UpRiser attends 15th Anniversary TELCO Assembly

Liz Harris, current London UpRiser and recent graduate of London Metropolitan University, gives her account of TELCO's annual event.

Wednesday 30th November 2011 saw the 15th Anniversary celebrations of TELCO (The East London Communities Organisation) at the Troxy Hall in Limehouse. TELCO encompasses the Boroughs of Newham, Hackney, Redbridge, Tower Hamlets and Waltham Forest.

The first TELCO Assembly was held at York Hall, Bethnal Green in 1996 with an agenda to tackle: Housing, Schools, Poverty and Coming Together. Since that momentous day TELCO has gone from strength to strength with a massive list of successes under its belt; from local campaigns to give Whitechapel market trader’s street lighting and CCTV, through to the London wide ‘CitySafe’ campaign helping to tackle gun and knife crime.

The assembly was to celebrate the fantastic work that TELCO has done over the last few years. The energy level and enthusiasm in that room was simply infectious. Through people putting aside their differences and coming together, huge positive change has happened throughout the East End.

In 2001 the ‘Living Wage’ campaign was launched, originally targeting global banks in Canary Wharf and East London Hospital trusts. However jump forward a few years and the 2012 Olympics will be the first ever ‘Living Wage Olympics’ in history!

Not only are all Olympic jobs going to be living wage, but young people are being helped to find secure employment during the Games, helping tackle the shocking rise in youth unemployment throughout our Boroughs.

The fantastic work that TELCO did in 2004 ensuring the then Mayor of London Ken Livingstone and Lord Sebastian Coe signed the ‘People’s Ethical Guarantees’ has well and truly paid off. The 2012 Olympics really will have a positive and lasting legacy for the people of East London.

TELCO’s next big challenge is to tackle the chronic shortage of affordable homes across the Boroughs.  Many ideas were put forward at the assembly but most significantly; TELCO is waiting to see if the East London Community Land Trust company they set up has been successful in bidding for a Community Land Trust at the site of St Clements Hospital in Mile End.

 I just want to end this article with one of the most inspiring stories of the evening. A lady in her 50’s who had been severely injured in a car accident and was paralysed down one side of her body had lost everything, even ending up sleeping rough in the streets. It was through the help of TECLO that she has now secured one of the Olympic jobs. Just hearing the cheering and clapping from the crowd was so uplifting.

It really helped to show that at its heart community organising is about people!