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Your Letters
 

Maher Osman


Tommy Winston
Shocked at these senseless killings

• On Saturday January 28 Maher Osman (pictured above left), an 18- year-old Somali student was murdered.
The Somali Community in Camden, like everyone else, is shocked and devastated by this senseless loss of a young life. We share the sadness of Maher’s family and send them our condolences.
On behalf of the Somali community, the Somali Camden Forum is calling for unity of hearts in this tragic moment.
An old Somali proverb ‘Kaa dhimay, kuguna dhimay’, translates as: “The dead one is one of yours and so is the killer.” This is something of which the Somali community will be reminding ourselves of this week.
The Somali community in Camden acknowledges the existence of several problems affecting our integration into mainstream society and is committed to being part of the solution.
Somali Camden Forum is supporting meetings of young Somali men to discuss how to bring about better relations with Somali youth in other parts of London, especially in Tottenham.
Some of the media reports – describing our young people as ‘feral’ youth who are involved in gang rivalry on behalf of drug barons – is wild exaggeration which makes our children, and the community at large, seem like fearful ogres rather than the troubled and struggling people that they really are.
We do not seek special treatment, but it is useful to remember that many in our community have experienced the trauma and upheaval of civil war and flight, and that this can be difficult to overcome if one loses the hope of making a new life here.
The Camden Somali Forum calls on all who think they can help to work in partnership and mutual respect with us. In particular, we call on the police, the schools, the youth services, health providers and employers, to recognise the need to work with and be informed by the community.
Abdiwali Mohamud Chairman
Abdifatah Said
Vice-Chairman
Mohamed Dirshe
Member
Camden Somali Forum
St Martin’s House
Polygon Road, NW1

• The students and staff of South Camden Community School were shocked and saddened by the tragic death of Maher Osman, and we send our sympathy and condolences to his family and friends.
Maher formerly attended the British Somali Community Supplementary School at South Camden, and he had many friends amongst our students.
I welcome the Camden Somali Forum’s call for unity in supporting their young people to build positive relationships with each other and with the wider community in which they live, and will be working with the Forum to further this aim.
South Camden is proud of the tremendous successes achieved by our Somali students, and we will continue to work with them to build on these in the future.
Rosemary Leeke
Headteacher
South Camden Community School
Chalton Street
NW1

• VIVIAN Felix’s letter about the recently murdered Tommy Winston (pictured above right) was deeply moving and much appreciated locally (A special young man, February 9).
His idea that some youth facility dedicated to Tommy Winston be erected in our area is an excellent one. It just so happens that on the estate where Tommy and his family lived, just across the street from the soon to be demolished Lyndhurst Hall, there is a small hall the community built some 35 years ago. It has since been condemned.
Here is the opportunity for Councillor Raj Chada to put his money where his mouth is. He says youth facilities do not matter, but in this, as in so many things, he couldn’t be more wrong. It matters a lot – to this community.
The council have wantonly sold off the family silver for the past few years. Just recently they stamped their approval on a planning application for a seven-storey building scheme at Dalby Street which will encroach on the Talacre Open Space and restrict access to Talacre Sports Centre where Tommy Winston played badminton.
The same council have also reneged on their election promise to refurbish the Kentish Town Swimming Baths. We anticipate they will also stamp their approval for the demolition of the Lyndhurst Hall. No wonder Cllr Chada preaches the virtue of unity but underplays the importance of youth facilities. He and his executive are in the process of eliminating the lot of them.
Here is an the opportunity for Cllr Chada to do more than just give us a lot of talk. How about doing something positive for a change and refurbish community hall at Athlone? What is needed is a good architect to design a soundproof building to replace the one which has been condemned.
The facilities could be rented to groups when not in use. Here is what I call regeneration. And you know what, not an inch of Talacre Open Space, Metropolitan Open Land or sacred sports facility will be sacrificed.
For a small amount of money, Labour could show they do have a social conscience and a heart that still ticks.
BEVERLY GARDNER
Chairwoman
Athlone Tenants’ Association
Athlone House
NW5

• Like everyone else I send my heartfelt sympathies to the family of the young Somali man recently killed in the senseless and brutal attack that ended his life and totally endorse the need to support the Somali community at this time (Unity is the only way forward in tackling our youth’s problems, February 9).
However, I profoundly disagree with Councillor Raj Chada’s assessment of how vital a role local youth provision can play in preventing escalating violent gang culture. Social cohesion and unity and important factors but now, more than ever, it is vital that young people from the Somali and every other community have the opportunity to access quality youth activities and, crucially, long before the ages of 14-22 as government funding streams dictate
We have recently observed first hand the result of youth disaffection and alienation with tragic and irreversible loss of a young life. Children from overcrowded homes hanging around the streets quickly learn the law of the concrete jungle in hostile environments in order to survive. Bullying and intimidation, violence and substance abuse is rife.
Now, as never before, there is a desperate need to channel funds into provision of stimulating and challenging activities before antisocial patterns of behaviour develop. To ignore this obvious fact is to be short-sighted in the extreme.
Due in large part to Camden Central’s programme of youth provision over the past five years, racial conflict has been significantly reduced in Somers Town and surrounding areas, a fact strongly endorsed by the local community policing team.
Hundreds of young people have actively engaged in activities that have broadened and stimulated their personal horizons and thereby reducing their propensity to engage in anti-social and offending behaviour, including being sucked into drug use, abuse and violence. This funding ends in six weeks’ time.
The consequent withdrawal of services young people need and value will almost inevitable result in disaffection or even an escalation of disturbance, possibly racial, by young people who feel let down that their needs are not being met.
A wealth of options for youth engagement and diversion abound for families with the financial wherewithal, time and commitment to access them.
The major limiting factor in areas of significant economic deprivation is cost. Adequate quality youth provision does not come cheap, but every pound invested in supporting our young people is an investment, not only in their futures, but also in the futures of our diverse communities and social fabric.
If you feel strongly, as we do, that we have a duty to expand youth service here in Camden Central, please join us on February 23 in the Upper Room, Greenland Street (for more details phone Nisha on 020 7554 3540).
Fran Heron
Chair Camden Central Youth Initiative
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