TELCO Delegates: Fast, Feast, Organise

Because the Delegates Assembly took place during the holy month of Ramadan, dates and glasses of water were handed out to those of Islamic faith to break their fast at 17:39pm, led by Father Josh Harris and Dr Mahera Ruby. A time for prayer and reflection was given for everyone to pray and contemplate, and a Dua was given; this is the act of calling upon Allah to seek comfort, ask for needs, and express gratitude. Leaders were then given prompt questions for self-reflection, to consider our own direction, purpose, and movement. This is done to seek wisdom together as boroughs on how to act for the community. Once reflections were finished, Iftar began. Students from Queen Mary University London and Northeastern University helped by serving everyone their meals, and TELCO leaders sat, spoke, and ate together, kicking the evening off with a positive, warm feeling of community.

Shortly after Iftar and a communal breaking of fast, Dr Mahera Ruby of East London Mosque and Father Josh from St Katherine Cree offered some moving opening reflections. Within their words, a central message lit across the room, that being the importance of organising across difference in dark times. Dr Ruby and Father Josh thoughtfully explored the histories and values inherent to both Ramadan and Lent, building an inspiring alliance across faith through the devotion to serve and do good. Despite fear, division and exclusion, Dr Ruby reminded the room “These are dark currents - but darkness is not new to humanity, it presents us an opportunity to respond together”. The message was clear that as a collective, even in dark times, light will become visible.

Building on this, Father Josh provided stated “for all of us fundamentally as people of faith or not, dignity is not granted by creed, passport, or race. It is inherent. It is founded on a shared commitment to human worth”. There was a clear sense of motivation and energy in the room, with members of the audience taking photos and videos to remember a space where faith can be shared. After this initial welcome, the audience was greeted by three co-chairs, Keisha, Sufia, and Averil, and reaffirmed the central message of coming together despite differences, or in Sufia’s words “organised, disciplined, joyful resistance to injustice”.

Once the tone had been set for the assembly and motivation spurred amongst the borough representatives, we were ready to move onto the next steps of the assembly and arguably the most important. A week earlier a discernment meeting was held to decide the priority across all 4 Citizens London chapters including all boroughs, this was done to maximise collective power through a more coordinated approach to this year's asks; this year's London priority meeting decided living hours and continuing the living wage campaign as the first London priority, followed closely by temporary accommodation. In the chapter of TELCO, it was the V& A was highlighted as a company of interest when it came to this ask and to push morale and get the fight going the entire assembly come together to chant " Come on V&A! Pay the living wage!" where everyone could feel the energy of this campaign and carry it into the upcoming action of the year.

This sentiment was carried through the rest of the assembly where murmurs rippled across the hall as the opportunity to vote for these issues within each borough got closer. But before this could happen, the options first had to be introduced: Temporary accommodation, youth safety, and ESOL. We broke out into our borough where each representative got a chance to speak on what they saw as the TELCO priority. Alliances were given the choice to vote between prioritising issues like providing the 5 Basics in temporary accommodation, ESOL and Youth Safety.

TELCO voted to prioritise Temporary Accommodation. The first ask is the pledge to provide the five Basics in Temporary accommodation: cooking facilities, laundry facilities, reliable and free internet access, accessible, free storage, and clear information. The second ask is to reduce or end the use of B&B’s for families in Temporary Accommodation. These asks will be the focus of the campaigns, to ensure the right to live is upheld and adequate conditions are provided.

The assembly ended with closing statements from the co-chairs, Avril Pooten-Watan, Sufia Alam, and Keisha Nembhard-Andrade. They reiterated why we use community organising and the importance of everyone meeting and voting to decide TELCO’s campaign. The atmosphere was hopeful and inspiring about the future of TELCO, with the reflections being described as “encouraging,” “positive,” and “connected.” Together, the assembly closed with a renewed collective commitment to act in solidarity and turn hope into tangible change for families in temporary accommodation.