Members of Harrow Citizens hit the streets in their local area to raise awareness about local mental health services among the wider public. Read more to find out more about this important public action. 

Blog by Hugh Murdoch, North London Citizens Organiser

This morning I was pleased to hear London Mayor Sadiq Khan announce plans for a violence reduction unit to tackle the endemic rise of youth crime in London. The unit, which will treat youth violence as a public health issue, will be based on a model in Glasgow which had significant success.

However, this morning’s announcement came alongside news of yet another fatal stabbing on our streets. A young man in his 20s was killed on Tuesday night by Tufnell Park, on the border between of Camden and Islington.

Harrow Citizens is the newest Borough alliance of Citizens UK in North London. It launched in May 2017 with the aim of bringing different civic society organisations together to organise and act for the common good. In just over the year, Harrow Citizens has already made great strides and is keen to keep growing in both strength and numbers. Continue reading to find out more about Harrow Citizens' achievements and their next steps.

Young people from the Wembley area have undertaken research to reveal shocking pay-gap their parents, some of whom work at the stadium, face and met outside the Stadium to sing Living Wage themed football chants [Watch video]

Campaigners are inviting the Minister for Sport and fans to support call for Chairman Greg Clarke to put forward a plan to implement the real Living Wage at the FA’s next board meeting.

Over 2,000 workers are reported to receive below the London Living Wage of £10.20 an hour, with the majority as low as £7.50 an hour with those under 18 earning even less.

School children from St Ignatius Primary School today held an assembly asking the Cabinet Member for Environment at Haringey Council - Cllr Peter Mitchell - to adopt Selective Landlord Licensing in the borough on Friday.

This is after the school, as part of Haringey Citizens, heard countless stories of children and parents struggling with terrible conditions in the private rented sector and of landlords refusing to carry out basic repairs such as fixing heating, electricity, broken appliances, and damp - whilst also refusing to deal with vermin.

Children from St Ignatius Primary School with researchers from UCL, Generation Rent and Citizens UK

The school children were at the centre of the research project and decided to build a dolls house to illustrate the problems they had heard from the community.

One family have gone months without heating, with this week one of the coldest on record. Despite numerous attempts to complain to his landlord - his landlord has refused to fix the problem

London Citizens is backing their fight for tougher Landlord Licensing in the Borough to tackle rogue landlords who are causing misery to young families.

Leader of Camden Council, Cllr Sarah Hayward (pictured third from left), has said the council is committed to housing more refugees in the borough despite having already met their target of settling 20 refugee families by 2020, except for one family who had to pull out due to ill health.

Community groups supported by North London Citizens, part of Citizens UK, are holding an Open House this Thursday to show landlords that renting homes to Syrian refugees families can be a life-changing experience for everyone involved - and make financial sense.

Paul Eedle of Muswell Hill Methodist Church, which is working to bring a Syrian family to the UK under the government’s new Community Sponsorship scheme, and Atia Lokhat-Hafezjee, a landlord who has rented a flat to a newly-arrived Syrian family in Tottenham, have organised the event to confront head-on the suspicions which many landlords have of renting to families on housing benefit.

Brent Action for Refugees met with landlords and estate agents from across Brent, asking businesses to do their part in welcoming refugees. The event, hosted by Newman Catholic College, brought together a diverse group of civic institutions.

Oscar Watkins, a volunteer with Brent Action for Refugees said “we decided to hold this event, because we knew that businesses in Brent could do their part to help vulnerable Syrian refugees. This is an opportunity for Brent council to work with businesses and the community to make resettlement a success."

On Saturday 13^th February, local young people and businesses on Camden High Street joined forces to make Camden High Street a safer place for everyone, as they launched the first wave of CitySafe Havens in the area in partnership with Camden Citizens, part of national community organizing charity, Citizens UK.

Young people in Camden raised concerns that when they felt threatened or in danger they didn’t feel they had anywhere to turn, and that they were always seen as trouble makers. Fourteen local young people from across Camden decided take the safety concerns of the community into their own hands and make Camden High Street a safer place to be.

Leaders in Brent came together to establish a #RefugeesWelcome support group, expressing solidarity and support with the refugees fleeing violence and unrest in Syria and other war-torn countries.