Please contact Azra Hussein at admin@attleeycc.org.uk.

Please support our runner, Stephen Batt, in this year’s London Marathon by visiting https://www.justgiving.com/stephen-batt/. Your donation will go a long way toward helping The Attlee Foundation continue its programmes which so many people depend upon.

We would like to thank Capital Growth for arranging for the volunteers from Lloyds who came to decorate the Centre today. Santa’s grotto will open on Saturday the 22nd of December where he will be seeing all the children, naughty and nice!

The Mayor of Tower Hamlets, Lutfur Rahman (left) congratulates Sir Stuart Etherington (right) after his successful address at the 30th annual Attlee Lecture.

Another year and another successful annual Attlee Lecture. Speaking on the subject of philanthropy, fairness and democracy, Stuart Etherington outlined the role of philanthropy in today’s society, suggesting that the role of philanthropy is to ‘mind the gap’ between the state, the market and the individual. Philanthropy, he said, should be focussed on innovation to pump prime new ideas and services that the state and market cannot, as the Attlee Foundation has achieved in creating the Attlee Youth and Community Centre.

Mayor Lutfur Rahman reaffirmed his support for the voluntary sector, stating that “Promoting fairness and democracy requires a multi-agency approach where public, private, third sector and faith organisations work together, alongside residents.

“Tower Hamlets Council has demonstrated its commitment to reducing inequality by working with Tonybee Hall to launch the Tower Hamlets Fairness Commission earlier this week.

“As the commissioners undertake research over the next few months I hope the Attlee Foundation will share their insight into these issues and help shape the recommendations for making Tower Hamlets a fairer and more cohesive borough.”

Chair of the Attlee Foundation, Richard Henchley added that “Attlee regarded voluntary activity and contribution as a duty of citizenship in a civilised society. It is a privilege for us to host the leaders of the voluntary sector and our Borough at a time when we are developing a pioneering family-based community hub with our voluntary sector partners.”

We here at the Attlee Foundation would just like to thank all those who attended and donated generously, particularly to Sir Stuart Etherington for his fascinating and thought-provoking thesis.

If you would like to view the transcript of Sir Stuart Etherington’s lecture on ‘Philanthropy, Fairness and Democracy’, just follow the download link below.

DOWNLOAD

Today’s austerity society would appear to have mixed feelings about charity and philanthropy. A majority of the population give, yet we don’t appear to like being asked. We think it’s a good thing that philanthropists give to charity but we’re cynical about their motives, particularly when it comes to the tax system. Attitudes towards welfare are hardening but we’re uneasy about the increasing appearance of foodbanks. And volunteers are being celebrated more than in living memory – but should they really help to run libraries?

Much of this unease relates to a changing society, one where the roles of government, charity and individual responsibility are shifting. Rooted in much of this unease is a sense of fairness – or rather lack of it – as changes in welfare provision, the tax system and public services create winners and losers. For philanthropists, charities and the voluntary sector, the question that follows is: are we addressing or worsening the cause of a fair society? Is social action, in all its guises, strengthening our democracy or undermining it? And is a society where social action plays a bigger role a better society?

The need for voluntary action in the context of the major changes introduced by the post war Attlee Administration was discussed extensively in Lord Beveridge’s 1948 Report on Methods of Social Advance and, in 1977, on the 30^th anniversary of the welfare state, by the Report of the Woolfenden Committee on The Future of Voluntary Organisations.

The NCVO is a membership organisation which has over 8,400 member organisations that represents the interests of charities and voluntary bodies. Sir Stuart was previously Chief Executive of the Royal National Institute for Deaf People, a major UK charity.

The lecture will take place in the Attlee Youth and Community Centre, E1 6RT. Please arrive 6pm for 6:30pm start.

Presenting him with a memento of the occasion, Chair Richard Henchley thanked the Mayor for the support that he, personally, and his officers had given the Foundation during the renewal process in which it is engaged. The Mayor reaffirmed the importance of the Centre as a vital community facility and recognised Centre Manager Tania Shaikh-McKenna’s long-standing commitment with a special presentation.

Fine weather blessed the party in the Centre’s adventure play playground with its thriving vegetable garden and dedicated games area. Guests included Councillor Gulam Robbani and former directors Helena Holt and Billy Dove, now Chairman of the City Bridge Trust Committee of the City of London Corporation.

The Attlee Youth & Community Centre in Spitalfields provides open access and inclusive facilities for children, young people and the local community with an extensive range of specialized activities. Facilities include a sports hall, football and other sports pitches, an adventure playground, a catering-standard kitchen, an information technology area and meeting rooms.