Trip to Glasgow

Last Thursday a group of 11 of us went to Glasgow for the final conference of Bridging the Policy Gap. This was a really interesting conference, where participants from Glasgow, London Borough of Newham and the City & County of Swansea were able to talk and share experiences about the projects they have been involved in.
Swansea was involved in re-writing the play strategy, the London Borough of Newham looked at employment access for disabled people and Glasgow focused on the Working for Families Fund.
There were Ministers from Scotland and UK listening to what our experiences have been and I had to get up on the platform to say what my experience was. For me to have grass roots communtiy members, working on policies with business, council and voluntary sector organisations and government ministers, is the best way forward, as the people at the top are able to listen and experience what real life people face on benefits, living in poverty, facing unemployment, being unable to access services and the correct benefits - this process has really made them sit up and listen. Also, for the 3 cities to share their experiences and work together, visiting eachothers projects in the peer reviews was great as we can learn from each other - and it doesnt matter where we live, in what part of the country, we all same to face the same issues.
This was all very educational for me and I have been privaliged to be a part of this process. It is not over, even though it was the final conference, as Swansea's Anti Poverty Department within the City & County of Swansea is moving things forward with a take up campaign being piloted in my area (Blaenymaes) and there will be an event on April 17th (watch this space) and i have also been invited to be 'play champion' and will be attending a meeting next week to find out the role of a play champion.
So it wasnt all about having a free jolly ride on a plane to Glasgow, staying in a posh hotel and eating lush food and going to the pub - but that did help. And even better than that - we shared a plane with all the rugby scots fans on the way home, and we beat them hands down on Saturday - bring on the Grand Slam!!!