LOCALS: ‘OUR STREETS ARE STILL NOT SAFE!’

A NEW SURVEY has revealed that lo-cals in the Handsworth Wood and Perry Barr area STILL do not feel safe.

This survey, carried out by Handsworth Hub officials, reveals some surprising facts which contradict Government statistics of recent years.

The main reason for people not feeling safe is due to fear of crime such as mug-gings, stabbings or shootings.

According to the West Midlands police statistics, crime has been reduced in the area. Supposedly, the recorded crime rate for 2008-2009 was 1,754 and is now 1,614 (2009-2010).

If this is the case, then why are so many people still fearful of crime occurrence and feel crime has increased?

Local student Sabrina O’Garra, 18, stated ‘‘Of course our area isn’t safe, people get mugged and there’s always gangs and big groups of people everywhere. Anti-social behaviour is definitely a problem’’. Local councillor, Cleopatra Manning, assures us that something will be done to solve the problem (Continued page 6).

By Stacy-Ann Burrell

HANDSWORTH

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PULLING TOGETHER:Local councillor and teen come together to tackle local issues.

LOCAL TEENS UNITE!

LOCAL TEENS are attempting to fight off the negative stereotype we have of them by organising a fundraising car wash. The initial idea was created by Sade Akintola , Student,19 who then pro-

moted the event via her Facebook page. Sade soon realised that a lot of her friends wanted to get involved and help and she then took this further. The teens met weekly to decide how the event would be run. They then de-cided on a £2 car wash, with free snacks provided at the event.The teens contacted us for help and we gave them £300 to set up equipment and make food preparations for the event. We will also be at the event reporting and photographing how well our teens have done. When asked why she wanted to do this, Sade simply stated: ‘‘I’m tired of reading negative things about my gen-eration in the press and I wanted to do something to change this stereotype by showing we can all unite’’. Local businesses have shown their

support. Dutch Pot Caribbean restau-rant and Abbas chip shop have offered to cook the food for the event free of charge- providing the teens buy the sup-ply of food. In addition, many of the staff at Havelock Road Garage, where the event is being held, have said they will defi-nitely be getting their own cars washed to show support. Handsworth Hub staff are also joining them to do this. Local residents are touched that our teenagers are trying to do something positive. The teens are hoping these residents come out to support the event. Sade stated; ‘‘I hope everyone can come and get their cars washed. £2 isn’t much to ask for and in return you get free food and the satisfaction of knowing you’ve helped your local community’’.(Continued page 8).

THUMBS UP: Taking a break

By Stacy-Ann Burrell

MONDAY 8TH NOVEMBER 2010

YES FOLKS, it’s that time again for the Holy Trinity C of E Pri-mary School fun day. Prepare yourselves for the face painting, entertainment and tasty food which have always been provided each year and this year will cer-tainly be no different. The event will take place at Holy Trinity Church as usual and the line-up of entertainment is jam packed with new local faces and veteran performers from previous fun days. Food will be provided by parents at the School who have volunteered to help and have of-fered to pay for the food them-selves. This event is in honour of raising money for worthwhile causes. Half the funds raised will go towards the Holy Trinity C of E School fund and the other half will be donated to NSPCC .

LOCAL CHILDREN ages ranging from 8-11 have teamed up and or-ganised a spring clean for the local area. The idea originated from lo-cal Head Teacher Elaine Dunford of Holy Trinity Church Of England Primary School. ‘’I wanted the kids to gain a sense of achievement from helping their community by doing something fun!’’ Elaine ex-plains. Elaine also welcomed pupils from other local Primary Schools, such as Sacred Heart, Westminis-ter & St Mary’s, to take part in the event. The children will be helping to keep the local area clean by litter and leaf picking and the event will take place later this spring; hence the name spring clean. There will of course be adult supervision and par-ents are welcome to join. Come on folks, lets support the children and Elaine who states ‘I’m hoping this event will go well and that we could possibly make it an annual thing’. The success of this event ensures there will be others like it in future.

LOCALS ARE OUTRAGED at the amount of doggy lit-ter that has become a prevalent site in the Handsworth area. Stray dogs are said to be a huge factor in the prob-

lem as they have no owners to clean up after them and some dogs with owners still do not get their faeces disposed of.It is causing distress and anger amongst local people, especial-

ly those who are fighting to create a better image for Handsworth. A petition is in process which will be passed on to the council. It is unsure precisely how many people have signed it, but

word on the street is, this will spell trouble for the council. The council will have to fork out money from the lo-

cal budget to pay extra money to the street cleaners.Whatever the cost, the council need to do something about the problem

as it is prevalent in our community and the locals will NOT be silenced.

ANNUAL HOLY TRINITY FUN DAY

STAR IN OUR EYES

YOUNG STAR: J Dot Lyrikal (centre) with C.A team

By Stacy-Ann Burrell

By Stacy-Ann Burrell

By Stacy-Ann BurrellTEENAGE SENSATION Jaime Tait, 17, has taken the local area by storm with his musical talent. The teen who uses the stage name J Dot Lyrikal, first stunned locals by storming the stage at Showtime, the well known local talent show. ‘’ I’ve always been into music but I got serious about it when I saw well known grime artists making it into the mainstream...that’s what made me realise maybe I could do it too’’ says the sure-to-be future grime superstar. ‘’I just want my music to speak positively to people’’ he continues. J makes up one third of the grime troop Constructive Artists which features fellow artists Cee Jay and Scripta. The group shot to instant popu-larity amongst grime fans when they performed at Showtime. Though J did perform with his Constructive Artist band mates for the talent show, he was clearly the stand out star. Look out Tinie Tempah, a new grime star has arrived on the scene. We expect big things from J Dot Lyrikal this year, you should too.

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A STAR: J (centre) performing with his team, Scripta (left) and CeeJay(right).

PERPATRATORS: Local stray dogs such as these two are the biggest contributor to the problem