PROTEST

[welshie]

at the end of the day we should all be united, personalities will clash but the end of the day where all carers and in a similar situation lets put aside the bickering and fight the right way

[Poppy]

I also would like to see all this bickering put to an end. When you see other protests or strikes do you think that all of those that are standing together have not had words with someone over something at their place of work, because I bet they have, but they manage to come together for a good cause. If a union calls a strike you don't say to the reps I'm not going to get involved cause I don't like so and so, they might not like it because they will lose a days pay, but they will stand and strike or protest together, so why can't we ?

[kenm]

To answer a few points raised by other posters>

Yes I am all for a protest- A real carer led-united protest.

My argument is not against a protest, merely stating that there must be something wrong with the way this is going.
Look at the number of members on Carers Voices-Carer watch- united carers-chill-CUK-PRTC->
and ask yourselves why, after a week, has the protest board only attracted 28 members.?

I always post under my own name so I am maybe an easy target, look at the numbers joining, I may be the only one speaking out-but am I one of a minority, or are you.

Don't become yet another group that will only accept praise, and attack critics, or close your mind to suggestions.
If the national day of protest comes off, I will be on the front line of any local protest, and I hope I won't be in a minority.

Regards -Ken

[Scally]

To answer a few points raised by other posters>

Yes I am all for a protest- A real carer led-united protest.

My argument is not against a protest, merely stating that there must be something wrong with the way this is going.
Look at the number of members on Carers Voices-Carer watch- united carers-chill-CUK-PRTC->
and ask yourselves why, after a week, has the protest board only attracted 28 members.?

I always post under my own name so I am maybe an easy target, look at the numbers joining, I may be the only one speaking out-but am I one of a minority, or are you.

Don't become yet another group that will only accept praise, and attack critics, or close your mind to suggestions.
If the national day of protest comes off, I will be on the front line of any local protest, and I hope I won't be in a minority.

Regards -Ken

Glad you are with us, Ken. I quite agree that constructive criticism is vital, but at this stage what we really don't need is negativity and energy-draining "It Wont Work" comments, and there has been a little bit of that around, not much, just a little. It probably wont work exactly as expected, things rarely do, but that's also part of the fun. Its incredibly difficult to estimate numbers attending, for example, but its pretty clear that we will need to focus on several major regional cities as well as London.

In my spare time I'm the business director for an annual festival with 5,000+ paying visitors, and there are lots of other folk around with similar event organisational skills and expertise.

Anyone is welcome to join the new board, but my guess is that some people may see it as a board for the "Committee" and avoid it because they are worried they be asked to do something - well, it has been known to happen!

Anyway, 28 people is a pretty big organising committee - a good start. Much more and it might get unwieldy.

There is absolutely nothing wrong with the way this is going - there is no template out there for arranging this kind of event, but I suspect its actually a lot less complicated and expensive to organise a demo than folk might think, otherwise how come the National Union of Students always had so many?

[krys]

If the national day of protest comes off, I will be on the front line of any local protest, and I hope I won't be in a minority.

thanks ken, i also hope that more
people join our protest forum, even if they dont post on there,
to show support.

krys

[Tonyd]

Here are some replies we have received from carers centres and charities, we have contacted regarding the protest,
it is gaining support from a lot of places.

This is exactly the sort of thing we should be helping with as long as we ensure it is a constructive process.
Having had a lot of lobbying and campaign experience I am happy to advise.
I would suggest that this should comprise:
- local meetings with local MPs
- delegations to Downing Street/Welsh Assembly/Scottish Parliament

And I would be happy to liaise with Scotland ’s network of carer organisations through the Coalition of Carers in Scotland which has a membership of over 80 local carer organisations including all 29 PRTC centres. Please keep me posted.

Happy to help with this. It would be better for us to arrange something in Coventry as more carers could come. We have good relations with our media so could get good coverage.
We have good relations with our local MPs so could arrange for them to meet with carers. In this regard, therefore, the date set should either be a Friday or during the summer recess. Thus, suggest the London protest is to Downing Street , not the House of Commons.

Your email below has been forwarded to me internally. I'm interested in what is planned - I've been onto the CarersUK website and followed the thread concerning the proposed action but can't find any indication of a date or how you plan to promote this protest. Before I suggest to our Board of Trustees that we become involved as a local focal point I need to have more details.
I have read your email regarding the Carers Protest in London and would like some further information if possible. In particular, it would be very useful to know, when the event is going to take place and where. Once we have these details, we can inform our Carers via Newsletters and any other means.
I have also read comments on the forum and think that this event will be a good chance for Carers voices to be heard.