A Hackney group is calling for “resistance” and community action to help people support each other during the coronavirus crisis.
Covid-19 Collective is working with nation-wide initiative People Before Profit to build a solidarity network across the borough, and the country, offering support to vital community support groups set up during Britain’s first lockdown in March.
The collective is inviting residents to join it for an online zoom meeting on October 29, where virtual attendees will hear from speakers such as MP for Hackney North and Stoke Newington, Diane Abbott, and poet, children’s laureate and coronavirus survivor Michael Rosen.
Other speakers will include union representatives, hospital workers, Transport for London staff, activists and many others.
Mike Simons, one of the event organisers, called out the government for £12 billion of funding given to private company Serco on a track and trace system “that does not work”.
He criticised the government’s decision to no longer provide free school meals to “hungry kids” during the school holidays.
He said: “We need a solidarity network across the borough and across the country so that any group that is forced to fight back knows it has the support of the community.
“The community support groups that sprang up during the first lockdown played a vital role in supporting the vulnerable, and we need the same again this autumn and winter, but we also need to organise real resistance to government efforts to make ordinary people pay for this crisis.”
READ MORE: MP Diane Abbott wants public inquiry into the impact of Covid-19 on BAME communities
The Cabinet Office and HM Treasury have been contacted for comment.
The event is supported by Hackney National Education Union, Hackney Trades Council executive, Hackney Stand Up To Racism and other organisations.
To join the People Before Profit and Hackney Covid 19 Collective Zoom meeting visit https://zoom.us/join at 7pm on October 29. The meeting ID is 815 0210 6117 and its passcode is 617917
Sign up to People Before Profit’s Emergency Programme for Jobs, Services and Safety at www.peoplebefore-profit.com
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