With the generous support of the National Coalition for Independent Action we are going ahead with our two ‘Drive to the Market’ seminars on April 26 in London and April 27 in Manchester. In essence we want to create an atmosphere, within which we can argue through together the implications and contradictions of the marketisation of youth and community work and the wider voluntary sector as a whole. In short we want to get our own heads around ‘what is going on’.
A central concern is to give people and organisations a chance to share experiences of what is happening and how they are dealing with the new policy landscape. The outline
programme [11.00 – 4.00] is;
Session 1 Drive to the Market Analysis from an IDYW
and a NCIA perspective followed by Q&A and discussion.
Session 2 Dilemmas for the statutory and voluntary
sectors – speakers from both corners thence Q&A and debate.
Session 3 Social Enterprise and Cooperatives ; Not all
Bad? – speakers reflecting this contradiction, thence Q&A and argument.
Session 4 Promoting Alternatives Working ‘In and Against’? Small groups.
We are especially interested to hear from you if you would like to make a lead contribution to any of the sessions. Please contact Tony at tonymtaylor@gmail.com. Amongst the contributors will be Bernard Davies, Sue Atkins, Tania de St Croix[IDYW], Andy Benson, Melaina Barnes [NCIA], James Beecher [Stroud against the Cuts].
The Manchester venue is confirmed as the Greater Manchester Council for Voluntary Organisation’s St Thomas Conference Centre, Ardwick Green, close to the city centre and Piccadilly rail station.
We will confirm the London venue in the next few days, but it will be in a central venue accessible from the main rail stations.
As ever we strive to make sure our events are free or low-cost. Thanks to the NCIA support these seminars will be free, but a donation to coffee/tea will be appreciated. Bring your own lunch.
To help us organise, please book a place in advance through tonymtaylor@gmail.com
IN DEFENCE OF YOUTH WORK 