetings for 2014. The event will be held at Friends Meeting House, Friargate starting with food at 6.30 and continuing with our meeting at 7.30pm (click for Facebook event). With the Lib Dem spring conference coming to York in March, we’ve invited the TUC Yorkshire region’s Neil Foster to share plans for a huge demonstration in our city. We hope to have a couple of local campaigners sharing as well.

A meal is a great way to get people sharing together, whether its food, stories or ideas. We’re asking those who can to bring a dish to share – please don’t worry if you can’t. We know that lots of people who show up will be vegetarian, so ideally take this into account (bonus points for vegan!). If you’ve got a pot of food that needs reheating, the kitchen at Friend’s Meeting House will be open from about 5.30pm. We’ll aim to lay out the buffet between 6.15 and 6.30, but late items won’t be a problem. When we’re done, we’ll load the dishwasher and get on with the meeting.

Recent press coverage for the York’s Housing Crisis campaign

Recent press coverage for the York Housing Crisis campaign…

Anne Czernik,
‘Caught in York’s housing trap’, Guardian Northern Blog, 5th June 2012

Anne Czernik, ‘York tackles housing crisis which threatens its ‘equal city drive’, Guardian Northern Blog, 5th June 2012

Anne Czernik, ‘Exodus of the poor’, Morning Star , 6th June 2012

Grace Robin Doughton, ‘Is York equal when it comes to a home?’ , One&Other, 6th June 2012

Mike Laycock and Ben McClusky, ‘Expert says housing shortage could lead to disaster’, York Press, 13th June 2012

Photographs from our Here to Live, Here to Stay: Ukuncut and York’s Great British Street Party – 26th May 2012

[gigya src=”http://www.flickr.com/apps/slideshow/show.swf?v=71649″ width=”500″ flashvars=”offsite=true&lang=en-us&page_show_url=/photos/68907559@N02/sets/72157629921681142/show/&page_show_back_url=/photos/68907559@N02/sets/72157629921681142/&set_id=72157629921681142&jump_to=” allowFullScreen=”true” ]

Hugh Bayley accepts York Welfare Campaign’s Housing Benefit petition

Last week York Welfare Campaign handed in a petition of over 500 signatures calling for changes in the boundaries which set Housing Benefit levels in York. York MP Hugh Bayley will now present the petition in Parliament as part of his ongoing campaign on this issue.

Hugh Bayley believes that personal stories of people who have been directly affected by the changes in Housing Benefit levels will be most effective.

If you are willing to share your experiences, either to be named or anonymously then get in touch with us via our contact form.

Here to Live, Here to Stay: Ukuncut and York’s Great British Street Party

26th May, 11am-3pm, St Helen’s Square

York Welfare Campaign and York Stop the Cuts are inviting you to come and ‘Party for the Alternative’.

Through fun, games, food and chat for all ages, we will celebrate living in York and demand that York is a place for all of us. Street parties are going to be all the rage for the Queen’s Jubilee. But ours will have a twist. We party to demand that York is an affordable place to live. We party against the cuts to public services, benefits and the erosion of the NHS. We party for a new future that isn’t dictated to us by a handful of millionaires but decided by us all – together.

Join the event on facebook

Linked to Uk Uncut’s Great British Street Party
http://www.ukuncut.org.uk/

A Place to Live: York Housing Crisis debate

York Welfare Campaign are putting together an information and discussion event on York’s housing crisis. It’ll take place at the Friends Meeting House, Friargate at 7.30pm on Monday 14th May. (Facebook event). Our panel includes:

• Rev Paul Wordsworth – Chaplain to York’s homeless and City of Sanctuary Co-ordinator
• Michael Hall – Leeds Tenants Federation (on Council Housing)
• Michelle Cooper – York Families (on Housing Benefit)
• Chaired by Helen Graham – York Welfare Campaign and York Stop the Cuts

The economic climate, the government’s welfare ‘reforms’, the lack of house building: it all adds to the problems facing people who want to make a home in York. If we don’t find ways to act together for change, many of us will no longer be able to afford to stay in the city we live and work in. Already, homeless people are being settled in cities over a hundred miles away. Families are being forced to move out of York, upsetting their children’s education.

