We are thrilled to bring you this conversation with leaders Executive Director Mikeya Griffin and Deputy Director Coco from Rondo Community Land Trust. Rooted in the Civil Rights movement Rondo CLT became the first commercial land trust in Minnesota. Based on the success of the housing CLT residents established in 1993, Rondo CLT developed a land trust model for affordable commercial space. The project was conceptualised as an anti-gentrification measure for local area businesses to retain and stabilise small businesses on the Selby Avenue Commercial Corridor. We are so excited to share this conversation with you! We will continue to develop this beautiful relationship with our new friends in St Paul. This will be the first of many conversations!

Don't forget if you never voted before or if you moved house you need to register before the deadline of midnight tonight! Get it done here: https://www.gov.uk/register-to-vote

More information on who and how to vote can be shared via our website: https://eastendtradesguild.org.uk/stronger-together-podcast-voter-registration-yourvoteyourvoice/

We want to say a BIG THANK YOU to members Quaker Street Space for supporting this podcast.

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In today’s episode of #StrongerTogether Len is in conversation with Vicky Alvarez and Myfanwy Taylor from Wards Corner CBS.

This is a moving and powerful conversation as Vicky and Len express the personal cost of sticking to their values and beliefs when the odds are stacked against them. Self-belief is one of the hardest things to hold onto for yourself self let alone instil it in others (as they are doing) when an outdated system is depending on you to lose faith and give up.

Thousands of small businesses have folded and moved out of London amid insurmountable pressure from exorbitant rents. Thousands more local customers have helped to maintain morale for treasured independent businesses and are a crucial factor in enabling them to keep going!

It’s time to recognise the resilience of small independent businesses that support local communities. The East End Trades Guild Manifesto for the New Economy seeks to address these challenges via four proposals for the next mayor of London. Everyone can play an active role in making sure the candidates standing for London mayor take forward our proposals to protect small businesses by;

- MAKING SURE YOU ARE REGISTERED TO VOTE IN THE LONDON ELECTIONS BEFORE THE DEADLINE OF MIDNIGHT ON 16TH APRIL

- IF YOU NEVER VOTED BEFORE OR CHANGED YOUR ADDRESS YOU NEED TO REGISTER BEFORE THE DEADLINE

- REGISTER HERE, IT TAKES JUST 5 MINUTES!

- REMEMBER TO TAKE PHOTO ID, ON ELECTION DAY ON 2ND MAY. IT IS NOW A REQUIREMENT TO VOTE!

- FROM 25TH APRIL TO 2ND MAY WE WILL SHARE WHERE EACH CANDIDATE STANDS ON OUR MANIFESTO PROPOSALS

- THESE PROPOSALS ARE DESIGNED TO PROTECT COMMUNITY WEALTH VIA SOCIAL VALUE LEASES + COMMUNITY LAND TRUSTS

- YOU CAN HELP BY SHARING IN YOUR NETWORKS TOO ON X: @EASTENDTRADES INSTA: @EAST_END_TRADES_GUILD

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Stronger Together Podcast, London Election Series

Episode 1 - Voter Registration #YourVoteYourVoice

Today is the first of a new four-part London Election series of the Guild's Stronger Together podcast featuring Maher Anjum from the Oitij-jo Collective. Together with the new Trades Guild CLT Director Len Maloney and EETG Director Krissie Nicolson, they talk about voter registration and how voting relates to our Manifesto for the New Economy! Hear more about how we build our people power to support a healthier and more inclusive democracy. This first episode in our new special London Election series is just half an hour so you can tune in while you go for a walk, travel to work or do the dishes!

BIG shout-out to wonderful Guild members Quaker Street Space who supported us in making this new series.

THE DEADLINE TO REGISTER TO VOTE 16TH APRIL 2024

If you have never voted before or if you moved house, you need to register to vote before midnight on 16th April. To register to vote online takes just five minutes, you need your National Insurance number. Register to vote online now here! If you can’t register online, you can download a paper form. You can also access forms in 25 different languages here.

