The North Pole Is Now a Lake

You thought it was hot on the Underground this summer? The North Pole is now a lake...

"If you think these images from the North Pole look more like a lake than the snow-covered expanse you'd expect, that because it is is--the North Pole has melted."

http://google.com/producer/s/CBIw_vbcEw

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Save the Bohemia

As some of you will have seen, the Bohemia pub in North Finchley has been closed down after just one year of business. In addition to being a top local watering hole, the Bohemia has hosted many formal and informal JM gatherings, including our session on the Foodbank Network where members and pub goers alike made donations for the local Foodbank, and the Christmas wrapping bonanza when we organised the donation and wrapping of over 30 gifts for giving out at the Christmas meal the pub was putting on for isolated older people.

Apparently, the issue is that the landlord doesn't want to renew the lease to Antic Ltd who run the Bohemia. As part of ongoing negotiations with the landlord, Antic Ltd are asking Bohemia regulars to write letters of support to buoy their cause. So that's where you come in.

Over the last few years we have equipped and encouraged you to take a stand on a wide range of issues, to write to company managers and to visit your MPs to make a noise about the issues that matter to you. Now we're asking you to take all those skills and apply them to overcoming our very own issue.

Its not as desperate as lack of access of clean drinking water, not as horrific as FGM, and not as entrenched as unjust trade laws. However, it is something that will have a negative effect on our local community and our own efforts as a network.

So please, if you feel able, drop a note to fi@anticlondon.com who is compiling letters of support for the pub to use in their negotiations. Tell her why you care about the pub and what happens to it. Tell her how much we value what the staff there have done to create a welcoming space for the community. Tell her that we don't want a Tesco Metro or whatever the landlord is hoping to put there instead. We love the Bohemia and we want to see if continue to be the vibrant and vital community hub that it has become.

I've sent off a note already - will you join me in the doing the same?

Thanks!

PS - We are just laying final plans for the new term and will be in touch soon to share more, so watch this space...

Job opportunity with Barnet Furniture Centre

Barnet Furniture Centre is currently recruiting for a part time Project Assistant. The role is 19hrs a week (Fri/Sat/Mon).

If you or someone you know would be interested in working at this excellent local social enterprise, then email beth@barnetfurniturecentre.org and request the application form.

Closing date is this Friday (23rd August).

Good luck!

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A summer break

Wednesday's cafe session and our community BBQ last night were our final gatherings before the summer break. Thanks to everyone who have come along and taken part in our sessions since January - here's a short reminder of all that we've been up to over the last seven months.

We'll see you again in September for more and better!

Through their eyes - a glimpse into the experience of Britain's asylum seekers

We had a great gathering on Wednesday, led by Ann-Marie, Dave, Zoe and Beth, looking at the issue of asylum and immigration.

The media paints a very specific image of the types of people that come to the UK seeking refuge and the life they live whilst here, but as we learnt through the case study of Alexander and his Belarusian family (ably voiced by Ann-Marie), the reality of life as an asylum seeker can be quite different to that media stereotype.

Anna Gallagher (Beth's daughter) also provided this excellent video which set the scene for much of the conversation during the evening.

Want to know more?
Read the free booklet from the Refugee Council, The Truth About Asylum.

What can I do to help?
Do you have a spare room? Would you or someone you know be willing to host a destitute asylum seeker for a day, a week, or longer with support from an experiences organisation? If so, visit www.spare-room.org or email hostmigrants@yahoo.co.uk.

Do you have spare time or can you give money? Barnet Refugee Service supports destitute asylum seekers in Barnet. They need volunteers to help at drop-ins and women's groups, to provide advice and do help with admin.

Setting standards for the aid industry

An interesting report on the importance and challenge of delivering aid to a high standard (of particular interest in the light of the recent re-affirmation by the Chancellor of Britain's commitment to give 0.7% of GDP away to support developing countries):

"The humanitarian community has gone through a period of soul searching in recent years, following the failure to protect victims of genocide in Rwanda, the chaotic lack of coordination after the 2004 Asian tsunami and the sex-for-food scandals in West Africa. Yet attempts to set universal standards and to certify aid agencies have been inconsistent and controversial....

... This week, practitioners are taking part in the Humanitarian Standards Forum in Geneva to assess the state of humanitarian accountability and to chart a path forward."

Read more: http://shar.es/xNtPz

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Good News for anyone looking for an ethical high street bank

Church-backed bid for RBS arm could herald ethical bank:

"The Church of England is backing a bid for hundreds of branches being offloaded by Royal Bank of Scotland, raising the prospect of a new, ethical bank on the high street."

Read more: http://goo.gl/mag/Tplbs6F

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