Canvassing St Norbert's Road and surrounding areas...

I was out canvassing this morning with Joan, Robin and Joe, getting wet and filling in canvassing sheets, that were rapidly turning into paper mache. Now many people would think, we have got a screw loose or are not quite there; but for us it is about the fact that canvassing is an excellent opportunity to help people who have either been missed by the processes and procedures in place at the council and other agencies, or who just simply do not know where to go for help.

Lewisham Homes featured again quite heavily in the needs of people today, but then there is no surprise there when we were in an area with a large percentage of Lewisham Homes properties. The weather, behaving with mischief, raised some issues around the weather proofing and the fabric of buildings originally constructed in 1930s.

Coming from a poor background and a council flat, it always seemed to me that no matter what my parents did to improve our circumstances, the slightest problem would send us straight back to square one. By that I mean, when my father had saved a little of our benefit money, to avoid having to borrow from Shopacheck (one of these legal, but massively expensive lenders of money) to pay for Christmas, the fridge would break down, or the cooker would stop working. So a small relief from the worry of a coming event, would be snatched away by having to fix or replace a necessary machine. Those memories, from twenty-five years ago, came flooding back today when I called on residents.

So what is my point? Sometimes there does not need to be one. However, I am pleased I went out this morning so I can present more casework to Lewisham Homes; but I am also frustrated that in a country with so much wealth that we lose people in the system. In Telegraph Hill, the Labour Action Team will continue to do what we can to give people a hand to support them in aspiring to be the best they can. Why? Because Telegraph Hill, in particular the Honor Oak Estate, reminds me of the place I came from and in a lot ways will never leave.