PHOTO ID IS NOW A REQUIREMENT TO VOTE ON POLLING DAY 2ND MAY 

To check if you have valid ID already check the full list here. Don’t worry if you haven’t got any accepted proof of identity you can apply for a Voter Authority Certificate by asking someone you know to confirm your identity. This is known as an attestation. The deadline to apply for a Voter Authority Certificate is 5pm on 24th April. You can apply here.

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If you would like to register to vote for the London and General Elections next year then it's super easy and quick to do it online. If you move house between now and the deadline on 16th April 2024 you will need to register again.

Register to vote now here online. Only takes five minutes, you'll need your National Insurance number.

To be eligible to have your say in the next Mayor of London and London Assembly elections you must:

• be registered to vote
• live in London
• be at least 18 years old on the day of the elections (2nd May 2024)
• be a British citizen, a European Union citizen or a Commonwealth citizen who has or does not require leave to remain in the UK. See a full list of Commonwealth countries here.

Here are some links to researched articles and reports on areas that pop up in this conversation:

Click here for a researched article on youth voter turnout.

Click here for a researched article on the Finnish Education system.

Click here for a report on Studio Schools from the RSA.

Click here for an article on why repairing and maintaining cars instead of buying new ones can help the environment (unless you switch to an electric car!)

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We hope that Seb Dance can work with Len and his team at the Guild to keep Len where the community needs him to be. In the meantime, we need to be ready to follow through with action. If negotiations with Seb Dance and TfL don't work out then we need to escalate the situation to Sadiq Khan and continue to build the momentum through a giant collective serenade to the Mayor of London.

Imagine if hundreds of us sang the Ben E King classic Stand by Me with the words Stand By Len. Together we can make this happen if we need to but we need your commitment so we know how many people will come! 

Sign up now so the team from the Guild can plan effectively. We will email everyone who signs up in the coming days. Together we are stronger! Use this link to add your voice so we can call on you if we need to serenade Sadiq: https://bit.ly/singwithlen

Since Len took over JC Motors from his mentor Joe Chee in the early 90s he has supported a minimum of 300 young people from disadvantaged backgrounds. He has achieved this either by close relationships with local colleges providing accredited apprenticeships, through work experience with schools or informally for those young people sent to him by neighbours in need of a trusted mentor. Len moved to the UK as a child and has lived in London ever since. He loves his community and puts his heart and soul into everything he does, and he is universally adored and trusted for it.

In a letter to Sadiq Khan Len has appealed to the Mayor of London to intervene after TfL will not work on a figure of rent JC Motors can afford. This public letter has so far amassed over 2,000 signatures and Len and his customers have appeared on ITV News.

In 2017/18 rental income from TfL arches was so small in the grand scheme of things that they would only pay to keep the underground running for 2 days per year (based on the 2018/19 cost of the Underground). And in 2021/22, rents receivable made up just 1.8% of TfL group’s total gross income. Let’s assume that the amount of rent TfL received from arches in 2017/18 (£8.6m) has at most risen by 50% between then and 2021/22. That would mean the current rent collected from the arches is at most £12.9m. This would cover just 2.1 days per year of the cost of running the Underground or 1.6 days per year of the cost of running Buses, streets and other operations. Rent from the arches is so small as to be practically immaterial to their wider financial performance. They simply don't need to put up the rent beyond what local businesses that provide social value can afford.

Since the ITV news item and with support from Green Party London Assembly Member Caroline Russell Len has met with Deputy Mayor for TfL Seb Dance. Len and the team from the Guild have proposed that TfL incorporate Social Value Leases to lead by example as a public landlord and demonstrate their responsibility to Londoners.

Photograph of Len with his apprentices Samari Bramble, Dave Shaheen Lee, Azan Hanson by Jeremy Freedman.

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