PCCs Spending Your Money

But not necessarily on what you want, of course...

A new role has been created to provide emotional support to families of victims seriously injured or killed in road accidents.

Is this something that's desperately needed, then?  

As part of a collaboration with road safety charity Brake, Sussex Police and Crime Commissioner Katy Bourne has funded the new Independent Road Victim Advocate (IRVA) position. The IRVA, who will be employed by Brake, will be specifically trained to assist families during their most challenging times.They will be able to help with day-to-day tasks that can become overwhelming for people who have lost a loved one such as managing their finances and helping them to understand procedures such as court cases.

'Managing their finances'..? Seems to be going a bit further than the uaual police victim support services!  

Will it replace them?

Sussex Police and Crime Commissioner Katy Bourne said: “Through ongoing conversations with the road safety charity Brake and hearing about the work of its National Road Victim Service, I noticed a gap in our support provision regarding family members of those killed or seriously injured on the roads.

"I wanted to provide families who are going through unimaginable distress, with a specialist and tailored support network that will complement the investigative and operational work of our family liaison officers.

So...that's a 'no' then. It's in addition to them. Isn't this duplication of effort?  

“The IRVA caseworker is the first of its kind in Sussex and I am delighted to be working with leading charity Brake as we support those who need it most.

“Most collisions on our roads are preventable and every fatality is one too many. Alongside the additional support that will be provided to families through the role of the IRVA, I also intend to set up a dedicated ‘Fatal Five Unit’ to move forward the Vision Zero approach to road safety and cut fatal and serious collisions by half by 2035."

Funding for the role was obtained from the Ministry of Justice, with nearly £60,000 put in place to secure an IRVA position for the county.

The Ministry of Justice doesn't have any money. This is coming from the taxpayer. Is it a good use of scarce resources? 

It seems it's just another petty bureaucrat spending like a drunken sailor to enhance her own profile. Isn't it about time to scrap PCCs?

Then They Can't Really Be Called 'Families', Can They?

It is hard to put an exact number on it, but more than 60 families rely on us.

And what did your organisation do, then?

Eighty percent of the families and young people attending Homegrown in Tottenham are Black. Most of them come from working-class, migrant and refugee backgrounds, and face challenges around access to affordable housing and being pushed out of areas they live in due to rising costs. Our community space was a home for all of us. Before the closure, we would cook and share meals together, while young people would learn English, maths, science, and African and Caribbean history, and use films to discuss topics not always brought up in school. People would often stay all afternoon, cooking and talking.

Well, maybe that's the problem. Maybe instead, they should have been working to support their families..? 

In Haringey today, many Black-led community groups are losing space and struggling to access funding. At the same time, some parts of Tottenham have changed so quickly that they feel unfamiliar and inaccessible to young people who were born here, who end up feeling like strangers.

Yeah, funny that, I often feel like a stranger. In certain parts of London. 

But I'm called a racist for noticing. Never mind what I'm called for actively complaining about it. How is it you get a free pass? 

At the moment we have no funding, because we don’t have time to fundraise. I try to buy families their groceries when they need it out of my own pocket, but my own family’s budget is tight as well. Every two weeks, I have to report to the job centre to claim my universal credit.

Well, clearly they should put a stop to it. If you're giving it away to others, you're claiming it under false pretences, aren't you?  

What happened to Elianne Andam in Croydon is a reminder of just how vulnerable our young people are: the victims whose lives are so brutally taken, but the perpetrators too – how did they get here? And their families. No one should have their child taken from them. And no one raises a child to be a killer.

It appears in the 'community' you're writing about, no-one raises a child full-stop! 

We are not talking about an incurable disease. It is a social problem that could be improved if the government stopped removing essential funding for youth centres, youth organisations, schools and existing community spaces.

Why shouldn't it? It's clearly not essential at all.  

Don't Bother, We Know What The Answer's Going To Be...

The UK charities watchdog is assessing whether it will take action against Oxfam after receiving complaints about a cartoon published by the charity that ignited a row about transgender issues.

This watchdog has no teeth, after all. And no backbone. 

Oxfam International, which commissioned the cartoon as part of its gender justice campaign strand, subsequently published a re-edited version. It apologised for the “offence it caused” and said it had “made a mistake”.

Why on earth should a charity set up to feed starving children even have a 'gender justice strand' in the first place? 

The Charity Commission said it was assessing the complaints in the context of its regulatory and risk framework, which requires it to take action if it considers a charity has undermined public trust and confidence in the charity sector.

There's a long, long list of those before you get around to Oxfam, isn't there? 

Why Not Chinese Lanterns..?

Nature charities joined fire chiefs in calling for a ban on disposable barbecues yesterday, branding them a menace to the environment.

Aren't they just as much of a danger? Given disposable barbecues tend to at least stay put, while lanterns go whereever the wind takes them?

I wonder why you aren't calling for a ban on those? Still, I guess the majority of fires must be being caused b...

Oh!

Around 4 per cent of serious accidental fires are ‘robustly linked’ to barbecue use, Home Office figures show.

To stop 4% of fires, we should inconvenience 100% of customers?  

A petition demanding a ban had last night gathered more than 14,500 signatures.

It's probably far exceeded that now, as every Karen and misery-guts and Virtuesignaller in the country flings themselves on the bandwagon as it trundles by... 

It's Not The 'Cost Of Living'...

...because they aren't living:

A homeless charity has called on activists and supporters to march through Belfast on Saturday to protest against a sharp increase in the number of people dying on the streets of Northern Ireland’s capital.

And why are they dying? Because they are taking drugs and overdosing. 

McCusker, of the Social Democratic and Labour party (SDLP), said Belfast was not providing enough accommodation, addiction services and mental health treatment to handle the big increase in the number of young homeless people. Many mixed heroin and other opiates with other drugs, he said. “Most people we work with take a cocktail of drugs, which puts them at greater risk.”

The cost of living was having a “massive” impact on homelessness, McCusker added.

Aren't drugs and alcohol pretty expensive? And if you spend all your money on those, you've not got enough for rent? 

Extern has urged policymakers to open an overdose prevention facility – a designated place for people to take drugs under the supervision of trained staff, who provide drug treatment, mental health services, wound care and blood testing.

Great! When do they open a fake supermarket, so all the compulsive shoplifters can get their supervised 'fix'? Or allow predators to target schoolgirls under the eyes of the authorities and poli...

Oh, wait. They've already done that one, haven't they? 

Killing The Competion Again, RSPCA?

Your reminder of what drives the RSPCA these days:

Roger Musselle, who has run Roger’s Wildlife Rescue in Woodingdean for 56 years, has been visited by the RSPCA, who he says took his pigeons away. The 77-year-old, who runs the rescue centre in Downs Valley Road with his wife Fleur, said the stricter rules and regulations left him no option but to shut down the centre.

“Due to excessive rules and regulations that are now being forced upon us who rescue wildlife, our facilities are no longer acceptable in the 21s century,” he said. “The RSPCA doesn’t consider our hygiene up to their standards. We have plastic cages instead of metal or steel cages.”

The horror, the horror! 

“We at Roger's Wildlife Rescue have worked with other wildlife centres and veterinary surgeons successfully for many years and I am sorry for the extra pressure my decision to stop will put on you all.

“Wildlife and nature has always been and always will be my passion and I am still happy to continue giving out wildlife advice to anyone needing it.

“I will continue to work for the good of wildlife, but will not in future be taking in wildlife casualties at our home, as we have done for all those years.”

Who loses? The wildlife. Of course. It always does, doesn't it?