Just a quick resume of my week.
Seems to have been a long series of meeting, both during the daytime for work, and in the evenings as a councillor. Sometimes you get weeks like that, when you crave time just to stop and think about what's going on.
Other weeks, you think too much 
On Tuesday evening, I went to a meeting of the Mercator Community Association. Things seem to have quitened considerably since when I was first elected and started attending meetings there, with really serious problems of vandalism and anti-social behaviour. It's by no means perfect now, with a few kids using garage roofs as a playground, and throwing missiles. But it's a lot better than it was. Main item of business was the preparations for the summer BBQ. Which I'm looking forward too. But should go less heavy on the burgers, because the next evening I went to ...
... the last meeting of the Men's Health Group, to finalise the eponymous report which we had been assembling over the last year. I felt about self-conscious posing for photos in front of a display promoting healthier lifestyles, for which I am not a good role-model (unless as the "before" bit in a "before and after" advert). At the risk of sounding a bit smug (a risk which I take far too often to be complacent about it), I think we've actually worked very well across party lines to produce a substantial piece of work with a lot of interesting material about men's health across the Borough (a problem which is particularly serious in Lewisham Central ward), and some useful conclusions. Inevitably, though, more could be done if we had more resources to tackle health inequalities.
On Thursday night, I failed to attend the Blackheath Safer Neighbourhoods meeting because I got the time wrong, but I did get to a joint social event for the governors of Brindishe and Hither Green Primary schools. The schools have recently formed a partnership, and this gathering was to help cement that. I came away with a large bag of leaflets advertising Hither Green school to distrubute around local venues frequented by people who have or are planning children of primary school age. Any suggestions gratefuly received.
On Friday evening, went to the special Council meeting to award the Freedom of the Borough of Lewisham to former councillor Les Eytle. He'd been a councillor since 1982, and had a remarkable life before that. Born in Guyana, he'd become an assistant district commissioner there, but when he came over to London he had to start again from the bottom of another hierarchy as a ticket clerk at Marylebone station . He suffered all the discrimination which black people faced in 1950s and 60s Britain, yet overcame it to become Lewisham's first directly elected black councillor at a time when that was not an easy thing to do. We found out a lot about Les in the long series of encomial speeches. One thing I didn't know is that he was instrumental in founding the St Mauritius and Calabash Centres which cater for older black people in Lewisham. Which could be a useful argument for those of us on the current board of the Lewisham Park Housing Association who are trying to protect the high quality of services which they have traditionally provided, in a future overhsadowed by financial constraints and worrying treatment of St Mauritius residents by the Hyde Housing Association.
Thence to a bit o late evening bundling of Lewisham Central Focuses. If anyone would like to help deliver those, please get in touch.