Come and ask your questions of our panel and join the debate on housing and how we make York somewhere people can afford to live.

For further reading on how changes to housing benefit are affecting people in York, the York Press together with York Council have produced two good articles: Hundreds to lose housing benefit payments and Big variation in way benefit cuts will hit.

Here to Live, Here to Stay – call for contributions

York Welfare Campaign are running an event on 26th May ‘Here to Live, Here to Stay’. A ‘Party for the Alternative’ (to link in with UK Uncut national action) to celebrate living in York and to contest changes in Housing Benefit and kick start our campaign against the unregulated, over priced, exploitative Private Rented sector, both of which are forcing people out of York.

We’re looking for people to get involved in running a street cafe, to entertain, to do face painting, to facilitate giant games (like jenga) and run stalls for different York groups. Next York Welfare Campaign meeting 1st May, 7.30pm in Corner Pin pub or get in touch on helengraham23@gmail.com.

Full Steam Ahead…

Whilst we’ve been a bit quiet with our web presence, we’ve been busy behind the scenes working on two active campaigns and monitoring several other developments.

Our Local Housing Benefit Petition is nearing its finish – please sign it and share the link with friends. We have paper signatures to add, but we’re quite a way short of our 500 target for both on- and offline versions.

The issue of forced unpaid Workfare hasn’t gone away, and we’ll be returning to the City Centre with a visual protest on Saturday 31st March, starting at 1pm at the Fountain in Parliament Street. We need lots of people to come flier, hold the banner and be part of our protest.

Sign York Welfare Campaign’s Housing Benefit Peitition

York is facing a housing crisis. In 2010/2011 homelessness in York was up 40% on the previous year. Private Rented Accommodation is expensive and insecure. A recent report by Shelter noted that York is one of very few exceptions in the north where ‘average rents are on a par with those seen in the South East and East of England’.

On top of this, the changes in Housing Benefit mean that of 6299 private rented properties previously affordable in the city, 3700 will be lost, almost 50%. This is effectively driving people out of York and away from their jobs, families and friends.

York’s Broad Market Rental Area which determines the level of Housing Benefit available currently includes Tadcaster and Selby, Pocklington and surrounding areas, all of which have lower rent levels and which has the knock on effect of driving down the average rent for the whole area and setting an unrealistic low level of Housing Benefit in York as a city.

We call on the Housing Minister to make a simple administrative change – to change the boundary of the Broad Market Rental Area to only include the city. This will much reduce the pressure on people and mean that people can stay in the city they call their home.

Sign the petition here:
http://www.change.org/petitions/hm-government-and-housing-minister-grant-shapps-change-the-boundary-used-to-set-housing-benefit-levels-in-york

York protest against workfare

Saturday 3rd of March is a National Day of Action Against Workfare. Called by Boycott Workfare, the day sees protest groups around the country take action against the government schemes which force unemployed, young and disabled people into working full-time jobs while continuing to only receive basic benefits. Allowing high street stores to make money from compulsory labour, while claimants who refuse to take part face sanctions including having their benefits suspended or cut altogether.

In York we will be meeting at 1pm at the fountain on Parliament Street and then moving off to visit some of the offenders in York’s city centre.

This protest has been called by York Welfare Campaign (https://yorkwelfarecampaign.wordpress.com/), affiliated to York Stop the Cuts. Our next meeting takes place at 7:30pm in the Corner Pin (just off Rougier Street) on Tuesday 6th March.

For more information see:

Home

National Day of Action Against Workfare – 3/3/12

http://johnnyvoid.wordpress.com/tag/workfare/