Britain's First Somalian Mayor hails from Tower Hamlets

What do you know about the Somalian community here? You might what to add onto your list Ahmed Omer, the first Somalian to be elected a mayor in Britain.

Omer, who represents Bow East, came to Britain in the 1970’s. He now lives in Bethnal Green and works for the East London Somali Welfare Centre.

I told a Somalian friend of mine about this development, and she was surprised - apparently she’d never heard of Ahmed Omer or his appointment(despite living in Tower Hamlets for a while). Nevertheless she seemed pleased.

There are quite a few places in East London where you can find out more about Somalians here. For example the Somali Employment and Training organisation works closely with this community to discuss the challenges they face and help place them in employment. The organisation says this community faces 'multiple challenges'.

The organisation also aims to help cut poverty and isolation amongst refugees from Somalia.

Dagenham school’s struggle pays off

Believe me, there’s some good things coming out of Dagenham, one of the most deprived boroughs in London.

Forget the sour taste about the plans for a prison there (see previous post), this week the Evening Standard honoured a Dagenham school Robert Clack for its ‘outstanding achievement in challenging circumstances’ after its good pass rates in A-levels and GCSEs.

Some of the challenges faced included weeding out bad behavior. The head teacher Paul Grant had to suspend 300 pupils in his first week.

The paper also noted the talent churned out of Robert Clack School, in the form of Ashton Russell (pictured above).

The 15 year-old Dagenham boy plays young Michael Jackson in the West End musical Thriller.

Ashton said: “It is the best thing that has ever happened to me and now I feel like I can make a career out of singing and dancing. My school has been pushing me further all the time.”

Resistance to Dagenham Prison plan

Not everyone is happy about developments in Dagenham at this point in time, least of all the plans for a new prison.

From what I’ve learnt in the Barking and Dagenham Recorder, it is clear the plans are a hot slap in the face for the Dagenahm MP John Cruddas (Labour).

Apparently he stormed out of the House of Commons saying he had been informed just 20 minutes before the Minister unveiled the plans. He called it a shoddy backstage deal. It is understood the prison will be built on the old Ford site and will keep up to 1,500 prisoners. The Council claims hundreds of jobs will be built.

Those huffing and puffing alongside Cruddas include members of the Facebook group ‘No Prison in Dagenham’. One member of this group has made it clear he will remove his mom from the area because of this. I don't know how this will in turn move the Justice Secretary Jack Straw, but anway ...

A cheekier member of this group says there’s no need to build a prison in Dagenham, because the authorities can simply put a wall around Barking.

But others are less kind to Cruddas and his crew. “dagenham is a hole anyway. What difference will a prison make. all the crims in daggers wont have to travel far to go to her majestys hotel,” another said.

East End Film Festival highlights

Hands up those who don’t support local film. When was the last time you decided, out of the goodness of your heart, to attend our very own East End Film Festival purely to boost support for budding film makers?

This is not to say the event has poor attendance figures. If anything, it seems to be swelling. The festival was birthed in Tower Hamlets and kicked off in 2001. Since then it has continued to provide support for film exhibition and film making. The week-long festival ends tomorrow.

So what did you miss? An interesting film to see was East End Lives (Directors: Hazuan Hashim, Phil Maxwell), which looks at people who have grown up in council housing in the area and their cultural landscape. Another eye catcher was Fire Burn Babylon (Director: Sarita Siegal), about a crew of Rastas evacuated to East London after a volcanic eruption at Monsterrat. They reinvent themselves as “rude boys” rappers in the areas club scene.

A pretty rich mix, if you ask me.

Hunt for Greenwich ‘social workers’

And you thought there were some weird people out there. But can it beat this:

Two women visited a property in Eltham last month and showed ID and claimed to work for Social Services. They explained that they had attended to inspect the family's child, following information received on the family.

They asked to examine the child and checked over their arms and legs. The two women also looked around the property, checked the child's bedroom and inspected the family's fridge.

When the two women left, the family contacted Greenwich Social Services; it was confirmed that a visit at the address had not been scheduled. The two suspects left without providing any contact details or paperwork relating to the visit.
One of the suspects is described as a white woman, with blonde curly hair, aged in her thirties (see the above e-fit / picture). The second suspect is described as of Mediterranean appearance with black hair tied back, aged in her thirties.

I’ve heard of people posing to be post men or charity workers – but this takes the cake. How dangerous can it get?

You’ve been warned.

What happens when bashment folk find millions?

The Hackney Empire promises to sizzle you this weekend with a tale about ordinary folk who find themselves with a stash of cash (a whoooooping $12million!). Now with the miserable credit crunch mood around town, you don’t know if this kind of story is appealing or if it’s a real put off.

Either way, Bashment Granny 2 will at least entertain you, if anything. Here’s a tip – look out for the pretty bar maid and the jail bird, they could get away with the cash. And what about the rightful owner of the money - would you seek him and return the money? I think that’s what Mr Bashment and Constable Shebada ought to do.

This hocus pocus show is filled with Jamaican anecdotes, in a story that explores friendship, loyalty and the trials of money (or having too much of it!).

Contact 0208 985 2424 to book your ticket.

What did the G20 do for East London?

East London’s capability to host a global event was tested last week with the G20 meeting in London.

What does the community gain from hosting such as event? Some could argue nothing directly. Local business people interviewed on BBC London complained that because certain areas had been cordoned off, customers could not come to their shops, and hence they had to close early because of no business. A lot of police resources were spent on the event as well. Because of the conference, a complete train network – the DLR – was shutdown, meaning hundreds of commuters, if not thousands, were inconvenienced.

On the other hand, for others like the local council Newham and the Excel Docklands Centre, it will serve their books well. For these the benefit is more likely to be long term. For example, because it has successfully hosted an event of this nature, the Excel is likey to attract more global events, and this will boost business confidence in Newham.