An invitation to the New Cross Gate NDC Conference on 2nd October 2008.
The New Deal for Communities Programme in New Cross Gate is coming towards the end of its ten year life span. Like many other NDC’s across the country we are looking at how we can ensure that there are lasting benefits for the local community after the grant funding ends in 2011.
We have carried out an in depth review of all our projects and come up with some interesting findings. It has demonstrated that we have achieved some great results, but it has also highlighted some areas where we have made little impact. For the NDC successor body, the New Cross Gate Trust, this review will help us shape the NDC programme for the last couple of years. More importantly it will help us focus what the Trust priorities will be for many years to come.
The New Cross Gate Trust would like to invite you to attend a conference on the 2nd October in Lewisham Civic Centre. The conference aims to look at what has worked well in our programme and discuss with other people involved in neighbourhood renewal some of the lessons we have learned. We want to showcase some of the excellent work we are doing but also get people to debate some of the thornier issues, the difficult nuts to crack.
Sir Charles Pollard the former Chief Constable of Thames Valley will be giving a keynote speech in the morning on the work he is doing to promote ‘Restorative Justice’ approaches, and he will be hosting a workshop looking at the implementation of this approach in Lewisham and other areas. Gill Haynes OBE is the Vice Chair of the Children’s Workforce Development Council as was until recently the Chair of the New Cross Gate NDC Partnership Board. Gill will be giving a keynote speech in the afternoon on the innovative approaches taken in Lewisham to promote early interventions in speech and language therapy, and the massive impact this is having in individual children’s educational attainment. After her speech Gill will host a workshop on the raising educational attainment education in New Cross Gate and seek to compare our experience with those implementing programmes elsewhere.
Other speakers and workshops will be confirmed nearer the time but this early notice is being sent so that you can pencil this date in your diary. We have space for 150 people and we aim to have 50 of those come from other regeneration programmes across the country, 50 for people involved in service delivery within Lewisham and 50 for residents and others supporting the New Cross Gate NDC programme. It promises to be an interesting day. If you or others within your organisation are interested in attending then please get in touch by emailing judie.obeya@lewisham.gov.uk
