yesterdays observer

spinner · 02-02-2007, 13:38

i couldnt believe my eyes when i red yesterays observer which printed a small item 'food for thought' about 129grand being spent in the name of learning about differenr food cultures. this money is going to scaitcliffe community cenetr and in my opinion is shocking and silly. we ar a poor town and need more useful ways of spending money and as it is lottery money perhaps it should have been awarded to the olympics. also the aim of this new project is' to celebrate the diversity of food cultures in different ethnic groups and bring people togeather to learn about others dietry habits and traditional dishes'. forgive me but havent we all seen cooking programmes and so on. also it is not enviromentally friendly to promote the use of exotic fruit and veg. although i dont use this forum so much now i am maddened by the ridiculouse use of monies

lancsdave · 02-02-2007, 14:00

All they have to do is check back on the council applications for change of use from shop/house to take away establishment and the diversity of different foods in Accrington should smack them in the face.

WillowTheWhisp · 02-02-2007, 14:07

I have a feeling that the answer to this one is that the money is earmarked for one purpose only and that if we don't use it for that we don't get it for anything else. You say we are a poor town. Perhaps then it's good that we receive a lottery grant to use in this way.

Positive tends to spiral upwards and negative tends to spiral downwards.

We have plenty of charity shops and pounds shops and cheapo shops which attract poorer people. Perhaps with more frivolous (as you see it) ventures and more fun things we can attract different people. which would ultimately attract different shops which would attract different people so we can aim for an upward trend.

Gayle · 02-02-2007, 14:12

"A total of £129k has been handed over to Accrington's Scaitcliffe Community Centre by the Big Lottery Fund. The money will help fund the Step-2 programme which will train and recruit community food workers and instructors to deliver after-school cooking and gardening clubs."

I read it too and thought it sounded a good thing - educates young people, teaching cooking skills, keeps them off the streets, provides care after school - can't quite see the problem. The aim is education - the by product is learning about diversity and food cultures!

The Big Lottery is open to all sorts of groups to apply to. If this group have seen a need in the town, filled in the forms correctly and made a good case for their project there is no reason why it shouldn't have been awarded. The lottery people don't think to themselves 'I know what I'll do, I deprive Hyndburn of even more money and give it to the multibillion pounds excess that is the olympics'.

spinner · 02-02-2007, 14:31

[. The money will help fund the Step-2 programme which will train and recruit community food workers and instructors to deliver after-school cooking and gardening clubs."

i wlii believe it when i see it. the usual selection of people will be offered these instructor jobs and i bet there will be no thourough programme to implement these measures. goodness knows how that money will be distributed as when i read the paper scaitcliffe regularly recieves ample moneies for so called refurbishement. how is it that it is still not refurbished. re the olymipics ,money has to be allocated there regardless so instead of wasting it on scaitcliffe why not spend it there . at least the results are going to be spectacular and it will be a chance to showoff the uk to the world. i would prefer this than lining the already rich walls of scaitcliffe. ethnic minorites have had enough of so called community leaders at scaitcliffe apparently representing our lives.

WillowTheWhisp · 02-02-2007, 14:33

Where is the connection betwen this and refurbishment?

Gayle · 02-02-2007, 14:34

You do know that Scaitcliffe Community Centre is not the same as Scaitcliffe House.

Scaitcliffe House is our council offices, and Scaitcliffe Community Centre is, as it says, a community centre.

£129k in the grand scheme of things is peanuts for the olympics and probably wouldn't even buy a few roof tiles. Whereas in a community it can deliver something of real benefit.

WillowTheWhisp · 02-02-2007, 14:43

Quote:

Originally Posted by spinner

i would prefer this than lining the already rich walls of scaitcliffe. ethnic minorites have had enough of so called community leaders at scaitcliffe apparently representing our lives.

Presumably the people who have received the money are the people who have applied for it. They must have felt that they would appreciate it and be able to put it to good use.

I'm puzzled why you assume that this is "the powers that be" setting themselves up as representative of ethnic communities who don't want them. Where does it say that is the case?

spinner · 02-02-2007, 14:51

Quote:

Originally Posted by WillowTheWhisp

I'm puzzled why you assume that this is "the powers that be" setting themselves up as representative of ethnic communities who don't want them. Where does it say that is the case?

what do you mean

lindsay ormerod · 02-02-2007, 15:04

Spinner,you don't appear to have much grasp of the way that grants and awards like this work; as Gayle so succinctly puts it in her first post,the party involved must have filled in the forms correctly and proved that this award would be of benefit to the community. The money is given to spend on a specified project;you can't just apply for it and then decide to spend on some unrelated random nonsense.
You seem to have a real bee in your bonnet about this for no good reason; jealousy maybe or just misunderstanding?
Your community can apply for this kind of thing too;Gayle is a specialist in this area and would be more than willing to help you if you asked her;there are pots of money like this being given out all the time,it's a matter of form filling and proving the projects usefullness to the wider community.

spinner · 02-02-2007, 15:11

;you can't just apply for it and then decide to spend on some unrelated random nonsense.
You seem to have a real bee in your bonnet about this for no good reason; jealousy maybe or just misunderstanding?
oh yes you can , i have worked within a organisation similar to scaitcliffe and know how the system works. oh and yes i am jelouse for the people of accrington ho would really benefit if the money was used efficiently

WillowTheWhisp · 02-02-2007, 15:30

I have to contradict you there Spinner. Grants are applied for for a specific purpose and granted for that specific purpose. Obtaining a grant under false pretences and using it for some other reason is tantamount to fraud.

In order for Scaitcliffe Community Centre to have obtained this grant Scaitcliffe Community Centre must have applied for it.

There is absolutely nothing to stop any other group from putting in their own application if they wish to do so.

chav1 · 02-02-2007, 17:27

with all teh piza houses , buger joints and curry houses and not to mention chineese and italian resturants ime pretty sure we are aware of different food cultures

we even used to have a guy who rummaged through bins for scrap food on church street although i think he was pretty much alone in that food culture

all you need to know about foreign food is that if eating french make sure its not part of a frog , horse or snails and if eating cantoneese make sure it isnt cat or dog

Acrylic-bob · 02-02-2007, 17:40

Oh for goodness sake, What on earth is a "community food worker" when it is at home.

It strikes me that we have been down this road before. I can understand the argument about the money being better off in accrington's pocket than anyone else's and I have to say I broadly agree with that notion. What I do not agree with, and never will, is the ridiculous way that the National Lottery money is frittered away on pointless, spurious, ineffectual and utterly banal make-work schemes. Community food workers! What next Community Burkha Workers, because it is vitally important that we all learn why some sections of our community feel it is right and proper that women should be segregated and treated as little more than brood mares and mere adjuncts to their husbands. Perhaps we should aslo apply for a grant to fund a Community Beard Worker as well, to teach us all why men who shave are always and ineluctably effeminate and for that reason ritually impure and damned before God.

Will these Community Food Workers be teaching us about the joys of Eastern European cuisine too, or is their remit limited to foods originating in the Indian sub-continent?

Shady McGough · 02-02-2007, 19:33

Quote:

Originally Posted by Acrylic-bob

Will these Community Food Workers be teaching us about the joys of Eastern European cuisine too, or is their remit limited to foods originating in the Indian sub-continent?

AB, do us all a favour and actually read the article in the paper before assuming you know all the facts.

I've just read the article and it does not state which food cultures in which different ethnic groups will benefit. For all you know it could be teaching people the joys of deep fried mars bars and haggis or how to cook shrimps on a barbie. You are assuming one thing because the words ethnic groups have been used.